Mobile Classroom

Students can experience the excitement of the coastal environment and historical aspects of Charleston Harbor without leaving their school!

The Oyster Restoration Project as supported by The Gildea Foundation
Charleston's Early Maritime History and Treasure Hunt as told by Pirates

The one-hour interactive presentations, use multi-media, educational demonstrations, preserved and dried artifacts, living specimens, (seasonal restrictions) and historical replicas, that spark interests and promote inquiry- based learning. The programs' curriculums are fall within the South Carolina curriculum standards as set for the grade level participants. 

.Mobile Classroom is a cost effective and easy way to bring the coastal environment and history to your students' classroom without the difficulty associated with conducting a field trip. Each program is tailored in advance to the curriculum being studied by the students. 

The cost is only $2.00 per student (minimum 30) in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. For all other counties in South Carolina, the cost is $5.00 per student (minimum 30). Subsidized funding, provided for by the Gildea Foundation Grant, is available to students that participate in the meal assistance program. 

Program Descriptions

Oyster Restoration Project

Program Objectives   Through an investigative format, we introduce student's to the unique characteristics of oysters and their habitat. The program highlights the importance of restoration efforts being used in and around Charleston Harbor. Students are asked to observe and inquire as to inherited characterizes and those resulting form the oyster's interactions with the environment.

Methodology    For the past 3 years, Charleston Explorers has been conducting an oyster restoration project on its leased oyster beds in the Stono River. This summer, a second project was started at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum. Samples from the two projects will be brought to the class room for hands on investigations. The program includes a multi mead presentation and preserved artifacts so that the students are introduced to the rich variety of inhabitants found within the Low country's rich marsh eco systems. Aspects of life history, comparative morphology, ecology, commercial and recreational importance, and conservation are presented in a hands-on manner to student participants. Participants will be asked to participate in the long term project. Results will be posted monthly on our website.

Results  To promote the basic knowledge and long term appreciation for South Carolina's coastal ecosystems. 

                                                                                      

Charleston's Early Maritime History as told By Pirates

It is a typical day. Your students are drifting along when in through the door walks a motley dressed seaman, from an age long ago. A loud “Arguu !!”, and their attention becomes focused. With animated style, period props, attire, and lots of “Arguss”, the students are whisked away by our master storytellers to the distance times of the Charleston Pirates. The program is tailored to meet the 3rd grade content standards for an introduction to Social Studies. Nevertheless, all ages will gain from our "Live Pirate" presentation, filled with historical stories of adventure and the everlasting affect Pirates had upon the development of Charleston’s Maritime History. 

For students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade, the program can include a Treasure Hunt conducted on the school grounds, similar to the hunt conducted on a Barrier Island as part of our Treasure Hunt voyage on board the M/V Charleston Explorer.

Crab Tales

Program Objectives
In keeping with our mission to promote greater understanding and awareness of basic ecological, historical, and cultural factors and issues that interact to form the unique character of coastal Charleston, Charleston Explorers offers the "Crab Tales" Program. This program is directed toward elementary and middle school students and presents basic biological and anatomical information about some of the more common species of crabs which call the Charleston Harbor estuary system home. Facts are presented in an interactive and enjoyable manner which stresses the need for appreciation and conservation of this often misunderstood group of invertebrates.

Methodology
The forty-five minute "Crab Tales" program is presented to school groups by one of Charleston Explorers' marine biologists in the student's classroom. Using multimedia, preserved artifacts, and living specimens (when available), students are introduced to the rich variety of Low country crab species. Aspects of life history, comparative morphology, ecology, commercial and recreational importance, and conservation are presented in a hands-on manner to student participants. Curriculum-based instruction supports mandated state educational standards.

Results
"Crab Tales" will test the listening, observation, and memory skills of its participants while engaging them in an entertaining forum of interactive exchange with a marine biologist. Each participant will be introduced to terminology and concepts which leave them with a greater understanding of Lowcountry crabs and the interrelationships which exist between these creatures and the activities of man.