The Pier Aquarium Wins Two Foundation Grants for Ocean in Motion

By Emily Stehle

St. Petersburg, FL – The Pier Aquarium has announced two foundation grants that will support education programs this year and 2012. The Margaret Ewell Dickins Foundation of St. Petersburg and the Alvah H. and Wyline P. Chapman Foundation, St. Petersburg have both awarded grants to fund educational programming including Ocean in Motion (OIM), a traveling touch tank program with an outreach education curriculum.

During the summer, OIM will be stationed at the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg, 1450 16th St. N. A collaborative initiative involving elementary school teachers, local marine research institutions and The Pier Aquarium, OIM provides teaches and their students a unique seven-week marine science education program. Schools that host the mobile tank have weekly 45-minute visits from a marine educator and learn how to take care of their aquarium. Topics covered in the classroom include: the food web, fish anatomy, marine habitats, marine diversity, animal behavior, adaptations, the estuary of Tampa Bay and good stewardship practices.

The program was created in 2005 as a school outreach program funded by the Sunrise Rotary Club and the St. Petersburg Times. OIM has traveled to Admiral Farragut Academy, Campbell Park Elementary Marine Science School, Clearview Avenue Elementary, Great Explorations, Meadowlawn Middle School, Northside Boys and Girls Club, the Police Athletic League, Ridgecrest Elementary School, Southside Fundamental Middle School and Woodlawn Elementary School in St. Petersburg: Gulfport Elementary School in Gulfport and Bauder Elementary School, Largo. The mobile tank and critters have made appearances at Bauder Elementary School’s science fair, the aquarium’s Kids’ Fishing Tournament and Spa Beach Splash marine discovery day.

Teachers who would like to have Ocean in Motion in their classroom should contact Jaclyn Mousoulias, jmousoulias@pieraquarium.org or (727) 895-7437, ext. 205, and request an application. There is no cost to the school.

ABOUT THE PIER AQUARIUM

The Pier Aquarium, established in 1988, is a private, non-profit aquarium and marine education center located in downtown St. Petersburg, FL at The Pier. It showcases 17 tanks of live fish and other marine life and educational exhibits on the first and second floors and an outdoor marine laboratory and teaching unit, the Roy G. Harrell, Jr. Education Station, located on the Pier approach.

Its mission is to enhance the public’s understanding of the value and fragility of the local and global marine environment through research, education and personal experiences. The Pier Aquarium serves as the "public face” for the St. Petersburg Ocean Team’s research, innovation and technology. The Ocean Team is a consortium of 13 marine science and oceanographic institutions and environmental research agencies in the Southeast and one of the top such industry clusters in the nation.

More than 85,500 visitors, including 25,000 who participate in our scheduled educational programs, come to The Pier Aquarium to attend and participate in our 1-4pm daily Touch Tank Experience and Fish Feeding, our first Saturday of the month Book Nook family programs, the annual Spa Beach Splash free marine discovery day and Summer Marine Adventures summer camp. Volunteers contribute more than 4,600 hours each year.

The Pier Aquarium has announced an expansion to a 11,500 sq. ft. facility called the Marine Discovery Center & Aquarium and its intent to move to John’s Pass Village at Madeira Beach, Florida by the end of December 2012.

To view Pier Aquarium's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to:  http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-131-Pier_Aquarium