Long Island’s shorelines and waters are major resources and attractions. Young people need to understand the marine environment so that they can protect and enhance it. The group programs at the Suffolk County Marine Environmental Learning Center (SCMELC) are designed to interest students in grades K-12 in the many diverse and exciting marine topics. These programs are offered both at your site and the Marine Center. For directions to the Marine Center click here.

To schedule any of the marine programs contact 631-852-8660.

Beneath the Sea - A Sub Aquatic Adventure - Grades K - 12 Examine the excitement of SCUBA and the gear that allows humans to swim and breathe like the animals that live in the sea. We discuss adaptations, pressure, and visual changes that occur as you dive further below the surface. Students will be given the opportunity to examine and wear dive gear and take their own underwater adventure through the eyes of a diver using underwater film footage. (50 minutes) $125; maximum 30 students

Discovery Tank - Grades K - 12 Students will discover the wonders of local marine life from this unique presentation using a low maintenance salt water aquarium system left in your classroom on permanent display. Discovery tank will include local fish species, snails, shrimp, hermit crabs, sea stars and other invertebrates. Included is the 10-gallon tank, filter, air pump, water, sand and marine life. (50 minutes) $135; maximum 30 students

Fishy Facts - Grades K - 8 Students will learn about the differences between fish and other ocean dwellers, as well as, the amazing adaptations many fish have acquired for survival in their various habitats. Several visual props will be provided. (50 minutes) $125; maximum 30 students

Long Island Geology - Grades 4 - 8 Long Island Geology is a hands-on course designed to look at our unique island and its prehistoric formation. This course covers in detail how all of the bays and local bodies of water were formed thousands of years ago. Children will participate in several hands-on experiments and activities, create a 3-D map for their classroom, learn about sand migration, wave power, and human impact on our beaches. (50 minutes) $125; maximum 30 students

Marine Debris and Entanglement - Grades K - 12 This program is designed to make children aware of the problem of marine debris, including types, amount and sources of floatable debris and its impact on the marine environment. Emphasis is placed on the effects of debris to marine wildlife in the form of entanglement and ingestion. Class discussion covers ways in which students can help combat the problem of marine debris, including topics such as beach clean-ups, recycling, and writing to legislators. Slides are also included in this program. (50 minutes) $125; maximum 30 students

Ready, Set, Glow - Grades K - 12 Get ready, get set and glow into a deep-sea program about bioluminescent animals. Your students will be awed by the scientific experiments and crazy adaptations these deep-sea animals use just to survive in the mysterious deep-sea. Pictures, models, and videos will give children an eye-opening experience. The best area to conduct this program is in a room with no windows or on a closed stage. (50 minutes) $125; maximum 30 students

Crustacean Exploration - Grades 5 - 12 Study lobsters and other local crustaceans, and learn about their unique specializations. (50 minutes) $125; maximum 30 students

Seashore Safari - Grades K - 12 Students will observe the live marine creatures that can be found on our rocky North Shore and in our protected sand beaches and salt marshes of the bay and South Shore. Students will give information on these species and have hands-on time with each as well. They will learn of the special adaptations each have acquired to cope with their diverse habitats. This class also touches on marine food chains. (50 minutes) $125; maximum 30 students

Where are the Plankton? - Grades 3 - 12 Plankton is more than a character on Sponge Bob Square Pants! It is an actual microscopic inhabitant of the ocean. Students will learn about the special adaptations plankton have to survive, see what they actually look like, then students create their own racing plankton! (50 minutes) $125; maximum 30 students

Who’s For Dinner - Grades K - 8 Who eats what in the ocean? Students will learn about food chains of the sea, construct an ocean food web and play a salt marsh food chain game. Perfect preparation for regents exam. (50 minutes) $125; maximum 30 students

Back to Marine Home

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County / 2007