May 25, 1995 Contact: Chris Woolston or Robert Irion (408/459-2495)

A "WINDOW TO DISCOVERY" AT LONG MARINE LAB GIVES STUDENTS A VIEW OF SCIENCE IN THE OCEAN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--The second graders wiggled with excitement as they gathered at Long Marine Laboratory, one of the nation's premier marine-research centers. It's a place where scientists test the hearing of sea lions and measure the heartbeats of dolphins, and kids love it. "I've been here a million times," said Shay Baldwin, eight. "This place is cool."

Shay is one of over 10,000 students who have visited the University of California, Santa Cruz's, Long Marine Lab as a part of "Window to Discovery," an innovative program that lets children see marine science in action. Only a year old, the program is ready for a growth spurt. When a planned Visitor Education Center is completed, many more children will flood the labs, and even adults will join in the fun.

The program already captivates visiting students. High school students tour research labs, kindergartners hold sea stars at the touch tanks, and they all get to see the dolphins and sea lions."We tailor the program for each age group," says Dorris Welch-Burman, the lab's public education director and creator of the program. "We really want to spark an interest in basic biology."

For the second graders on a recent visit, the program provided nonstop fascination. Guided by Le Williams, one of 40 volunteer docents in the program, the children inspected the 100-foot skeleton of a blue whale. The whale's heart, she told them, was as big as a Volkswagen. The tongue was 20 feet long. Whales are mammals. No, it is not a dinosaur. Two children picked up a flipper bone, and they all touched a piece of baleen.

Afterward, Williams showed the children a fishbowl filled with live hermit crabs and sea urchins. "I want you to use your eyes, not your fingers," said Williams. Several little fingers hit the water at once. Later, the children peered into the aquariums and fought the urge to tap on the glass.

"I really believe that the more children know about the oceans, the better adults they'll be," says Susan Moore-Orrett, a five-year veteran docent at the lab. But she discovered that teaching also has its hazards. "I broke my glasses rolling on the floor playing otter," she says. "Maybe I'm getting too old for this." When high school students visit Long Marine Lab, they skip the hermit crabs and head straight for the microscopes. For these students, the program emphasizes employment opportunities and conservation ethics. They meet researchers, use lab equipment, and learn about marine ecology.

School groups have visited the lab for years, says Welch- Burman, but before "Window to Discovery," most of the students were second graders or younger. Now, she says, close to one-third of the groups are from junior highs or high schools. The groups are also becoming more diverse; increasing numbers of students from San Jose and even the Central Valley are visiting the lab.

"Window to Discovery" also brings marine science directly to the classrooms with educational packets of games and worksheets targeted at particular age groups. First and second graders guide a sea otter through a kelp-forest maze. Fourth graders play marine- life bingo by defining words such as "carnivore" and "niche." Currently, only groups planning to visit the lab receive the packets, but Welch-Burman plans to make new materials available to all K-12 teachers in the area next year.

For teachers who want to go beyond printed classroom activities, the program offers monthly teacher-enrichment seminars. About fifteen teachers from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties attend the seminar each month to brush up on the scientific issues and research associated with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Already a major educational tool, the program should grow rapidly with the opening of a $4.4 million, 12,000-square-foot Visitor Education Center. The center will double the visitor capacity of Long Marine Lab, which means that students and the general public could visit simultaneously. The center will feature classrooms, an auditorium, a teaching aquarium, and a computerized interactive video system that will let visitors explore different aspects of the lab and the bay.

The new center will also include learning labs that will actually turn students into exhibits. The students will use scientific equipment and study marine life--all in full view of other visitors. When students aren't in the labs, adults will be able to roll up their sleeves and practice some science with the help of trained docents. The lab has already raised half of the money needed for the new center, but more help is needed before ground breaking can begin next summer. The Visitor Education Center and "Window to Discovery" are supported almost entirely by donations from individuals and foundations.

The Friends of Long Marine Lab, a community support group, has raised significant funds for both projects through annual events such as a gourmet dinner and the "Whale of an Auction." "The lab reaches out to so many people," says group president John Lisher. "It's not the normal interpretive display."

Other recent benefactors of the "Window to Discovery" program include the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary ($10,600), the Greater Santa Cruz County Community Foundation ($7,000), and the Environmental Protection Agency ($5,000).

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