Learning Resources | News

Marine Education and Conservation Site Expands Activities

• By Scott Aronowitz
• 10/05/10

Explore the Blue, a Web site dedicated to encouraging youth interest and participation in learning about marine life, on-the-water activities, and marine conservation has expanded its content to include more activities and educational tools.

Existing content has included a range of elementary lesson plans and supplemental videos on water-related recreational activities, such as boating and fishing, and the importance of clean natural resources and healthy, habitable water environs such as lakes, streams, and oceans. One popular component is a video game called "Thrill of the Catch," which engages students while teaching them the rudiments of boating and fishing.

The newly added content expands the site's focus on marine life and related fields of study such as marine biology, botany, and environmental science. Among the new offerings are:

• Field Investigations Guide--teaches students the skills they need to conduct their own basic investigations;
• Virtual Habitat Map--tool for teachers to show students the aquatic plants and animals that live in each geographic region;
• Enhanced, cross-curricular elementary school lesson plans to integrate marine studies and water activities with language arts, health and physical education, social studies, math, and natural science; and
• Essay Contest--Site visitors can submit essays, each describing a favorite boating and/or fishing experience, with an accompanying photo, to win a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park, including airfare, lodging, water activities, and spending money.
  

Explore the Blue, a venture of Discovery Education and the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) "Take Me Fishing" Campaign, also offers extensive tools and activities for family participation, including water activity planning, boat building, custom mapmaking, and observational journals.