A New Truck Will Bring A Piece Of Vancouver Aquarium To Schools

By Kent Hurl

Vancouver, Canada - Vancouver Aquarium and Burnaby elementary school students celebrate the launch of the brand-new BCTC AquaVan, bringing marine education to schools and communities throughout BC and Alberta.

The BCTC AquaVan is one of the Vancouver Aquarium’s many educational initiatives helping people connect with our natural world and inspiring them toward conservation action. The award-winning BCTC AquaVan is 32-feet of aquatic education on the move! The program provides schoolchildren across BC and Alberta with the chance to get up close and personal with live animals and to experience aquatic life regardless of where they live. Fun, interactive aquatic education programs complement the BC Ministry of Education’s curriculum guidelines for grades K-12.

About BCTC
BC Transmission Corporation is the Crown corporation that plans, builds, operates and maintains our province's publicly-owned electrical transmission system. 

About the Vancouver Aquarium
The Vancouver Aquarium is a self-supporting, non-profit association dedicated to effecting the conservation of aquatic life through display and interpretation, conservation practices, education, research, and direct action. Learn more at www.vanaqua.org

Vancouver Aquarium’s BCTC AquaVan - Aquatic Education on the Move 

The award-winning BCTC AquaVan is one of many educational initiatives by the Vancouver Aquarium that connects people to our natural world and inspires them to take action to conserve it.

This 32-foot vehicle brings aquatic education into communities and schools throughout B.C. and Alberta. Sponsored by BC Transmission Corporation, the BCTC AquaVan program complements the BC Ministry of Education’s curriculum guidelines for grades K-12.

A Unique Marine World Experience

The BCTC AquaVan gives students a unique, hands-on opportunity to learn about and explore the lives of animals from British Columbia’s shores.

Equipped with dynamic educators, fun & interactive programs and live marine animals, the mobile classroom allows children to experience ocean life in their community. Students can touch a sea star, understand how a barnacle feeds, observe a hermit crab up close, and discover the connections among animals, environments and ourselves.

BCTC AquaVan: A Proven Record of Delivering Marine Education Throughout B.C. and Alberta

Established in 1994, the AquaVan has worked with over 387,010 participants, visited hundreds of schools, and traveled over 170,000 kilometers.

In the 2007/08 school year the BCTC AquaVan worked with over 12,553 participants. 55% of the vehicle bookings were within the Lower Mainland and 45% were outside that region.

With support from Vancouver Aquarium’s partners, the AquaVan will deliver programming over a 3-month period ranging from Vancouver to Prince Rupert, Nanaimo to Kelowna. During the current 2008/09 school year, BCTC AquaVan is traveling to:

Abbotsford
Agassiz
Alert Bay
Burnaby
Campbell River
Chilliwack
Coquitlam
Delta
Fort St. John
Kamloops
Kelowna
Maple Ridge
Mission
Pitt Meadows
Port Alberni
Port Alice
Port Coquitlam
Port Hardy
Port McNeill
Port Moody
Powell River
Richmond
Sechelt
Surrey
Vancouver
Victoria
Westbank
West Vancouver

Visit us

For more information on the BCTC AquaVan and the Vancouver Aquarium’s education and school programs, visit  www.vanaqua.org/education/aquavan

Other funding partners include Esso Imperial Oil Foundation, LearnNowBC, NSERC CRSNG, RBC Foundation and YVR.

To see Vancouver Aquarium's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to: http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-40-Vancouver_Aquarium