Promoting environmental and ocean literacy in the classroom can be done in many ways but taking it outside and onto the water takes it to a whole other level. One of the best tools we use at Discovery Hall Programs (DHP) to increase a student’s environmental literacy is a vessel-based educational experience where students hop onto one of Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s (DISL) research vessels, the R/V Alabama Discovery, to see what is living in Mobile Bay and the Gulf through the use of a trawl and plankton tow.
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant helps support experiences such as these that tend to be one of the highlights of students’ experiences during their time with us. In day-to-day conversations with students, I hear how exciting the vessel was or how they got to see something for the very first time.
With around 160 trips per academic year, approximately 3,000 students get to see a wide variety of what can be found in the water around Dauphin Island. This is often times their first experience on a boat and seeing live marine animals that they are able to hold and investigate more closely.
From feeling a croaker croak or being able to watch the chromatophore spots of a squid change shape, students get a hands-on experience that leaves an imprint. It’s not just students too. Educators and chaperones with a group of students or educators attending a professional development workshop hosted by DHP often get this experience as well. Using the vessel in our workshops gives teachers an experience that they can then utilize in the classroom if they are unable to bring their students to the lab.
Over the years, vessel experiences have taken students beyond the scope of what one might learn with only reading and researching. Taking a trip on the R/V Alabama Discovery or from back in the day, the R/V Veral, has had long-lasting memories and impacts. One such way I know this is that I was a student on one of these trips. I am not alone in this as several other educators at DHP share a similar history at DISL and in other places. It is one of the many things that set me on my path into a career in marine science. Being able to go out on the vessel and see things I had never seen before or never thought I would have the opportunity to see up close was definitely one of the key moments that have brought me to what I do as a marine educator today.
I grew up in a landlocked state so getting experience being on a vessel was a totally new and exciting experience. Now as an educator leading these vessel-based experiences, I can see the value of this kind of educational experience.
Meet the author
Kyle Halstead
Marine Science Educator
Kyle Halstead is a science educator with Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) Discovery Hall Programs. He leads K-12 educational activities, develops materials for teacher professional development... Read more
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