Ahead of the Class: Florida Sea Grant Delivers Marine Education
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| Home: Investing in Coastal and Marine Education | Community Education | Industry Education | Scientific and Professional Education |
| Agency and Organization Education | Formal K-12 Education | Youth Education |
Providing K-12 educators with a greater capacity to understand and deliver high-quality teaching
on the ocean sciences is the goal of Florida Sea Grant's participation in a National Science
Foundation initiative linking scientists and educators. At this workshop in Cedar Key, teachers
participated in a variety of training activities on proper marine collecting techniques and
identification of common coastal marine life. (Tom Wright, UF/IFAS)
This area is one of two that target youth either directly or indirectly. Formal K-12 Education includes those programs that reach youth through a structured, graded, education system as the students move through the formal educational process from kindergarten to the completion of high school. Florida Sea Grant faculty get involved through lectures in the classroom, but more importantly, by working with teachers to upgrade their curricula to include math or science components that also incorporate coastal or marine issues. Examples of "teaching the teachers" include directing a coastal field trip as part of a classroom activity, providing inservice training (for which the teachers receive credit) and making presentations at educator conferences, including the Florida Marine Science Educator's Association.
Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE)
Florida Sea Grant is collaborating with four other states (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama) to strengthen ocean sciences education with a focus on the Gulf of Mexico. The Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence, known by its acronym COSEE, is a National Science Foundation initiative that bridges the gap between research and education. Florida Sea Grant leads implementation of Gulf of Mexico COSEE programs in Florida, which in turn is one of seven COSEE centers nationwide.
The Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence, or COSEE, initiative provides middle school science
teachers with professional development opportunities during summer months. Florida Sea Grant participates
in the COSEE group focused on the Gulf of Mexico, one of a network of seven centers across the U.S.
(Tom Wright, UF/IFAS)
Also in 2003, a two-day COSEE Nonformal Educator's Workshop was held for Sea Grant and 4-H Extension agents, aquarium educators, nature center educators and youth volunteers. Nearly 90 participants engaged in discussions that allowed researchers to gain a better understanding of educational organizations, and provided educators with programs and material to enhance their classroom content and delivery.
At the Cedar Key summer institutes held in 2003 and 2004, teachers partnered with a research
scientist and spent five days in the field, learning about global positioning systems (GPS), harmful
algal blooms, coral reefs, marine technology, and coastal habitats. Participants supplemented
their field work with online internet training. (Tom Wright, UF/IFAS)
Florida Sea Grant works closely with state and national marine education professional associations, and is a supporting organization for the Florida Marine Science Educators Association (FMSEA). FMSEA membership includes both K-12 teachers and nonformal educators. In addition to providing fiscal support for the annual conferences, Florida Sea Grant faculty provide seminars and workshops at the annual FMSEA conference, which draws more than 100 educators annually, and support smaller FMSEA workshops throughout the state.
Between 2002-2004, Florida Sea Grant was a major sponsor and contributor to the 2004 National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) annual conference. In addition to fiscal support, Sea Grant's assistant director for extension Mike Spranger served as a consultant to the conference's program committee. The conference was held in St. Petersburg, with more than 400 K-12 and nonformal educators attending from North America, the Caribbean, Hong Kong and Australia. Spranger also regularly attends the National Science Teacher's Association's annual conference, and participates in the marine education seminar track that is attended by over 300 annually.
In recognition of its contribution to the organization of the 2004 National Marine Educators Association
conference in St. Petersburg, Florida Sea Grant earned the right to display "Mr. Pike," the NMEA traveling
trophy, for the year preceding the conference. Florida Sea Grant extension faculty are pictured accepting
the trophy during an inservice training workshop. (Florida Sea Grant)
In another national effort, Florida Sea Grant provided funding support in 2003 for a NMEA report requested by the Research, Education, and Marine Operations working group of the United States Commission on Ocean Policy. The report, titled "The NMEA Membership Profile Data Analyses and Interpretation," provided baseline information and analysis on formal and nonformal marine education activities for the commission, and was included as an appendix to the commission's final report, delivered to the President in October, 2004.
Florida Sea Grant is well suited to address the problem of invasive species because it
provides the necessary breadth of scope in research, education and outreach. In recent years, Sea Grant has
produced a "Primer on Invasive Species in Coastal and Marine Waters," fact sheets, "diver alert" cards and
other materials designed to support training programs for K-12 and nonformal educators. (Florida Sea Grant)
Aquatic invasive species, which have affected all of the U.S. coast, may constitute the largest single threat to our coastal ecosystem, our coastal economy, and human health in the coastal region. Working with groups such as the Florida Aquarium and the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Florida Sea Grant is part of SERANSE, the Southeast Regional Aquatic Nuisance Species Education and Outreach Network. The network involves educators from three states - Mississippi, Alabama and Florida - and develops programs and materials for both formal and nonformal educational audiences. For the school systems, programs are offered as in-service training for elementary, middle and high school teachers. Similarly, programs are tailored for agency managers, university researchers, extension specialists and agents, and an array of nonformal marine science educators.
Within the state, Florida Sea Grant has offered more than 20 programs and workshops in the last three years. Participants included coastal community leaders, agency managers, university researchers, extension faculty, youth educators, program assistants and camp staff. These one- and two-day sessions considered the status of Florida marine invasive species, familiarized participants with available resources to use in their educational efforts, and provided participants with educational programming and source materials on invasive species. In a succession of specialized in-service opportunities for elementary, middle and high school teachers, participants received training to qualify for Florida's marine educator's marine collection permit.
Florida Sea Grant extension and research faculty accepted the Sustainable Florida Award during a
statewide awards ceremony in Boca Raton. Pictured left to right are: Mary Lou Rajchel, president,
Council for Sustainable Florida; Jim Cato, director, Florida Sea Grant; Dianne Behringer, marine extension
faculty, Broward County; Russ Kerr, Sea Grant researcher and campus coordinator at Florida Atlantic
University; and Sharon Cooper, executive director, Council for Sustainable Florida. (Florida Sea Grant)
Florida Sea Grant's ongoing commitment to enhancing ocean sciences education has earned recognition from the Council for Sustainable Florida, a governor's level collaboration of business and citizen leaders committed to conserving Florida's natural and economic resources. In 2003, Florida Sea Grant received the top award for best practices in the university category in the Sustainable Florida competition, an annual awards program that recognizes organizations, businesses and universities which have demonstrated a commitment to Florida's longterm prosperity and overall environmental health.
The Florida Sea Grant Program was selected for its ability to solve critical coastal and marine problems as well as produce new scientists, ocean policy experts and industry leaders who will be responsible for continuing the preservation of Florida's coastal resources. It is the second Sustainable Florida award for Florida Sea Grant. In 2000, Florida Sea Grant won a Leadership Award for its program of recreational boating research and education, an effort to improve boaters' access to Florida's waters while reducing the detrimental impacts of boating on the marine environment.