Our waterfront serves as an interactive, hands-on learning experience for students in the Marine Science program. And a perfect teaching moment for our faculty.
“The greatest thing about our campus is the access to the waterfront,” said Sari Deitche, upper school science teacher and department head. “With the waterfront just steps away, I’m able to teach a subject – it may be about crustaceans – and then say to the class, ‘Let’s go and check it out.’ Walking to the waterfront provides an opportunity for the students to become immersed in the subject. They embrace that type of learning.”
Our teachers all have an impeccable background in the field and have created classrooms that are extensions to the marine world with touch tanks similar to ones you find at a tourist attraction.
Hands-on Learning
- Starting in 5th grade, Lower School students start going to the waterfront every other week to explore marine life, seine and cast net, kayak, and more.
- In Upper School, our students have access to:
- LaMotte Water Testing Kit–funded by the Florida Association for Water Quality Control–to test water parameters such as dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrates, ammonia, turbidity, chlorine, and phosphate.
- YSI digital handheld test kits to collect water samples from the different sources around campus (creek, bay, basin, fish tanks), and examine them with cordless stereo microscopes for plankton or other small invertebrates.
- Secchi disk to determine the turbidity of water
- Hydrophones to listen to local dolphin or other marine organisms
- Exploring the bottom of the Bay using aquascopes and a bottom grabber sampler or sieve
