Habitat Workshops

These workshops combine classroom and field experience related to a specific marine habitat in the MARE curriculum. New and veteran teachers work with colleagues at their grade level to increase their confidence with adult-level science content. Teachers gain familiarity with current science research, pedagogy, and the latest MARE curriculum materials.

Teachers new to MARE will receive training in inquiry-based science. In addition to learning about implementation of the MARE program, participants engage in hands-on activities, practice a variety of teaching strategies, receive exciting materials, and review a host of audiovisual and resource materials to help them with their science teaching.

Registration fees for all MARE habitat workshops are $115 per person. This includes continental breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, instructional materials to supplement your classroom study, and all applicable entrance fees. MARE offers a 10% discount if registering three or more teachers per school.
To register for any of the Habitat Workshops or the Whale Watch, click to download these registration forms (.pdf)
-Habitat Workshops
-Whale Watch

Ponds - Grades K and Pre-K
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Lawrence Hall of Science and Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley, CA
What makes a pond home unique? What does it take to live there? And what's so special about water anyway? These and other questions are explored in this introduction to pond habitats. We will model the MARE Kindergarten Ponds curriculum and follow up with a field trip to the pond of Tilden Regional Park in the Berkeley Hills.

Rocky Seashore and Sandy Beach - Grades 1 and 2
Friday, January 18, 2008
9:30 a.m.—3:00 p.m.
Sea Crest School and Pillar Point Harbor, Half Moon Bay, CA
Have you ever walked on the ocean floor? You will when you join us to learn about these extreme ocean habitats. The sandy beach and tidepools at Pillar Point near Half Moon Bay will be our classroom as we discover the amazing life within these habitats. Please join us for this exciting MARE curriculum and fieldtrip workshop. In the morning, we will provide grade- and habitat-specific content; inquiry-based activities from the MARE Teacher's Guide integrating marine science with literacy, art and music; experience using MARE's online teaching tools; and opportunities to share strategies with other MARE teachers at your grade-level. We’ll spend the afternoon exploring these two extraordinary habitats. This is a great way to get yourself prepared to lead meaningful fieldtrips with your students.

Wetlands - Grade 3
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
9:30 a.m.—3:00 p.m.
Bay Model Visitor Center and Bothin Marsh, Sausalito, CA
Coastal wetlands — bays, estuaries, salt marshes, and lagoons — are special places where freshwater meets the salty ocean. They serve as ocean nurseries, storm sponges, water filters, and rest stops for birds. Please join us as we spend a day in the Bay Model classroom and in  the field at Bothin Marsh exploring these valuable, sensitive and rapidly vanishing coastal ecosystems through the MARE curriculum.

Kelp Forest - Grades 4 and 7
Thursday, November 29, 2007
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Steinhart Aquarium, CA Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA
Gazing from shore at the gently swaying surface of a kelp forest canopy, it's difficult to imagine the activity below. But from holdfast to blade this algal forest is home to bizarre invertebrates and fish of every imaginable color, size, and form. It's also the unique home of the endangered, yet recovering, sea otter. Please join us as we explore themes of light and color underwater, fish adaptations, sea otters, and seaweed.

Open Ocean - Grades 5, 7, and 8
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
9:30 a.m.—3:00 p.m.
Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, CA
The MARE Open Ocean curriculum includes themes of global interconnectedness of the oceans and the productivity that supports large animals of the seas. Please join us for this exciting workshop exploring the science content surrounding density, ocean currents, and animal adaptations, culminating in a squid dissection and calamari festival. Free admission to the Lawrence Hall of Science is included.

Islands - Grade 6 (Grade 2 teachers encouraged to attend)
Monday, February 25, 2008
9:30 a.m.—3:30 p.m.
Seymour Marine Discovery Center and Año Nuevo State Reserve, Santa Cruz, CA
Islands are often important resting and breeding places for birds and pinnipeds. Sharks, elephant seals, evolution and adaptation, and geology are just some of the topics to be explored during the Islands Habitat Workshop. Please join us for a morning habitat and curriculum workshop at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Lab followed by an afternoon field trip to the spectacular northern elephant seal colony at Año Nuevo State Reserve. This is an invaluable experience for teachers planning to lead field trips with their own students.

Open Ocean Whale Watch Sponsored by The Oceanic Society -
Grade 5, but everyone welcome
Saturday, March 15, 2008
7:30 a.m.—4:00 p.m.
Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, San Francisco, CA
$85 per person
Registration Deadline February 25, 2008!
Additional information and registration instructions can be found by downloading this flyer (.pdf)
The annual gray whale migration, one of the world's most magnificent and accessible wildlife spectacles, is underway. Each year approximately 15,000 of an estimated total population of 17,500 gray whales swim south from Arctic feeding grounds, en route to their Baja California breeding and calving grounds. From December through May, gray whales can be observed a few miles off California's shore, and whale watchers aboard Oceanic Society's naturalist-led Whale Watch boats have a unique vantage from which to view this incredible "parade." Please join the MARE staff for this exciting opportunity to dive into the world of the open ocean.