Pelican Sailing Boat Excursion
Overview
In February 2016 three culturally diverse and socio economically disadvantaged Primary schools in Melbourne’s West, each participated in the Marine Education experience of a lifetime.
Students spent the day on a 65 ft. catamaran out on Port Philip Bay. The catamaran included a classroom for learning, outside learning spaces and on board marine scientists and other educators, who taught and talked with the children, about the marine environment.
Children experienced this rich learning opportunity as a team, using all their senses, touching both living and deceased marine organisms, to create a profoundly different learning experience, compared to the classroom.
The children’s feedback from the three days was extremely positive, many referring to it as the experience of a lifetime and unique in its ability to help them appreciate and understand the marine environment, particularly the wonder of Port Phillip Bay.
The students experience would not have been possible without the generous support of Simon Lindsay (Manager Improved Learning Outcomes), Shelley Waldon (Science and Innovation Team) and Dennis Torpy, Manager of Wellbeing at CEM. Special thanks go to these supporters.
Participants
Students from, St Theresa’s: Grade 6, Our Lady’s-Grade 5 & Mother of God-Grade 4
In total 56 students participated in this program.
Below is a summary of the children’s feedback capturing their insights and proposed ways to build on the learning which teachers have subsequently used with students.
What was the best thing about being on the boat?
34 students said… Touching dried and living sea creatures/ plants on board
22 students said… Learning about sea animals, aboriginal history and looking at the view on the boat
21 students said… Getting splashed and using the sails on the boat, sailing around was fun and just being on a boat was a fantastic experience
21 students said… Harry’s stories about shells and animals
10 students said… Steering the boat
7 students said… Helping in the kitchen (galley)
5 students said… Asking questions about the ocean at the start of the day, introducing each other and getting to hold a giant beach ball at the start the trip (Ocean Literacy game)
The student’s had an extremely positive experience, saying…
• In my opinion it was just being there, meeting the crew, putting up the sails, seeing the crew dive in, holding a star fish, getting to see dolphins, I could go on, but to save you time I won’t.
• The little groups for learning around the boat, learning about sea grass and litter
• It was a new experience for me and I learnt a lot
• Going fast on the boat as well as seeing jellyfish that were the size of my head
• I experienced what it was like in a boat when it is windy as the wind flew into my face and refreshed me. And I loved how the sails sometimes flapped in the wind as I’d never been on a sail boat before
The most consistent themes the children identified were…
1: They enjoyed touching the animals/ plants to engage in learning
Students were asked…
2: The experience of being on sailing boat under sail
21 classroom
35 Boat
Note: Additional feedback revealed 4 children misinterpreted the question and later indicated they preferred to learn on a boat
Which is a better place to learn in and why?
Students said…
“On a boat you can learn about the sea and natural environment and experience first-hand the effect of the ocean “
Deng, 9yrs
“In the classroom you only look at the interactive board and listen to the teacher, but on a boat you get the experience”
Laura, 11 yrs
Which is a better place to learn in and why? cont’d
Students said…
• The boat is better because in class you only look at pictures or maybe a movie. On the boat you can use your senses to look at the animals, smell the animals, feel the animals and hear the noise they make
• I can relax more on the boat which makes learning less stressful and easier
• On a boat you can see the animals, the captain can tell you about them and you can learn about plastics
• The boat is best as you already live on the land so you should learn more about the sea
• The boat because it was fun and we learnt a lot in a fun atmosphere
• The boat is best as you can see where the plants and animals come from and learn about the bay
• The boat is best because in class I can’t experience the same view of the animals or smell them. At school I can only look at pictures in a book or online. On a boat you can use more than one sense
• On a boat you can think of questions easier because you’re on the ocean. And when you see something that you didn’t know existed you can ask a question
• I like the boat because when we were learning we could listen to the ocean as we learnt peacefully
• In the classroom you don’t get easily distracted and it’s not as bumpy, and you can fit more things into it
What were the most interesting things on the day?
Students said….
• Learning about the animals and plants that we touched in the touch tank and on the trampoline with Harry/Jane
• Learning about threats and dangers to the bay and the oceans health
• Learning how much water is in the world and its importance
• Learning about the Indigenous history of the bay
Note-all three schools reflected the same top 4 priorities
What were the most interesting things on the day? Cont’d… Students said….
“How many people get to hold a real life starfish, get up close to really cool creatures, and talk to a marine biologist-yep, not a lot of people!”
Raj 11yrs
I like learning how pollution affects the bay. How through the electricity switch, CO2 (carbon dioxide) can cause the greenhouse effect and lead to global warming. This kills the kelp in the kelp forests, and with nothing to eat the fish die.
Oska 11yrs
We learn at school about sea animals and plants, but in a boat where you get to look at them in real life and feel them, it makes our learning easier.
Astha 9 yrs
Building on this Learning
Students were asked to suggest ways to build on the learning. They suggested the following…
• Having Harry or someone like him visit us at school
• In teams or individually presenting what we learnt to other students
• Working with other schools on marine projects
• Going out and visiting local or marine environments with an educator
• Writing a story/ project about our experience
• A project to share what we learnt and did with our families/ parents
• Talking in class and coming up with a shared project about what to do next
Why?...
“Sharing my learning with my parents will show them I’ve really focused and they will learn as well”
“I think we could learn from other schools and communicate with them”
“I think everyone can learn and contribute to our earth”
Students were asked to rate their knowledge of Port Phillip Bays animals and plants, before and after the Boat Trip
1 is very low 2 is low 3 is medium 4 is pretty good 5 really good
25 people rated their knowledge improved by 1 point
20 people rated their knowledge improved by 2 points
2 people rated their knowledge improved by 3 points
1 person rated their knowledge stayed the same 1 person went backwards (I suspect this person misunderstood the question)
Note: 5 children did not answer this question
