The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation launched its new Ocean Campus with a celebration of teachers and the ocean on World Teachers’ Day, marked annually on October 5.
Ocean Campus was introduced to teachers, students and sponsors as guests of the aquarium last Saturday.
The day included a tour of the campus and a marine sciences career expo followed by a Blue Tie event, with guest speakers sharing their life-changing experiences as a result of having participated in the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation’s educational programme.
Leigh Meinert, the head of Ocean Campus, took guests on a tour of the offerings at the campus, and also spoke about future plans for the space.
Next to the aquarium, a stairway leads up to two classrooms, where teachers give lessons on all things ocean.
Ms Meinert said the Two Oceans Aquarium has agreed to expand this by building another two classrooms, and transforming the entrance of the space into a foyer with a sign saying Ocean Campus, anticipated to be complete by the end of next year.
Inside one of the classrooms, which has little ponds on every table housing different specimens in water, marine sciences teacher Chanelle Thomas said children get to engage with the species that they would normally find at rock pools in the ocean.
She said school groups visit the aquarium and a lesson is included in one of the classrooms. “All our lessons are curriculum aligned so schools will book from Grades 1 to 12 and based on the lesson you choose, that is what we will offer, or the teacher will give us some information of what children are learning in class so we will try to align it and give the children the experience.
“Here, pupils get to pause and tell us their stories and also ask their questions.”
She said the campus also offers courses which are usually sponsored to make it accessible. Courses cover marine biology, climate change, oceanography, among other topics.
In another classroom, early childhood development (ECD) supervisor Rafeeah Ismail showed guests the programme, which includes a puppet show, games and a book for little children at a cost of R65, usually paid for by parents or by the school.
Ms Ismail said there were six different puppet shows offered in isiXhosa, English and Afrikaans. Games include “We love turtles” – a balancing game where children balance a beanbag on their heads and walk slowly, like a tortoise, along a beam.
Another game includes picking up litter with a magnet to “keep the beach clean”, which encourages them to go to the beach and pick up any litter they see.
The puppet shows can also be taken to schools, she said, and the booth takes about five minutes to set up.
Ann Lamont, chairperson of the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, said with the campus, under the leadership of Ms Meinhart, together with support of the Two Oceans Aquarium and the V&A Waterfront, they were able to respond to the need for urgent action to address the negative human-driven changes to the ocean.
“We need to address this as a matter of urgency if we hope to pass on to our children a thriving and productive ocean that can support people.”
She said the aquarium has offered curriculum-aligned education programmes for almost 30 years, with the foundation currently reaching over 100 000 pupils a year across its early childhood development and school programmes.
In addition, it offers a wide range of courses for children and adults, job shadowing and internship opportunities, and outreach via its mobile vans and puppet shows.
In 2019, Marine Sciences was introduced into the curriculum and currently there are 110 Grade 10 to 12 pupils enrolled in the Marine Sciences online school.
“Over the years, many young people who have come through the Aquarium Foundation’s educational programmes have gone on to become scientists, environmental educators, conservationists and activists, all of which has been made possible with generous support from the aquarium and numerous donors,” said Bianca Engel, deputy head of Ocean Campus.
“Imagine the possibilities for future marine careers now that Marine Sciences can be taken as a matric subject.”
Volunteer Joshua Castle from Athlone said when he left school, he had a choice of two fields – marine science or engineering.
He ended up going into engineering, but volunteered at the aquarium for the love of the ocean.
He said being a volunteer at the aquarium challenges you in lots of projects. While he was volunteering in the classrooms, he was asked to do tours of the space as well.
“The aquarium doesn’t only develop you inside a classroom but also gives you exposure to different people and different environments. I really love being here.”
Ms Meinert said: “We recognise the need to further invest in conservation education to ensure consistently high quality and impactful audience-appropriate programmes.
“Through the Ocean Campus we will refocus our conservation education to ensure we encourage and catalyse both individual behavioural and broader social change.
“We are already a leader in South Africa in marine education and ocean literacy – and with the launch of the Ocean Campus we will enhance our capacity for more action and solution-focused approaches. This will help compel our audiences to address and act on behalf of urgent ocean issues.”
