Ocean Kids!

On Thursday we got an email that children of RSMAS personnel would be able to attend an event on Saturday called Ocean Kids on UM's Main Campus. Brad had been planning to take Garrett to the car show, since he had been asking for a date with Daddy. But we could NOT pass this up--it was right up our familial alley and something we knew Garrett would love. It was geared for children 5-12 years old, but of course Garrett had a blast. I'm a little jealous to have missed out on all the fun!

Awesome, awesome lessons . . . Garrett was in the mix during all of them and had a great deal to say, of course.
Just like daddy when you tell him to say CHEESE!


Bubbles are fun!


Touch tank

Frame craft

Water and oil mixing

Crude oil demo = totally awesome. Chocolate syrup + veg oil in water, then the kids got to stick feathers in to see how it sticks to everything.

Mangrove experiement - kids got to add sand to water to see how it would wash away, then stick in mangrove propagules to show how the mangroves keep the sand from eroding. AWESOME!


This one was to demonstrate the importance of sharks in the ecosystem. Some of the kids got to be sharks and some were fish (the fish wore red hats). The sharks were then caught in fishing nets or finned as the area they were in was reduced, demonstrating that without the sharks around, there are too many fish. Great, great job with basic but important scientific concept.



Simulated marine mammal rescue:

Fossil dig


The got to dissect a squid and write with its ink.








Coral talk, then modeling corals with playdough. Yeah, Garrett didn't get the modeling concept so much, but he still had fun!



Be still my heart--microscopy! Zooplankton, but we'll forgive them for that. They got to draw what they saw, but slacker daddy didn't save the pictures!! (But didn't he do a great job taking pictures of everything? So we'll forgive him.)


All in all, an absolutely awesome experience for the little guy! Thanks FINSEA and Dr. Richardson!