Photo by UF/IFAS (Tom Wright)
Parents, students and teachers can access a wealth of free educational materials about the Florida environment during this time of widespread learning at home. The resources are part of Florida Sea Grant’s educational mission and include lessons and information about manatees, sea turtles, right whales, and other aspects of coastal Florida.
“Florida Sea Grant has a long history of working with teachers and students,” said Maia McGuire, a UF/IFAS Extension Florida Sea Grant agent who is leading the creation and coordination of the materials. “We are compiling some of our most popular lessons and making a few new ones to help.”
One of the newly created materials is a series of videos based on a popular book that McGuire co-wrote about sea turtles. “One in a Thousand: Those Amazing Sea Turtles” introduces viewers to sea turtle biology, habitat and ways people can help protect sea turtles and their habitat.
Other UF/IFAS Extension Florida Sea Grant agents are also creating video resources for K-12 learners. Those made specifically for at-home learners can found on the tile called “Education at Home” at flseagrant.org/education.
New materials are being added as they are completed, so the available resources will be increasing over the next few weeks.
“Our Florida Sea Grant agents have expertise in all issues related to coastal Florida,” said Sherry Larkin, Florida Sea Grant director. “By making this knowledge available and accessible to our youngest Floridians during this time, we can continue to encourage them to learn about and protect Florida’s coasts.”
Additionally, the National Sea Grant program has compiled a list of educational resources from Sea Grant programs around the nation at seagrant.noaa.gov/educationathome.
“Sea Grant is a national leader in funding and fostering coastal science,” McGuire said. “These materials will allow students to learn about the coastal environment, even while they have to stay at home.”
