Sea of Knowledge: The Ocean Institute is a Pipeline for Higher Education
Posted by: Scott W. Graves | 11/16/2007 6:19 PM
By Jennifer Bohler
Can you imagine science hidden behind surfing? How about history disguised as a pirate ship or technology veiled by underwater Battle Bots? In the ongoing quest to make learning more enjoyable, Dana Point's Ocean Institute may have found the fountain of fun in education. For thirty years, this non-profit marine education center in the Dana Point Harbor has been capturing the attention of Los Angeles and Orange County students and teachers with marine science, history, and preservation studies. The Institute's programs and facilities have grown significantly since its inception in 1977; but, its approach has remained the same: learning through experience. Now Ocean Institute (OI) will take on one of its most challenging projects to date, creating a figurative pipeline to lead underserved kids from grade school to college and on to the workplace--all through the power of the ocean.
Get With the Program
The Ocean Institute offers more than 60 educational programs which flow through the pipeline of success, reaching kids at every level of education from elementary school to college. Most noteworthy are the Adopt-A-Class watershed research study, SeaTech, and Girls-In-Ocean Teen Conference.
The pipeline begins in elementary school. OI's Adopt-A-Class program allows corporations, universities, cities, or even individuals to support a classroom of elementary school students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in Ocean Institute programs. In the Adopt-A-Class watershed research study, fifth graders learn about the areas of land that catch water runoff and drain into a larger bodies of water like marshes, streams, rivers, lakes, or the ocean. One of the kids' first discoveries is that bad habits, like tossing cigarette butts onto the ground, can be devastating to an otherwise clean body of water. Once students learn how to research watersheds, which involves meteorology, internal systems, water chemistry, water cycle, and investigation techniques, they return home to test their local watersheds and report their findings to their peers at the Kids Conference on Watersheds. This is impressive enough, but at the Ocean Institute, programs tend to grow into something much larger.
Bill Cooper, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Urban Water Research Center at UC Irvine, is currently planning the 2008 International Water Summit sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) where he will facilitate the adoption of five classes each from Canada, the US, and Mexico to participate in the OI watershed study program. The winners from each country will present their findings to 400-500 professionals including watershed scientists, researchers, and world leaders.
"If we can show these students that science is exciting, it's boundless, endless," says Cooper, "then we can engage these students as they grow up to become scientists and engineers, and then they truly become the future."
You Research Like a Girl!
The SeaTech program offers teens plenty to explore and discover on their way to college. OI reports that young women tend to shy away from science related fields between middle school and high school. In an attempt to curb that deviation, SeaTech is a two-year Information Technology (IT) intensive program aimed at female and minority teens in middle and high schools, but the program is more than just a two year experience. It, too, is a part of a longer pipeline beginning with early IT work and finally phasing into a career-based internship, which can help with college entrance.
"There's a big issue with young women becoming engineers, there are a lot of obstacles," says Harry Helling, Executive Vice President of Research and Development at OI. "But when they come here and they're simply solving problems and building things and testing things, it's not really called engineering. All of a sudden these young girls are enthralled and successful because nobody's told them that they can't be or shouldn't be."
Apparently, the Ocean Institute is on the right track. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Information Technology (IT) is the fastest growing sector in the economy with a 68% increase in output growth rate projected between 2002 and 2012." For proof of SeaTech's success, one need not look further than last winter when two full scholarships to Saddleback College were awarded to SeaTech graduates gifted by the Saddleback College Foundation and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. The scholarship allowed the winners to complete an AA degree at the Orange County community college while preparing to transfer to a 4-year college.
A Sea of Opportunities
According to the US Department of Labor, 24 out of 30 of the fastest growing occupations from 2004 to 2014 are directly related to science and/or technology, mostly attributed to medical and computer related fields. Of these 24 occupations, ¾ of them are considered "high" or "very high" paying positions and all but one of those positions require a college degree. Knowing science and technology play such a vital role in the future of the US labor force; the Ocean Institute hopes to encourage all children walking through their doors to consider college as the next step in the pipeline that leads to their dream job.
Designed and implemented by a committee of teens, the Girls-In-Ocean Teen Conference brings a teen's idea of the faraway workplace to reality. This year the girls raised $30,000 for the program while selecting and recruiting their scientists of choice. At the conference, 139 teens interacted with 9 professional Ocean Scientists from around the country, some girls traveling from as far as Washington state to participate. The teens tried on a profession of their choice for the day, perhaps a Robotisist or a Civil Engineer. Because of their fund raising success, the Girls-In-Ocean Teen Conference is now an annual event.
Educators will agree that capturing the attention of children long enough to teach a lesson is almost as difficult a task as making that lesson exciting, but behind the veil of the sea, OI seems to have mastered the art of disguised learning. For those students who think they cannot afford the cost of a field trip and those who say they will never excel at math or science, and those who think school is boring, the Institute will prove them all wrong. Every child has interests. The Ocean Institute hopes to cultivate these interests and reap a bountiful harvest of educated youngsters leaving with bigger dreams than with which they arrived.
For more information on how your child, class, or organization can become involved, call the Ocean Institute at (949) 496-2274 or visit them on the web at www.ocean-institute.org.
----------------------------------------------------
BONUS FEATURE: Keeping Afloat
By Jennifer Bohler
The Ocean Institute is a non-profit organization whose ability to provide programs relies entirely on grants from the National Science Foundation, private foundations, and generous community members.
"We're finding that a lot of companies see it as a civic responsibility," says Helling, adding that cities often adopt a class to remind constituents on the importance of their kids, and that universities and researchers work with and donate to the OI to support their vested interest in growing and motivating young scientists.
"If you're going to invest in a program, you want to see that there are some returns," says Orange County Superintendent of Schools, Bill Habermehl. "When you make an investment in Orange County and a program like this, not only the child wins, the parents win, the community wins."
Can you imagine science hidden behind surfing? How about history disguised as a pirate ship or technology veiled by underwater Battle Bots? In the ongoing quest to make learning more enjoyable, Dana Point's Ocean Institute may have found the fountain of fun in education. For thirty years, this non-profit marine education center in the Dana Point Harbor has been capturing the attention of Los Angeles and Orange County students and teachers with marine science, history, and preservation studies. The Institute's programs and facilities have grown significantly since its inception in 1977; but, its approach has remained the same: learning through experience. Now Ocean Institute (OI) will take on one of its most challenging projects to date, creating a figurative pipeline to lead underserved kids from grade school to college and on to the workplace--all through the power of the ocean. Get With the Program
The Ocean Institute offers more than 60 educational programs which flow through the pipeline of success, reaching kids at every level of education from elementary school to college. Most noteworthy are the Adopt-A-Class watershed research study, SeaTech, and Girls-In-Ocean Teen Conference.
The pipeline begins in elementary school. OI's Adopt-A-Class program allows corporations, universities, cities, or even individuals to support a classroom of elementary school students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in Ocean Institute programs. In the Adopt-A-Class watershed research study, fifth graders learn about the areas of land that catch water runoff and drain into a larger bodies of water like marshes, streams, rivers, lakes, or the ocean. One of the kids' first discoveries is that bad habits, like tossing cigarette butts onto the ground, can be devastating to an otherwise clean body of water. Once students learn how to research watersheds, which involves meteorology, internal systems, water chemistry, water cycle, and investigation techniques, they return home to test their local watersheds and report their findings to their peers at the Kids Conference on Watersheds. This is impressive enough, but at the Ocean Institute, programs tend to grow into something much larger.
Bill Cooper, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Urban Water Research Center at UC Irvine, is currently planning the 2008 International Water Summit sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) where he will facilitate the adoption of five classes each from Canada, the US, and Mexico to participate in the OI watershed study program. The winners from each country will present their findings to 400-500 professionals including watershed scientists, researchers, and world leaders.
"If we can show these students that science is exciting, it's boundless, endless," says Cooper, "then we can engage these students as they grow up to become scientists and engineers, and then they truly become the future."
You Research Like a Girl!
The SeaTech program offers teens plenty to explore and discover on their way to college. OI reports that young women tend to shy away from science related fields between middle school and high school. In an attempt to curb that deviation, SeaTech is a two-year Information Technology (IT) intensive program aimed at female and minority teens in middle and high schools, but the program is more than just a two year experience. It, too, is a part of a longer pipeline beginning with early IT work and finally phasing into a career-based internship, which can help with college entrance.
"There's a big issue with young women becoming engineers, there are a lot of obstacles," says Harry Helling, Executive Vice President of Research and Development at OI. "But when they come here and they're simply solving problems and building things and testing things, it's not really called engineering. All of a sudden these young girls are enthralled and successful because nobody's told them that they can't be or shouldn't be."
Apparently, the Ocean Institute is on the right track. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Information Technology (IT) is the fastest growing sector in the economy with a 68% increase in output growth rate projected between 2002 and 2012." For proof of SeaTech's success, one need not look further than last winter when two full scholarships to Saddleback College were awarded to SeaTech graduates gifted by the Saddleback College Foundation and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. The scholarship allowed the winners to complete an AA degree at the Orange County community college while preparing to transfer to a 4-year college.
A Sea of Opportunities
According to the US Department of Labor, 24 out of 30 of the fastest growing occupations from 2004 to 2014 are directly related to science and/or technology, mostly attributed to medical and computer related fields. Of these 24 occupations, ¾ of them are considered "high" or "very high" paying positions and all but one of those positions require a college degree. Knowing science and technology play such a vital role in the future of the US labor force; the Ocean Institute hopes to encourage all children walking through their doors to consider college as the next step in the pipeline that leads to their dream job.
Designed and implemented by a committee of teens, the Girls-In-Ocean Teen Conference brings a teen's idea of the faraway workplace to reality. This year the girls raised $30,000 for the program while selecting and recruiting their scientists of choice. At the conference, 139 teens interacted with 9 professional Ocean Scientists from around the country, some girls traveling from as far as Washington state to participate. The teens tried on a profession of their choice for the day, perhaps a Robotisist or a Civil Engineer. Because of their fund raising success, the Girls-In-Ocean Teen Conference is now an annual event.
Educators will agree that capturing the attention of children long enough to teach a lesson is almost as difficult a task as making that lesson exciting, but behind the veil of the sea, OI seems to have mastered the art of disguised learning. For those students who think they cannot afford the cost of a field trip and those who say they will never excel at math or science, and those who think school is boring, the Institute will prove them all wrong. Every child has interests. The Ocean Institute hopes to cultivate these interests and reap a bountiful harvest of educated youngsters leaving with bigger dreams than with which they arrived.
For more information on how your child, class, or organization can become involved, call the Ocean Institute at (949) 496-2274 or visit them on the web at www.ocean-institute.org.
----------------------------------------------------
BONUS FEATURE: Keeping Afloat
By Jennifer Bohler
The Ocean Institute is a non-profit organization whose ability to provide programs relies entirely on grants from the National Science Foundation, private foundations, and generous community members.
"We're finding that a lot of companies see it as a civic responsibility," says Helling, adding that cities often adopt a class to remind constituents on the importance of their kids, and that universities and researchers work with and donate to the OI to support their vested interest in growing and motivating young scientists.
"If you're going to invest in a program, you want to see that there are some returns," says Orange County Superintendent of Schools, Bill Habermehl. "When you make an investment in Orange County and a program like this, not only the child wins, the parents win, the community wins."
