Barnacle Billie/Billy is an old salt who has many a story to tell about our ocean. An interactive experience which students are bound to “wave” about to their friends and family. They will get an idea of the diversity of our oceans from the small barnacle, to our beach nesting sea turtles, to the top predators…sharks, as well as others in this presentation. So clear your schedules, spread out your beach blanket, and slather on the sunscreen as Barnacle Billie/Billy comes to your class.

A touch of the ocean & beach at your own school! A unique opportunity for students to see, feel and smell the ocean & beach in their own classroom! Marine Biologists - a.k.a. Beach Keepers - will see and feel for themselves what a complex habitat the ocean and dynamic zone the beach really are and needs to remain! That the beach as more than a playground or a place to "catch some rays". First-hand experience with the "elements" which make up and end up on the beach will open eyes to the real treasures that abound along this popular strip of Florida. Our theme of beach preservation and wise management will encourage all to keep a keen eye on the future of the beach scene!

Marine Biologists Will:

• • Examine sand composition

  • Identify critters

  • Classify shells & distinguish between univalves and bivalves

  • Identify sea beans & find out where they came from

  • Create coral seascapes

  • Become "Beach Keepers"

Just like the Beach Reach, marine biologists will dive into ocean and beach habitats! Beach Keepers will do 3 of the 6 different stations from Beach Reach.

Marine Biologists Will:

• • Identify critters

  • Classify shells & distinguish between univalves and bivalves

  • Identify sea beans & find out where they came from

  • Become "Beach Keepers"

The salty seas come to your classroom! Students become marine biologists in this hands-on, inquiry based program. They will step into the shoes of Jacques Cousteau & Silvia Earle studying the ocean ecosystem while learning that anyone and everyone can be a conservationist. Marine biologists will study and analyze the make-up and importance of the water and what lives in it – from big to small. There is much to do determining: which body of water has what level of salinity, how a fish’s adaptations dictates where it lives, how to use a dichotomous key, what is an otolith and how it helps fisheries managers – and so much more! Here in Florida, the ocean is all around us – let us help your students discover what makes up our Blue Planet.

Marine biologists will:

• Determine salinity

• Fashion a fish

• Classify shells & label their structures

• Determine “What’s At The Top?”

• Ascertain an unknown habitat

• Analyze otoliths

Sawgrass Sam is back and ready to take your class on an adventure and share stories about this fragile ecosystem and the critters that live in it. Don’t worry too much about the dirt and smell, it will rain soon enough for her/him to get clean! Get ready for an interactive experience of our backyard…the Everglades. Students will relate to the Everglades as more than a fishing place or where danger lies. Sawgrass Sam will take your class on an adventure of how this important ecosystem should work, share stories about the neighborhood critters, and other bits of knowledge. Wildlife Biologists will have first-hand experience with the ‘glades that will open their eyes to the real treasures that we depend on to survive in Florida. They will be our future “Glades Guardians”. The one who has spent so much time immersed in this marsh will get you ready to put on some bug spray, get out your slogging pole and go tromping through the slough!

A unique opportunity for students to see, feel and smell the Everglades in their own classroom! We turn your students into wildlife biologists who search for critters among the 'glades grasses. They'll meet the reptile cousins, touch a real 'gator skull, smell the peat, see what an owl ate for dinner and much more! Stories and legends about the Pahayokee will thrill and fascinate all who hear! Students will relate to the Everglades as more than a fishing place or where danger lies. Wildlife Biologists will have first-hand experience with the 'glades that will open their eyes to the real treasures that we depend on to survive in Florida. They will be our future "Glades Guardians" like Marjory Stoneman Douglas!

Wildlife Biologist Will:

• Determine the length of a gator

• See how an insect sees

• Identify butterflies by their wing patterns

• Examine the geological layers of the Everglades

• Identify elusive native snails from the exotics

• Sleuth owl pellets

• Conduct an inquiry to identify a mystery object

Just like the Everglades Reach, wildlife biologists will feel the thrill of going through the Glades! Glades Guardians will do 3 of the 6 different stations from Everglades Reach.

Wildlife Biologist Will:

• Determine the length of a gators

• Conduct an inquiry to identify a mystery object

• Examine the geological layers of the Everglades

• Sleuth owl pellets

In all the world there is only one Sonoran Desert...through education and awareness we hope to insure its existence for future generations! Students become "Desert Explorers" who examine, compare, analyze, observe, construct and create. Explorers will study all aspects of the desert including flora, fauna and ancient civilizations. They will find out for themselves that the desert isn't the dry and desolate place people often think of. This is a unique opportunity to touch the desert without hours of travel!

Desert Explorers Will:

• Examine skeletal remains of unique desert structures

• Compare defense strategies of desert plants

• Analyze desert soils

• Observe behavior of desert predators

• Reconstruct an ancient indian village based on their ruins

• Create a Navajo sand painting

Just like the Desert Reach, explorers will study and be amazed by the Sonoran Desert! Desert Detectives will do 3 of the 6 different stations from Desert Reach.

Desert Explorers Will:

• Examine skeletal remains of unique desert structures and compare defense strategies of desert plants

• Observe behavior of desert predators and understand food chains

• Create a Navajo sand painting

Students will interactively investigate what makes a rainforest in their own classroom! Physical education is used to teach the different layers. This program has young Wildlife Biologists piecing together the important components of habitats for what animals need to survive within the rainforest ecosystem. Our hope is that they will better understand the destruction and importance of this precious ecosystem. Finally, they will make and take a rainforest critter home with them. 

A unique opportunity for students to see, feel and smell the forest in their own classroom! We turn your students into "Forest Foragers" who search for critters among the forest's litter, classify flora & fauna from the forest floor, make herbal teas using medicinal plants, and research the importance and behavior of worms. They draw conclusions regarding the health of forests around the world and determine what their part is in forest conservation.

Ecologists Will:

• Compare creatures of the forest floor

• Examine earthworm antics

• Solve tree ring mysteries

• Sleuth the killers of the forests

• Distinguish between moss, fungi & lichens

• Concoct herbal teas from medicine plants

• Grasp the concept of “clear cutting” & its impact on the environment

Just like the Forest Reach, ecologists will forage through the forest! Forest Foragers will do 3 of the 6 different stations from Forest Reach.

Ecologists Will:

• Compare creatures from the forest floor

• Solve tree ring mysteries and sleuth the killers of the forests

• Concoct herbal teas from medicine plants

• Grasp the concept of “clear cutting” & its impact on the environment

A unique opportunity for students to observe, classify and analyze endangered ecosystems like the wetlands, beaches, forests and deserts – all which are found here in the USA! Students become "Wildlife Managers“ who not only research, investigate and conduct tests - but make decisions based on their research that may affect life on earth.

Wildlife Managers Will:

• Compare soils based on composition

• Search for specific food chains within complex food webs

• Experiment with polluted waters

• Identify adaptations of signature species

• Attempt to reconstruct a fragmented ecosystem

• Concoct herbal teas from medicine plants (Middle & High School Only)

The Plant Kingdom is often taken for granted, but they play a critical role for our planet! They produce our energy and recycle our nutrients. This interactive program will fertilize the seeds of knowledge about our (mostly) green friends in your Budding Botanist!

Botanists Will:

• Learn the difference between trees, shrubs, grasses, vines & herbaceous plants

• Identify the parts of a plant

• Understand the shared characteristics between a parent and offspring

• Understand the importance of pollination

• Determine what can make a plant healthy or unhealthy

• Use physical education to learn the life cycle of a plant

• Plant a seed to watch grow through its life cycle and maybe even record its progress

Herpetologists have a chance to explore the class Amphibia and they will understand why the oldest land vertebrates lead a "double life". You've heard them call at night and now you will know which call is which with our caller I.D. activity. There are approximately 6340 species of amphibians - but most of us just think of Kermit the Frog! During this interactive and sometimes physically exhausting program...

Herpetologists Will:

• Learn about the different orders of amphibians & how to tell them apart

• How they are different from other animals (especially since they are often confused with reptiles)

• Identify some frogs & toads by their calls

• Play a game of "Which Amphibian Is It?"

• Either build an Origami frog or participate in a frog metamorphosis relay race (depends on age & group)

Ornithologists explore the class Aves and what makes this group so diverse. They focus on the unique adaptations that have allowed birds to survive on every continent since about 150 million years ago - which is important since there are almost 10,000 species today! They are believed to have descended from small dinosaurs! No wonder parts of them can be so scaly. 

Ornithologists Will:

• Explore beak shape, function & adaptations

• Learn about their plumage functions

• Identify some birds through their calls

• Understand how & why most can fly (also understanding that not all birds fly!)

• Identify birds by their feet that have adapted to either their habitat or hunting style

Busy Bees is an entirely different Science Eye experience.  Most of our programs are geared to the classroom setting with groups rotating around to different hands-on activities.  However, we have created a program that is geared for the little ones in an interactive learning experience.  An opportunity for young entomologists to understand the importance of insects and the fascinating roles they play in our lives! Associating with arthropods, entomologists will see why there is such a "buzz" about insects. They will understand the importance of these "pests" in our every day lives as well as how "bugs" have given humans ideas to create many of our day to day products. The young entomologists will identify and share their knowledge about insects while the instructor shares fun, cool facts about those insects that “bugs” most of us.

After learning about some of the different insects they might see in their own back yard, and have learned some of the parts of insects vs arachnids, they will turn into little busy bees themselves. They will learn, and duplicate, how bees communicate where the biggest and best flower patches are using sound and body motions!  “Bee” ready though, once the little busy bees get their bee groove on, you won’t want to miss it! So have your cameras ready for the best bee dances in the garden!!!  We are completely responsible for any fun, laughter, learning, and appreciation for the environment that you and your children will have with Busy Bees!

An exciting experience with insects! Are arthropods anything like humans? They have legs and a head... how about like spiders...? Entomologists will learn the difference between insects and their cousins... what makes an insect an insect and not a spider... why isn't everything called a "bug"...Entomologists will visit different field sites to understand the importance of insects and the fascinating roles they play in our lives!  

Entomologists Will:

• • Mimic metamorphosis

  • Assemble an insect 

  • Practice pollination

  • Identify insect's products

  • Arrange arthropods through taxonomy

  • Compare adaptations

  • Earn their wings through "Butterfly Battles"

Just like the Insect Insights, biologists will fly, hop and crawl through the field sites - all without having to wear bug spray! Entomologists will do 3 of the 6 different stations from Insect Insights.

Entomologists Will:

• • Mimic metamorphosis

  • Assemble an insect 

  • Arrange arthropods through taxonomy

  • Earn their wings through "Butterfly Battles"

Ichthyologists dive into the oldest vertebrate group on earth - FISHES! The diversity of body shape, caudal (tail) fins, mouth and teeth, and scales allow fish to inhabit a variety of places. Ichthyologists will participate in a variety of activities to "sea" why fish are so amazing and found everywhere from the warmest to the coldest of waters... in fresh, salt and brackish waters... shallows to the deep! Definitely something fishy going on!

Ichthyologists Will:

• Determine what makes a fish a fish

• Learn the external anatomy of a "basic" fish

• Design  their own species

• Understand camouflage and mimicry

This is one "hairy" situation your students will love to have in the classroom. We explore a group of animals that we all love, but learn that there is so much more than a cute kitten playing with some yarn on a computer screen. How amazing is it that mammals can be found from 2 grams to 200 tons? 

Mammalogists Will:

• Conclude what makes a mammal a mammal

• Understand through practice, scientific naming and classification

• Use their sleuth skills to identify different mammals through their tracks

• See how scat can help in identifying mammals as well as what they eat

This program will bring the animal picture books to life. Zoologists explore our animal kingdom as they will come face to face with live and preserved specimens from the arthropod phylum and fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal classes.

Zoologists Will:

• Based on visual characteristics, differentiate between the different classes/groups of animals (mostly vertebrates)

• Learn about their differences through interactive sharing

• Touch & feel most specimens to better understand their differences - some may be surprising...

• Some ages may act out some of the different animals

Herpetologists have an opportunity to explore the class of Reptilia and those specific to what can be found here in Florida. They discuss the history and characteristics that make reptiles unique from the other classes of animals. Let us “shed” some light on these remarkable creatures that have been present on our planet for millions of years. We will “scute” from one group of reptiles to the next discussing adaptations unique to each as well as debunking any misconceptions about them. A live specimen to compliment your journey into the world of reptiles – but not to worry, nothing poisonous or venomous, only addictive...

Herpetologist Will:

• Understand the differences between crocodiles and alligators

• Determine the full length of an alligator

• Identify different turtles using a dichotomous key

• Discuss sea turtle conservation

• Realize the importance of snakes in their habitat

Students become a physician - someone who makes sure you are healthy. However, depending on the part of the body we are examining/checking out – they may even have even more specific names! What do you think we need to take care of or do in order to be healthy? We are going to look at some of our body parts more specifically so we will know better how to be healthy!

Physicians Become and Will:

• Orthopedists in studying the human skeletal structure and then comparing to unknown animal bones

• Neurologists to determine their flexibility, balance and reflex

• Cardiovascularists testing their heart rate

• Pulmonary Specialists determining their lung volume

• Gastroenterologists learning how foods effect our bones, brains and heart

Students use their senses to identify skeletons, skins and various animals. The Safari Explorers will enhance their ability to solve the mysteries of  how animals recognize each other. An opportunity for young "Safari Explorers" to feel, touch, hear and smell mystery materials which have come from different animals.

Safari Explorers Will:

• Classify Real Bones

• Analyze Skins

• Explore Scents

• Scrutinize Sounds