South West England Schools Programme
The National Marine Aquarium is situated in Plymouth, on the South Coast of the Devon-Cornwall border. We are ideally placed to accommodate visiting schools from across the South West, but we appreciate that coming to us is not always possible for some schools. For that reason, we’ve developed our Outreach Programme to ensure our School’s Officers can bring our outstanding educational resources and experiences to schools, colleges & nurseries throughout Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
NMA Outreach is available on weekdays all year round during term-time and can include:
● A full day of fun interactive workshops of your choice
● STEM shows and assemblies
● Exciting ‘NMA Expeditions’ Virtual Reality (VR) experiences
● Opportunities to handle real marine artefacts and fossils
● Beach clean and rockpool safari experiences
● Showcase assemblies for parents and governors
● School and pupil participation certificates
● Free lesson plans and resources throughout the academic year
● Consultancy on how to continue using the Ocean as a teaching and learning tool
There are many different ways that we can fit our programme around your school day, depending on the activities you choose and the number of students getting involved. We are also able to support Open Days, Science Fairs and other bespoke events. If you are planning something special and think we might be able to help, get in touch.
A full day of workshops (including STEM shows/assemblies, travel and resource expenses) costs £400.
Workshops
The following workshops are available as part of our Outreach Programme. All of our workshops have been linked to multiple areas of the National Curriculum and comprehensive Programmes of Study are available by following the more information links below. This page covers some of our favourite activities, but any of the workshop activities on our main outreach page here can also be delivered as part of a school visit.
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A Place to Live
Become a marine scientist and do a scientific experiment to discover the relationship between salt and buoyancy, then participate in a fun practical exploration of the feeding techniques used by basking sharks, humpback whales, butterfly fish and seahorses. Finally, we find out how we can use science to answer other questions!
Fantastic Fossils
Handle real life fossils from our oceans and unearth your very own fossils. After this we will investigate what we can and can’t learn from a fossil, take a closer look at how extinct animals might have looked, and finally construct our own models from our fossil skeletons.
Plastic Seas
Explore, with an immersive Virtual Reality experience, the habitat and diet of a Sperm Whale. Pupils are given the recreated stomach contents of a Sperm Whale and asked to investigate and classify their findings. What are the origins of these materials, how did they get there, and ultimately, what we can do to help protect our marine life?
Coral Calamity
Through the hands-on exploration of coral colony skeleton specimens, pupils examine their function and structure using a variety of investigation methods, participate in a Coral Build-athon activity, and a practical investigation into the impact of carbon dioxide on coral growth.
Ocean Investigation
Get hands on and discover the world beneath the waves in this amazing opportunity to handle artefacts from our extensive specimen collections, including some surprising native creatures swimming off our shores.
Evolution: Create a Creature
This fun interactive workshop introduces the key principles of evolution; pupils create their own creature through random mutations and chance, then pit it against challenging and changing scenarios. Only the strongest survive in this evolution game!
Under the Knife
Using scientific observation and dissection, pupils discover the unique physical biology that squid have, which enables them to survive in an open ocean habitat. This scientific workshop provides a hands-on and very memorable experience!
STEM Shows / Assemblies
Slimy Seas
The world’s Oceans are full of creatures who’ve learnt to use slime in all sorts of surprising ways and the Slimy Seas Show is a great way of discovering them. Your students will love getting involved, with some even taking part in eye-opening demonstrations!
Super Heroes of the Sea
Superheroes are real… and they live in the sea! With astonishing top speeds, devastating power and wild abilities, nature’s biggest wonders come in all shapes and sizes in the Oceans.
Our Blue Planet
The Our Blue Planet show is the perfect addition to a great day of discovering the Oceans. This STEM Show highlights the conservation issues facing the Oceans and their inhabitants and will ensure your students leave with an understanding of how they can help.
Booking and Enquiries
For more information about NMA South West please contact our Learning team on 01752 275 233 or learning@national-aquarium.co.uk, alternatively, complete the online enquiry form below.
