Krishna lends a helping hand to students on a guided snorkel in Petite Anse, Mahé, Seychelles © WiseOceans
When using education as a tool for long-term conservation, it gives us the flexibility to engage with a wide range of age groups. A great way to engage with the younger generation about marine life is through schools. We really enjoy working with children; their endless enthusiasm and unfiltered curiosity makes them the best students no matter what the subject!
Georgie explains the Reef Restoration Project to students from International School Seychelles © WiseOceans
The WiseOceans Marine Education team based at Four Seasons Resort Seychelles has had some productive sessions with local schools in the past couple of months. Earlier this year, we had 12 students from the International School Seychelles visit us at Petite Anse, the beach where Four Seasons is located, to learn all about our Reef Restoration Project. Together we learnt what coral reefs are, why they are important ecosystems and the relevance of efforts such as our Reef Restoration Project. The students were very keen to understand some of our research techniques and methods. They participated in our coral gardening demonstration, where they had first-hand experience of our reef restoration techniques. We then went on a guided snorkel to observe different kinds of corals and associated marine life.
Hands up if you know the answer © WiseOceans
Students don’t necessarily always visit us on the beach, sometimes we make a trip to where they are. In April we had a wonderfully creative time with twenty five eleven year olds at the Baie Lazare Primary School (the closest school to where we are based). With this younger audience we discussed the plethora of marine creatures that are found around the islands, had a fun quiz to refresh what we learnt and then sat down to make our very own marine themed fridge magnets to take home. The students thoroughly enjoyed the session and wanted to know when we were going to return for another activity. It was hard to say goodbye at the end of the day, especially when they were inviting us home to hang out over the weekend!
Krishna sharing his marine knowledge with the students of Baie Lazare School, Mahé © WiseOceans
We don’t want to restrict ourselves to the Petite Anse beach or the schools around Seychelles. We want to share our love for marine life wherever you are. As part of WiseOceans’ Dive Into the Classroom programme we provide marine life lessons via Skype. This wonderful project has helped us connect with students from all around the world. All you need is an internet connection and a web cam!
You can learn more about our work with schools on our website
