Each Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday from March through mid-November, twenty-four students and their teachers from Florida schools spend the day at the Florida State University Marine Laboratory participating in a Saturday-at-the-Sea. Through the Saturday-at-the-Sea program, the students are introduced to the rich variety of marine creatures of the Gulf of Mexico by hands-on experience and study. Saturday-at-the-Sea aims to initiate an understanding of the biological relationships these sea creatures have to each other and to their physical environment. Moreover, the program endeavors to awaken in the participants an awareness of the interdependency of people in this region with the sea life in our estuaries and bays. It is our special goal to stimulate in young minds a strong interest in science at this critical time in their educational development.
The Saturday-at-the-Sea program includes a slide presentation, a collecting trip to sample marine invertebrates and fishes by trawl net and beach seine, and a guided natural history field trip in the salt marsh. In addition, students perform experiments, collect data, observe animals and their behaviors, and examine displays and demonstrations in the laboratory illustrating some of the ways that marine animals carry on the processes of life despite the rigors of the sea. The students see an amazing diversity of creatures, from sea anemones to sea horses, and learn about how different species feed, how some drastically change form as they grow, how vulnerable animals defend themselves from predators, how very different kinds of animals fit into the sea's web of existence, and more.
Middle School Teachers
Take a tour of a SATS day
Interested Individuals
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Sign up here to receive information about upcoming events.
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Click here if you would like to receive information about our new "Saturday Science Program" for families.
Marine Lab Outreach Programs
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Lecture Series: http://www.marinelab.fsu.edu/outreach/
lectureseries.html
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Adult Programs: http://www.marinelab.fsu.edu/outreach/
adultprograms/
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FSUCML Newsletters: http://www.marinelab.fsu.edu/newsletter/
Cool Links
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Want somewhere fun to go visit?
Gulf Specimens Marine Lab: http://www.gulfspecimen.org/
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Need some help identifying a shell you found on the beach?
Photos: http://oceanica.cofc.edu/shellguide/
activitiesframeset.htm
Dichotomous Key: http://oceanica.cofc.edu/shellguide/
Dichotomous Keys Activity.pdf
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Want to know the tides at the FSU Marine Lab?
http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/tideshow.cgi?site=Turkey+Point,+FSU+Lab,
+Florida
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Looking for a job in the marine field?
http://www.marinetech.org/jobs