Dive into Education with National Marine Sanctuaries

Dive into Education is a marine science education program aimed at providing teachers with resources and training to support ocean literacy in America’s classrooms. The major goals of the Dive into Education program are to:

• Provide K-12 teachers with professional development using hands-on, standards-based, ocean science activities that will excite their students about science and technology.
• Provide K-12 teachers a marine science education network for future partnerships, collaborations and support.
• Promote understanding of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and its system of marine protected areas.
• Encourage responsible stewardship of marine, natural and cultural resources, especially national marine sanctuaries.

The NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries’ Education Team has sponsored a two-day Dive into Education marine science workshop for eighty K-12 teachers and informal educators from Hawai`i and American Samoa, on February 20-21, 2004. Educators representing thirteen different marine protected areas of the National Marine Sanctuary System offered hands-on sessions aimed at providing teachers with the knowledge and resources necessary to bring marine science into the classroom. Thirty-six concurrent sessions were held at Bishop Museum and on Coconut Island, ranging from satellite oceanography to coral reef surveying and monitoring.

National marine sanctuary staff hosted another successful Dive into Education Program May 13-14, 2005 on Tybee Island, Georgia for eighty informal and formal educators in the southeastern United States. The collective talent and leadership of the National Marine Sanctuary System education team also brought this special, marine science education program to American Samoa in July 27-28, 2010 on Tutuila Island.