Classroom on the Sand with Surf, Skate, Science

Overview

On the morning of October 14th, 2024, The International SeaKeepers Society led a Classroom on the Sand lesson with 40 students from Surf, Skate, Science at Atlantic Dunes Park in Delray Beach. Our Community Engagement Associate, Lillian, and our Educational Outreach Associate, Jack, led an interactive discussion on the impact we have on our local waterways, defining a watershed, and highlighting some of the most prevalent causes of pollution all over the greater South Florida area. Students then participated in two activities: first, modeling a watershed and pollution dynamics through the use of our Enviroscapes Watershed model table, and second performing a Sink or Float test where students made their best assumptions on whether different popular types of plastic would sink or float in seawater. Throughout the activities, we encouraged students to think critically on both sources and impact of pollution as well as what both they as individuals can do to try to reduce pollution on local waterways all the way to Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Our students proved to be natural scientists, asking amazing questions and guessing almost all of the types of plastic sinking or floating correct! To end the day, we discussed the efforts and advancements of marine engineering as a means to create technologies that can help us better address problems that may seem out of our reach as individuals. We give a huge thank you to the team at Surf, Skate, Science for hosting us and to the students for their excited participation and enthusiasm for cleaning up our waterways all over South Florida.