Category Archives: Events

How to Inspire Students to Protect the Ocean in 2021

 

As environmental concerns gain increasing attention in the media, it is our responsibility to engage and educate children to ensure that they understand why the ocean is so important to us all and to inspire them to want to protect it. In the words of oceans’ pioneer Jacques Cousteau, “People protect what they love”.

So, here’s our pick of the key ocean events that we think will inspire students of all ages to want to protect the ocean in 2021.

 

SeaWeek Australia: 6 – 14 March 2021

2021 theme: The Ocean and Humans are Inextricably Interconnected

SeaWeek Australia is an annual major public awareness campaign which aims to educate and encourage appreciation of the sea. SeaWeek is a great opportunity to increase focus on the deeply woven relationship we have with the ocean and how our survival is underpinned by the health of our oceans.

Involve your school:          www.aaee.org.au/events/seaweek

More info:          www.oceanlifeeducation.com.au/celebrate-seaweek-australia/

 

World Oceans Day: 8 June 2021

2021 theme: The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods

World Oceans Day 2021 is on a mission to deepen understanding of our relationship with the ocean and inspire action to protect it. This year the focus is on how the ocean is our life-source and supports humanity and every other organism on Earth. The focus is on key issues such as plastic pollution, rising water temperatures, overfishing, sewage dumps and other factors impacting the ocean’s ability to thrive as it should.

Involve your school:          worldoceanday.school

 

 World Whale Day: 20 February 2021

World Whale Day began in 1980 in Maui, Hawaii. It’s all about reminding us of the challenges whales face oceans across the globe. Observed annually on the third Sunday in February, World Whale Day celebrates everything about whales.

Involve your school:          www.wilderness.org.au/happy-world-whale-day

 

More info: https://www.oceanlifeeducation.com.au/annual-humpback-whale-migration-east-coast-australia/

 

World Sea Turtle Day: 16 June 2021

World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated on 16 June annually as it is the birthday of Dr. Archie Carr, the so-called “father of sea turtle biology.”  His research highlighted the plight of sea turtles and drove community support to protect them and celebrate them annually on World Sea Turtle Day.

 

 

Involve your school:          conserveturtles.org/june-16th-is-world-sea-turtle-day/

 

Shark Awareness Day: 14 July 2021

Sharks get a huge amount of bad press, yet on average one person is killed by a shark in Australia each year and heaps more are killed by horses and cows!! Without sharks in Australian waters, many ecosystems would not be sustainable, and we would be denied the pleasure of exploring amazing underwater habitats such as the world’s largest natural wonder, Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. The impact on tourism and economies would be huge. Shark Awareness Day aims to separate fact from myth and promote a positive image for these amazing creatures.

Involve your school:          www.sharktrust.org/blog/shark-awareness-day

More info: https://www.oceanlifeeducation.com.au/ultimate-sharks-facts/

 

Check out our Annual Events Calendar for even more great reasons to celebrate the ocean in 2021.

 

 

Lock in the Dates!

Remember to lock in the dates and get planning so you can make the most of these ocean celebrations at your school. Little ripples make big waves!

Bring Learning to Life With A Live Marine Animal Program

Why not book in an Ocean Life Education program to compliment your teaching and bring it all to life. All programs are delivered by qualified Marine Educators with a passion for the ocean. They provide a lively, fun, and interactive experience with our live marine animals and are designed to educate and inspire schools and community to protect our precious marine environment.

Best Christmas Holiday Beach Activities

There are so many awesome things to do on the beach that will keep everyone occupied for hours this Christmas holiday. The beach is a great place to have fun while learning about the ocean without even knowing it!

Here’s Ocean Life Educations’ guide to the best beach activities this Christmas holiday

1. Make a Christmas Sand Sculpture 

Tools: one large bucket, various sized smaller buckets and cups and bowls, wooden spatula, beach spade.

Carving tools: gardening spade, paper straws, wooden kebab spears, knives, forks, spoons, string for shaving and shaping, various sized paint brushes, plastic spray bottle filled with fresh water (to stop sand drying out) – salt water will block the spray.

Note. Always try to take as little plastic to the beach as possible. Even with the best intentions, things often get lost in the sand. 

Christmas Sand Sculpture Method:

🐠 Choose your festive theme

Maybe start off with a simple idea like a Xmas tree or why not just go for it and get straight down to a Santa bearing gifts!

🐠 Use a big bucket to make a base

Cut the bottom out of an old bucket, turn it upside down and fill it with sand to create a stable base which is too heavy to flip up. See details of how to fill the bucket below…

🐠 Sand consistency is key

Sand consistency is key to success. Add sand to water, not water to sand. Sand needs to be wet but not slushy and not powdery and dry – like a mud consistency really.

🐠  Pack the sand in the bucket 

Pack the sand in the bucket – no more than 7cm thick at a time. Use a wooden spatula to ensure you are firmly packing down the sand as you go. Keep adding like this until the bucket is full. Tap the sides of the bucket with your spatula and if the consistency is good, you should easily be able to remove the bucket to expose your foundation sand block. 

🐠 Build up your base 

Keep adding more sand to your base and compacting it, 7cms at a time, until you have achieved the size and height that you require for your design.

🐠  Carve your sand sculpture 

You are now ready to start work on carving your creation! Remember to carve your sand sculpture from the top down. Create your basic outline and get rid of any unwanted sand. Now it’s time to get down to the detail…

Happy sand carving!

 

2. Go Rock Pooling

Both adults and budding marine biologists will love discovering the black sea cucumbers, rose barnacles and sea stars plus many more creatures that make their home in the waters of rocky shoreline areas. Here are some great places to go rock pooling at low tide…

🦀 Point Cartwright, Buddina

A local treasure between the river mouth and the headland. Bountiful sandy rock pools with loads to see, perfect for kids to explore safely at low tide.

 

 

🦀 Kings Beach, Caloundra

Sheltered rock pools with abundant marine life and plenty more to do.

 

 

 

🦀 Shelly Beach

Renowned for its ankle-deep rock pools that abound with marine life.

 

 

 

Remember to stay safe and be mindful of the tide! And…don’t put your hands in where you cant see what’s there. You never know, there may be a Blue Ringed Octopus lurking around!!!!

Happy hunting! 🦀🦀

Want to know more about rockpools? Check out our blog : https://www.oceanlifeeducation.com.au/rock-pools-rock/

 

3. Get Crafty – make a sustainable Christmas tree or mobile

 

 

 

 

Sustainable driftwood Christmas trees and hanging mobiles made with washed up plastic or glass make great sustainable Christmas decorations. Adding lights and other decorations to a tree will really give it a Xmasy glow.

 

PROTECT OUR BEACHES

We don’t encourage people to remove shells from the beach. The beach needs them more than we do. If you are tempted, please ensure you return them to where you found them!

PLASTIC FREE BEACHES

Try not to take any plastic to the beach, things often get accidentally lost in the sand and can end up in the sea.

Enjoy the ocean and have a Merry Christmas from the team at Ocean Life Education!

How to Celebrate SeaWeek Australia

What is SeaWeek Australia?

SeaWeek Australia is an annual celebration of the sea. It is a major public awareness campaign which aims to educate and encourage appreciation of the sea. For us at Ocean Life Education, SeaWeek Australia is the busiest time of the year and a great opportunity to further increase school and community focus on the deeply woven relationship we have with our majestic ocean and how our survival is underpinned by the health of our oceans.

Check out the foot of our blog for ideas of how you can celebrate SeaWeek.

SeaWeek 2022, 5-13 March

This year’s theme is: Our SEArch – what will you discover? It’s based around the fact that the Ocean is largely unexplored.

Our oceans support most life on earth. As over 70% of the Earth’s surface is underwater, it comes as no surprise that marine species outnumber those on land – an incredible 94 per cent of the Earth’s living species exist within the oceans.

Being an enormous island, Australia has one of the largest ocean territories in the world. Australian Oceans support an immense diversity of life and ecosystems. From the warm waters of tropical Queensland, to the cool Tasman Sea, a staggering range of animals, plants and other life forms call our oceans their home.

And it is not just marine life that is supported by the ocean, we humans depend on our oceans too! On average, we each consume around 25 kilograms of seafood every year, so we rely on it for our food and for economic benefit and jobs. If that’s not enough, we also rely on the ocean for: oxygen, carbon dioxide absorption, climate regulation, breakdown and removal of waste, marine transportation, medicine, tourism, recreation, and fun. The list goes on!

Check out our Blog  ‘Ten Reasons Why We Depend on Our Oceans’ for more details.

When is SeaWeek Australia 2022?

SeaWeek Australia 2022 is planned for 5-13 March 2022.

How Can Schools Celebrate Seaweek 2022?

We have lots of ideas for School events and activities to help schools celebrate SeaWeek 2012 in may ways. We are increasing our website resources all the time, so keep checking our Primary and Resources pages. Or why not book one of our interactive Programs to give the kids a real hands-on experience of marine creatures!

Here are some great ideas to get you started…

*Decorate your classroom or childcare setting
*Plastic free class challenge – no plastic in lunch boxes for a day/ week
*Record class plastic usage for a day – pledge to refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle
*Book an ocean-focused incursion or excursion
*Organize a beach clean (& BBQ?) or visit a local beach

*Host an ocean themed coloring or drawing competition
*Fundraise to support a local coast care charity e.g. Coolum Coast Care, Ocean Crusaders, Sea Shepherd

 SeaWeek 2022 is hosted by the AAEE (Australian Association for Environmental Education). If you are planning to run a SeaWeek event, competition, or activity, they’d love to promote it! Email: seaweek@aaee.org.au for more information.

 

 

Ocean Life Education

Ocean Life Education is dedicated to promoting the preservation of our marine environment to communities and schools.  We spend SeaWeek Australia visiting Early Learning Centres and Schools and hosting events throughout Queensland and NSW. Our programs are delivered by qualified Marine Educators with a passion for the ocean. They provide a lively, fun, and interactive experience with our live marine animals. We believe education is the key to inspiring schools and community to protect our oceans.

To join our community of Ocean Legends and become part of the solution, follow us:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OceanLifeEducation/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ocean_life_education/

‘Deep Blue’ for Science Week 2020

What an exciting opportunity we have this year with Science Week.  The theme for the yearly program is dedicated to something Ocean Life Education is extremely passionate about.

Deep Blue: innovations for the future of our oceans

In case you’re wondering what exactly that means, don’t be shy – read on.

Science Week is celebrated throughout Australia annually, this year falling upon the 15 – 23 August.  It is a way to embrace science and technology, whether you are a school student, a builder or a scientist – all are invited to jump in and get involved by taking part in over 1000 scientific events held nationally. Science Week is for everyone, and each of the activities are designed to address and excite all ages. But what is the end goal for such programs and interactive activities?

Here at Ocean Life Education, we endeavour to enhance and spark interest in scientific pursuits for the future.

Science week has delivered a powerful format this year and we are looking forward to joining the celebration by offering a program discussing advancing innovations such as aquaculture and clean energy.

The Australian Science Teachers Association has a great resource book of ideas.

Here’s a look at what this year’s theme will be covering …

Aquaculture is the controlled process of cultivating aquatic organisms, especially for human consumption. With billions of mouths to feed in our ever-populating world, the earth’s wild fish and marine life, cannot possibly sustain us, therefore it’s vital to research viable aquaculture systems.

Water is a very powerful element.  Investigating how we can harness the power of our oceans to generate electricity is a vital step to attaining clean energy as a solution for reducing our impact on climate change and eliminate carbon pollution. Although the use of water to generate electricity is not new; we are now looking to the power of seawater to do the same.

What we need is brilliant young minds to come up with engineering solutions to make this possible and affordable. Will that be you?

Get in touch

info@oceanlifeeducation.com.au

07 5443 8545