Little NippersLooking at fish in a different light!
Our pre-school programme, Little Nippers, makes a visit to the aquarium more exciting and challenging for our youngest visitors. The Little Nippers session is a self-led exploration of the aquarium with the aid of discovery boards. The children are challenged to find the animals on the boards, seek out different patterns and colours of fish and use the different coloured lenses to see the fish in a different light. Activities held in a separate room help break up the visit and allow them somewhere to let off steam. This room is then available for your group to have use for lunch if you require.
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| Little Nippers | |
| Children (each up to the age of 5) | £4.50 |
| 1 teacher per every 3 children | FREE |
| Additional leaders | £6.50 each |
NB There is no bag storage or indoor lunch facilities for Independent groups in the Aquarium.
A fun, interactive two-hour tour of the aquarium delivered by one of our expert teaching staff. The session is designed to inspire and delight students with life in water. Concepts covered include species identification, habitats, adaptations, senses, dentition, food chains and pollution. You will also get the use of our classroom to leave bags and have your lunch. If there is any particular topic you are studying at school we would be delighted to tailor the session to complement your teaching. Please give us a call in advance to discuss your needs.
| Our Magical Seas KS1/2 | |
| Per Student | £4.50 |
| 1 adult for every 7 students you bring | FREE |
| Extra adults | £6.50 each |
Why not upgrade your visit to a three-hour in-depth session? Following the tour of the Aquarium, our staff will lead an hour-long workshop in our discovery zone. Designed to reinforce the themes of the tour, workshops can be delivered with an art, drama or science focus.
| Our Magical Seas KS1/2 - 3 Hour In-Depth Session | |
| Per Student | £5.00 |
| 1 adult for every 7 students you bring | FREE |
| Extra adults | £6.50 each |
Aquatic Art KS2
Aquatic art is a three-hour workshop, delivered by our Resident Artist, focussing on making the most
of the inspiring exhibits to create artwork. We specialise in using observational drawing as a means
of capturing the animals and the session can be developed using a variety of techniques. We are more
than happy to work with teachers to tailor a session to complement your work at school.
The Shark Trust is the UK registered charity dedicated to promoting the study, management and conservation of sharks, skates and rays (elasmobranchs) and chimaera.
The programme will combine a tour at the National Marine Aquarium with the pre and post-visit resources developed by the Shark Trust. Sharks are the top predators in our oceans and as such, provide an ideal platform to examine key aspects of the marine environment and appeal to the fascination of all. This programme presents a perfect opportunity to showcase the sharks on exhibit at the National Marine Aquarium while investigating key aspects such as:
• Nutrition and dentition
• Habitats
• Adaptations
• Species identification and local diversity
• Food webs
The resources developed by the Shark Trust offer Primary school teachers the unique opportunity to plan a term’s work around a single topic with little additional preparation required. These resources are free and can be downloaded from the Shark Trust website (www.sharktrust.org). For further information on what the programme involves, costs and how to get the most out of the programme, please contact our Learning Team.
Downloads:
Key Stage 1 study programme
Key Stage 2 study programme
Our education team have a range of expertise including our resident artist, marine biologists, and qualified teachers. £4.50 per student will give your class a two-hour guided visit with our staff, plus the use of our classroom to have your lunch. We are more than happy to discuss your session beforehand to make sure our teaching supports your work at school.
Many schools already use the aquarium to kick start modules of work, end a module on a high or use us as a case study for ongoing projects.
We believe that the aquarium provides a fantastic opportunity for cross curricula learning in a safe and exciting environment. Below is a list of our most popular sessions.
Ocean Adventure: A two-hour general tour of the aquarium exploring a variety of marine environments. This is a light hearted visit with plenty of interesting facts and stories. Perfect for activities week.
Variety of Life: Get the biology aspects of Key Stage 3 off to a flying start by covering the variety of life at the National Marine Aquarium. There could be no better place; the Aquarium is not just about fish, we have five major animal phyla represented here as well as plants and algae. This session begins with a consideration of the qualities that are common to all living things. The pupils will then study the features which distinguish the major invertebrate and vertebrate groups and the similarities within groups, by examining the various exhibits
Habitats and Adaptations: The Aquarium provides an ideal environment to explore a wide range of habitats and our animals demonstrate a fascinating range of physical and behavioural adaptations that have evolved to cope with their environmental conditions.
Food chains and energy: A lively look at feeding mechanisms and feeding relationships in aquatic communities. The session starts with simple food chains and builds up to food webs and energy flow. The terms producer and consumer are introduced in their context, and depending on the age and ability of the students, concepts of trophic levels, pyramids of numbers and biomass can be developed. Pollution and Conservation; The Aquarium gives many examples of threatened habitats around the world. With our expert staff, pupils can explore the range of impacts that humans are having upon the marine environment and think about the actions that can be taken to lessen our "footprint".
Climate Change and Citizenship: This session discusses the impacts of climate change on our oceans. We
also delve into citizenship issues with regards to marine life exploitation and the effects of human
activities on our marine environments.
Citizenship KS3 unit 5 and 21, KS4 unit 9. (Standards Site)
Fisheries: The broad topic of fisheries is introduced and we discuss the problems the industry faces
and solutions that have been put in place. Within the aquarium, the group looks at some of the
features of commercial species before discussing fisheries management and the attendant biological,
social and economic problems The National Marine Aquarium is adjacent to the Plymouth Fish Market and
a visit to the market can be organised to enable students to see a variety of fishing vessels and
gears, and learn about different fishing methods in context. Two-hour in-depth session includes the
Aquarium only, a three-hour in-depth session includes fish market visit.
14-16 VGCSE; and 16+ BTEC, GNVQ, AVCE, HND, FdSc, MSc
Coral Conservation: The worlds coral reefs are in decline but how does this effect biodiversity and
humans? Social and economic issues that are associated with reefs are discussed along with the threats
and solutions. A trip to the Aquarium gives students a chance to see real soft and hard corals,
British coral such as the Pink Sea Fan, understand coral biology and handle coral skeletons.
A-level Geography and Biology
Pathology: Behind the scenes at the Aquarium are a number of laboratories including a pathology lab. Every fish death is investigated by our animal husbandry team and a post-mortem is carried out. Small groups can organise visits to the Aquarium to be shown how this post-mortem is carried out, what it is that our aquarists have to look for and discuss what measures are put in place to control disease.
Leisure and Tourism: Using the National Marine Aquarium as a case study, we can create an understanding of the various business requirements that are needed to run a tourist attraction. The session can be developed to focus upon any of the following: Marketing, Customer service, Recruitment, Business.
Coursework material such as visitor profile figures, job descriptions and SWOT/PEST analysis can be
provided and there is dedicated time for students to ask questions and fill in their own
questionnaires.
BTEC, GNVQ, AVCE, HND
Art: The Aquarium is a visually inspirational place and we are fortunate to have our own Resident Artist who specializes in observational drawing. She has illustrated a number of publications, exhibited in many galleries and is also the resident artist at Cotehele. A session with her is a great experience for budding artists as she will share her experience, show her sketch books and give lots of useful hints and tips on how to draw moving animals. A special £10 pass gives students a two-hour session with Juliana and unlimited access to the Aquarium for 6 weeks to return and draw as much as they please.
We can also cater for silk painting, willow work and mixed media. Please call 01752 275233 to discuss your needs.
| In-depth Visits - 2 hour | |
| Student | £4.50 |
| 1 teacher per every 7 Primary age children | FREE |
| 1 teacher per every 10 Secondary age students | FREE |
| Additional leaders | £6.50 each |
| In-depth Visits - 3 hour | |
| Student | £5.00 |
| 1 teacher per every 7 Primary age children | FREE |
| 1 teacher per every 10 Secondary age students | FREE |
| Additional leaders | £6.50 each |
| Independent Visits | |
| Student | £3.50 |
| 1 teacher per every 7 Primary age children | FREE |
| 1 teacher per every 10 Secondary age students | FREE |
| Additional leaders | £6.50 each |
