Since 2008, students, faculty and staff from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science have been sharing their love for science and ocean conservation with children from underserved Miami communities through “Ocean Kids”. This civic engagement event, founded by Rosenstiel School former faculty member Dr. Jill Richardson, targets elementary aged students and is designed to foster discovery, joy, and a sense of stewardship and personal efficacy.
To date, we have reached over 3,000 K-12 students from under-resourced schools and engaged them with hands-on and culturally relevant STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities and lesson plans. Our goal is to establish a sense of belonging and inclusion on a college campus, encourage students to believe in themselves, and empower them to become a part of the growing environmental justice movement to save our oceans and South Florida’s unique coastlines.
Children are naturally inquisitive, but studies show that their interest in STEM wanes by the time they reach middle school. Additionally, lack of preparation in science among under-represented minority groups in elementary education results in reduced enrollment and success in secondary and collegiate settings. All the while, STEM occupations are growing at 17%, while others are growing at only 9.8% (U.S. Department of Commerce), and STEM careers are at the foundation of community stability, growth, and transformation (Science Pioneers).
Thus, by providing access to experiential STEM lessons and activities on a college campus, the goal is to help students envision their path to college and a potential future career in STEM. At Ocean Kids, students visit various educational stations with locally relevant themes to improve ocean literacy through hands-on activities.
Ocean Kids has been acknowledged by the local media, The Clinton Global Initiative U (Extraordinary Commitment to Action), UM SOAR Awards (Excellence in Programming), Miami-Dade Public Schools (Excellence in Service), the UM Citizen Board, and MTV’s “The Dean’s List”.
The most recent Ocean Kids event was hosted on April 21st, 2023 and was made possible by the Ocean Conservancy’s Ocean Justice Community Grant awarded to Dr. Maria Cartolano and Dr. Jill Richardson.
"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught." (Baba Dioum, 1968)
Ocean Explorers
Ocean Explorers was held for the first time in April 2022! It is a similar community engagement event to Ocean Kids, but was specifically designed for middle and high school students. Ocean Explorers is an immersive field trip hosted at Rosenstiel School for middle and high school students from under-resourced schools in Miami-Dade. Students learned how to become stewards for their local marine environment and envision their path to an advanced degree by interacting with passionate university students and faculty volunteers.
Students visited fourteen different educational and engaging stations to learn about coral reef restoration, ocean acidification, fish physiology, bioluminescence, marine mammal rescue, sounds of the sea, larval fish, marine invertebrates, microplastics, recycling and composting, exploration science, coastal watersheds, and underwater archeology. Students also received a tour of the F.G. Walton Smith research vessel.
To expand the impact of this event, Ocean Explorers Educational Kits have been developed that contain detailed lesson plans, presentation slides, and laboratory supplies to complete 10 hands-on activities. These kits have been distributed to ten to local middle and high school schools in Miami-Dade so teachers can implement cutting-edge marine science and conservation curriculum in their classrooms at no cost.
The Ocean Explorers event and kits have been made possible by Ocean Exploration Education Grants from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and NOAA Ocean Exploration awarded to Dr. Jill Richardson and Dr. Maria Cartolano.
If you are interested in contributing to future events, please click the orange button above to support Ocean Kids and Ocean Explorers!
Links to more Ocean Kids and Ocean Explorers media:
