Pre-Visit Activities : Introduction to the South Carolina Aquarium
Third - Fifth Grade Online Curriculum : Communities

MAIN

Focus Question
What will you experience and learn at the South Carolina Aquarium?

Activity Synopsis
In preparation for a field trip to the South Carolina Aquarium, students are introduced to the facility through an orientation videotape.

Time Frame
2 hours

Key Terms

OBJECTIVES
The learner will be able to:

STANDARDS
No Standards Supported – Introduces students to the South Carolina Aquarium

BACKGROUND
Research has shown that:

  • children familiar with a setting tend to learn more than those who are not (Balling and Falk, 19801; Wolins et al., 1992) 2.

  • orientation programs facilitate cognitive learning, especially when conducted by a teacher (Balling, Falk and Aronson, undated)3.

  • both cognitive and affective learning can be increased when teachers use structured activities before and/or after a visit to an aquarium to create a context for the experience and link it with classroom work (Finson and Enochs, 19874; Koran, Lehman, Shafer and Koran, 19835; Wolins et al., 19922).

Therefore, the South Carolina Aquarium requires that all students visiting the aquarium as part of a structured school program watch the South Carolina Aquarium orientation video prior to their visit. The video will introduce students to the main message of the Aquarium, to the aquarium building and its inhabitants, and to the overall structure of their class visit.

The South Carolina Aquarium helps visitors to understand that from the mountains to the sea, each region of South Carolina is connected, yet distinct. Across South Carolina’s regions, the habitats are ever changing. Each habitat has its own character which is shaped by physical and biological conditions and by people, both past and present. The more that is known about each habitat, the better humans will be able to safeguard them and ensure that the habitats are managed in a balanced way. All of the plants, animals, and habitats that students will see at the aquarium can be found in South Carolina. By watching the orientation video, students can build prior knowledge of what the habitats they are visiting will be like. They will also have prior knowledge of what the Aquarium will be like, which will cut down on bewilderment, and increase the amount of time the students can spend focusing on learning.

Bibliography

  1. Balling, J.D., and Falk, J.H. (1980). A perspective on field trips: Environmental effects on learning. Curator, 23, 229-240.

  2. Wolins, I.S., Jensen, N., and Ulzheimer, R. (1992). Children’s memories of field trips: A qualitative study. Journal of Museum Education, 17(2), 17-27.

  3. Balling, J.D., Falk, J.H. and Aronson, R. (undated). Pretrip programs: An exploration of their effects on learning from a single-visit field trip to a zoological park. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institute, Office of Educational Research.

  4. Finson, K.D., and Enochs, L.G. (1987). Student attitudes toward science-technology-society resulting from a visit to a science-technology museum. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 24, 593-609.

  5. Koran, J.J. Jr., Lehman, J.R., Shafer, L.D., and Koran, M.L. (1983). The relative effects of pre- and postattention directing devices on learning from a "walk-through" museum exhibit. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 20, 341-346.

PROCEDURES
Materials

Procedure
  1. Construct a KWL chart using the focus question "What is an Aquarium?".
    1. Tell the students they will soon be going on a field trip to the South Carolina Aquarium. What is an aquarium? Why do people build aquariums? Who has been to the South Carolina Aquarium? What do you think you will see at there?

  2. Show the orientation videotape of South Carolina Aquarium. Ask the students to raise their hands when the tape begins to talk about a habitat. Write the habitat names on the board.
  3. Following the tape, tell the students they are going to see these habitats at the South Carolina Aquarium and are going to go on a sensory hunt to learn more about the living and non-living things in a habitat. They will also be meeting some of the plants and animals that live in South Carolina habitats.
  4. Ask students to predict, using what they have learned in the pre-visit activities thus far, what each community in each region will be like. What animals & plants will be found there?
  5. Using a map of South Carolina identify the general location of the five major regions of South Carolina (Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plain, Coast, Ocean).
  6. With student input, plan what the class will need to bring. Put the equipment into bags which chaperones will be responsible for (i.e. binoculars)
  7. Discuss Aquarium etiquette. Act out appropriate behaviors. As a class, create a list of aquarium rules.
  8. Create nametags as specified by the South Carolina Aquarium.

ASSESSMENT

Review materials and previsit activities until students receive the full four points total.

Cross-Curricular Extensions
Art Extension
Have each student create a drawing of an animal that he/she thinks the class will see at the aquarium or field site and write a few sentences about the animal. These pictures can be bound together as a class book. After returning from the aquarium, the class can look at the book to see if their predictions were accurate.

RESOURCES
N/A