Clayton County, Georgia Aquarium partner on marine science classes

Clayton County Schools is partnering with the Georgia Aquarium on a marine science program for students.

Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Clayton County Schools is partnering with the Georgia Aquarium on a marine science program for students.

Clayton County Schools is partnering with the Georgia Aquarium to offer classes on marine science to the district’s students.

The school system’s new “Marine Science Pathway” will use multimedia kiosks to help elementary students explore marine life and science while middle schoolers will use an integrated curriculum to highlight marine biology. High school students will be offered courses on oceanography and veterinarian science “to foster students’ knowledge and college and career readiness,” the district said.

“Through the establishment of the Marine Science Pathway, and other models of instruction, we hope to make meaningful connections between our scholars and the world around them,” Clayton Schools Superintendent Morcease Beasley said in praising the partnership with the aquarium.

“This is an opportunity to encourage our students to think globally and act locally to make sound decisions about important issues such as climate change, and its impact on humans and oceanic life,” he said.

Students will go on field trips to the aquarium, take part in aquarium classroom outreach, participate in engineering design challenges and be trained in scuba diving and snorkeling, among other options.

“Part of our mission at Georgia Aquarium is to educate and inspire the preservation of our ocean and aquatic animals,” Brian Davis, president and CEO of the aquarium, said. “Through our partnership with Clayton County Public Schools, we aim to connect local students with the waters of the world and the role they can play in protecting them.”