School Programs
Guana Tolomato Matanzas Reserve, Florida

GTM Reserve staff-led school programs 10:00am-12:00pm on Tuesdays.

4th Grade: Marsh Mania: This program involves 3 different activities. Students will learn about observation, recording data and food chains by participating in an exercise spotting birds and plants with binoculars and recording whether the subject is a producer, consumer, or decomposer. Students will learn about some of the organisms which live in the estuary and their role in the estuary food chain during a touch tank activity. An indoor exhibit hall scavenger hunt covering topics such as food chains, conservation, and endangered species will compliment outdoor activities.

7th Grade LIFE Program

Learning in Florida’s Environment (LIFE) is an initiative to establish a series of field-based, environmental-science, education programs around the state. Each program will represent a partnership between the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and a local school district. The goal of each LIFE Program site is increased student achievement and teacher professional development in science. The content and delivery of each program will vary from site to site, however, each LIFE Program will share a core set of guiding principles:

• Alignment with Florida Sunshine State standards;
• Multi-day, field experiences emphasizing current technologies for environmental science will serve as the entry-point for learning;
• Emphasis on observation and inference as critical components of the scientific method;
• Long-term partnerships between DEP and a local school district(s) that include teacher professional development;
• Program content derived primarily from teacher-identified needs and priorities ;
• Integration of all subject areas by connecting field experiences with pre- and post- classroom lessons;
• Focus on underrepresented and underserved audiences.

The Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM NERR) LIFE Program is a partnership between GTM NERR and the St. Johns County School District. The Program targets seventh grade students from Sebastian Middle School and involves two separate field days, one each semester. Each field day involves three distinct field labs led by GTM Reserve staff and volunteers and assisted by seventh grade teachers and Florida Department of Environmental Protection NE District staff. Field sites include the Guana River Marsh Aquatic Preserve and the GTM NERR Guana Beach.

High School: Water Quality Connections: Discover why water quality is so important to estuarine animals and people! Take scientific measurements for salinity, temperature, and much more. Learn how abiotic factors affect life in the estuary. Indoor exhibit hall scavenger hunt included.

High School: The Beach: A Land in Motion: Learn about nature’s short and long term cycles that keep this area in constant motion. Gain a better understanding for how both natural and human activities influence the beach ecosystem through beach profiling and sampling activities. Beach scavenger hunt included.

College: Available upon request.

Classes must participate in their grade-level estuary program prior to registering for beach programs. Grades not listed are welcome to come for a self-guided visit on Thursdays. Reservations are required. A Research Reserve volunteer may be able to assist if available.

Teacher Workshops: Various workshops are available. (Teaching materials provided and in-service credits
assigned.

For more information or to make group reservations please call 904-823-4500.