Ocean First Education brings the sea to life through high-quality, innovative marine science education and creates lifelong students and stewards of the sea.
While family vacations and lazy days in the sun are right around the corner, don’t let your child fall victim to the summer slide - forgetting what they’ve learned and making little to no academic progress over summer break. Research has shown that students can forget up to 30% of what they’ve learned and many students demonstrate a decline in reading (decoding and fluency) skills come September. So, how do you balance the need for a break and battery recharge with prepping for the coming school year?
May we suggest a splash of marine science!?
Ocean First Education provides online marine science content for students across grades K-12. We offer bite-sized Explorer Series suitable for the elementary grade-range, short courses for middle school aged students, as well as 360 Lesson Plans and Virtual Field Trips for everyone across grades K-8. For high schoolers, check out our short courses, and if you’re looking for something more substantial, say for credit recovery, Marine Science 101, our full course might be just the thing. Online, interactive, and just a little different to keep your student reading and engaged this summer.
We’ve analyzed Nitrox tanks, perfected our buoyancy, learned what we can about sharks, and are now ready to spend some time diving in Cozumel! The A Rising Tides scholars are headed to Cozumel in June to complete their night and limited visibility scuba diving certification and participate in a few fish diversity surveys for REEF.org.
Over the course of the year these students have completed four SSI continuing education courses as well as implemented a community service plan, each targeting single-use plastic in their own way. From recycling used markers and implementing a recycling program in local elementary schools to educating consumers about microplastics in cosmetics, these young ladies have lead the charge to reduce their dependence on single-use plastics and have made strides to educate others about the issue, all from land-locked Colorado.
As the school year comes to an end, plans for next year begins, and for many of our scholars that means attending university. Catch up with A Rising Tides scholar Emily Sanchez in her headlining article as she announced plans to accept a full ride to Harvard in the fall.
We couldn’t be more proud of Emily and all of our A Rising Tides scholars. We look forward to the positive impact they will make in the future.
Ocean First Education teamed up with California Ocean Alliance and One Ocean Expedition for a trip of a lifetime to Antarctica. This expedition was Ocean First Education founder and chief visionary officer, Graham Casden’s, seventh continent visited!
If you’re like I was, ‘Antarctica’ conjures images of flat, white vastness as far as the eye can see. And while the fifth largest continent does span five and a half million square miles, much of which is the flat, frozen expanse we often envision, there is so much more to Antarctica than water, ice, and rock.
You can read more about the trip to Antarctica in Graham’s latest blog post.
How well do you know the ocean? This regular feature will help acquaint you with our blue planet.
Topic: Dolphins
Dolphin or porpoise? Porpoises are smaller (less than 8’) with a small head, short to no beak, and a small (or not at all!) triangular-shaped dorsal fin. Also, dolphins have cone-shaped teeth, while porpoises have spade-shaped teeth.
There are 43 dolphin species including four different species of river dolphins.
The Orca, or killer whale, is the largest member of the dolphin family (Delphinidae).
Dolphins are mammals, giving birth to live young after a 10-18 month gestation period (depending on species).
Dolphins are conscious breathers, meaning they actively decide when to breathe, therefore they can never really fall completely asleep.
