Program Procedures

(Click on the program link for its Standards support page)

MARINE SCIENCE PROGRAMS

First - Fourth Grade

Fifth Grade

MOBILE CLASSROOM   

First Grade

Second Grade

Third Grade

Fourth Grade

Fifth Grade

General Theme   

Students will demonstrate, classify, and state similarities and differences of the major components of marine life forms, their origins, and  importance in their existing habitats. A key concept will be a hands on exploration of various the life cycles within the marine environments found in and around Charleston Harbor. Students will be given a chance to participated in our on going research into the impact of humans on our environment and asked to work on concepts for a better management of our marine resources.

 Pre-visit Activities    

An outline of each programs goals and areas of inquiry are provided on our Wed site for program preparation. Certain programs will include work sheet activities to be prepared by the student's prior to participating in the program.

 Classroom Programs  

Classroom programs will be offered on board the M/V Charleston Explorer and the Coast Guard Cutter USS Ingham (Patriots Point) and at schools through out South Carolina. Each program included hands on experiences with the marine in habitants. School classroom and programs on the USS Inghan will be supported by power point presentations and hands on explorations using the latest in microscopic technology. 

Oyster Restoration Project

Oyster beds are teeming with life. As part of our ongoing research, students will be asked to assist us in an observation and classification of the various elements that make up the oyster bank habitat. The experiments will produce data to be used in ongoing research conducted by Charleston Explorers at the Patriots Point Oyster  bank site. The observation can include the following experiments:

·        demonstrating the oysters filtering mechanism

·        microscopic observations of various marine life found on marsh grass blades or the living slime which surrounds the oyster. Students’ learn to discern the difference between plants and animals, creating an identification data base of the organisms that reside in the bilo-film community.

·        chemical test kits and other instruments to determine the dissolved oxygen, salinity, ph and nitrate content of water collected from the Patriots Point research site. Students are asked to hypothesize about the water quality parameters and how they might affect the oyster community.  

 Follow-up Observations  

It is our belief that the data collected by Students is all important in the ongoing work to protect our environment. As such, we will post the findings from the Mobile Classroom experiments and Patriots Point site research on Charleston Explorer’s website for follow up review and use in our research projects.

HISTORY PROGRAMS

Third Grade

Oceanography