The Gulf of Mexico Foundation presents two cruises this summer for K-12 and
college-entry educators nationwide, the
14th annual Down Under, Out
Yonder and the first annual Coastal Wetland's
Cruise
.
Down Under, Out
Yonder (DUOY), July 11-15, is a five-day workshop that includes
two days of on-land coral reef education called
Corals to Classroom (July 11-12), followed by three days of scuba diving aboard a live-aboard vessel
(July 13-15).
New in 2009 is the GMF's Intracoastal Waterway Wetlands
Cruise,
June 14-17, which will take educators on a wetlands
exploration aboard a live-aboard vessel up the Intracoastal Waterway from Freeport, Texas, to
Port Fourchon, Louisiana. ConocoPhillips is the main sponsors for the
2009 IWWC.
For more information on either workshop, contact
Bobbi Reed at
bobbi@gulfmex.org
or (361) 882-3939.
DUOY General Information
Down Under, Out Yonder coral reef
workshop and scuba trip is sponsored
annually by the Gulf of Mexico
Foundation for K-12 and college entry educators, nationwide.
During the land-based weekend, DUOY
participants attend the Corals to Classroom workshop
in Galveston, Texas, featuring guest speakers and educational
materials to bring back to the classroom. Afterwards, participants travel to Freeport, Texas, for three days of scuba diving board the MV
Fling, a 100-foot live-aboard dive boat operated by Gulf Diving LLC.
Non-diving educators may participate only in Corals to Classroom and
forego the DUOY dive component of the workshop.
Both
workshops focus on the coral reefs of the
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, located in the Gulf of Mexico about 110 miles off the Texas coast. The federally protected underwater sanctuary harbors the northern-most coral reefs in the continental
US. The sanctuary's 42 square miles of coral-covered salt domes are home to schooling fish, turtles, sharks,
and occasional pelagic animals including sea turtles, hammerhead
sharks, manta rays and an occasional whale shark.
By providing educators this participatory
field experience, the Gulf of Mexico Foundation encourages interest in
and conservation of our important marine environment and habitats.
GMF’s DUOY program, which offers 28 hours of Texas State Board for Educator Certification for this
workshop, received recognition in 2002 from the Environmental
Protection Agency by being awarded a
Gulf Guardian Award.
Corals to Classrooms (C2C) General Information
What are corals? How do they build
reefs? Why are the coral reefs of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico special and unique? What does all this have to do with the National
Marine Sanctuary Program?These are just a few of the questions that will be answered through
this interactive, resource-rich, educator workshop. Educators of all
levels will walk away from the two-day experience with the means to
actively involve their students in the learning process, to expose
them to scientific research and to share personal experiences about
the challenges of fieldwork.
Workshop participants will receive a canvas bag full of resources,
activities, materials and ideas for implementing topics in biology,
oceanography, geology, physical science, American government and
environmental science. They will also participate in a supplemental
field trip to the Aquarium at Moody Gardens to practice their newly
acquired skills and learn other ways to apply what they've learned.
This workshop is provided by the Gulf of Mexico Foundation and is
conducted at the
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
(FGBNMS) offices in Galveston, Texas.
The FGBNMS is an authorized provider through the Texas State Board for
Educator Certification (SBEC) and offers 14 hours of SBEC credit for
this workshop. Registration and information materials are available
online.
Gulf of Mexico Foundation - PMB 51, 5403 Everhart - Corpus Christi, TX 78411
(800) 884-4175 toll free - (361) 882-3939 phone - (361) 882-1262 fax
e-mail: info@gulfmex.org
website: gulfmex.org
webmaster: Carrie Robertson
