Florida Sea Grant seeks to increase marine literacy among people of all ages and offers a variety of programs and resources in marine and environmental sciences. Florida is a major marine and coastal state. With its 1,300 miles of linear coastline and over 8,000 tidal shoreline miles, Florida's 16 million residents and 50 million visitors have a special interest and attraction to our marine environment.

     Florida Sea Grant faculty provide marine education programs to formal educators who teach pre K-16 students and to nonformal educators in aquaria, environmental ed centers, and museums. Florida Sea Grant faculty also work closely with 4H youth faculty and their volunteers in the development and delivery of marine science educational programs.

     These programs range from developing teacher training workshops such as those available through the Florida Center for the Central Gulf of Mexico COSEE, to working directly with youth at such events as state and county marine camps, kids' fishing days, coastal beach clean-ups, dune restoration projects, state marine ecology contests, and field trips to local coastal sites. In most cases,
these activities involve both classroom activities
and field experiences with hands-on exposure to the marine habitats.

     Through these programs, it is our goal that Florida's citizens will have a better understanding and better appreciation of our marine and coastal systems. Our young people will not only learn more about our marine resources, but also be stimulated to explore future careers in the marine and coastal sciences so they have the skills and expertise to deal with the future issues that face Florida.