SERC School Field Trip

Shorelines (10-120 students/day)

Shorelines Description

Our main field trip is called "Shorelines" and is a four-hour field trip (you can choose to do 1 hour or up to all 4) from 10 am - 2 pm. Shorelines is only offered April - November.

There will be 45-minute stations focused on Chesapeake Bay biodiversity and the science of the Smithsonian. Students will take on the role of scientists, using similar sampling techniques and methods to learn about life in the Bay and their connection to that life.

Grades Served

All of our stations are designed to be adapted to serve grades K-12^th. Our experienced educators can adapt materials and information, but the hands-on components are similar. For K-2^nd grade students, we will adapt programs to be entirely on land, and not the docks.

See what NGSS standards are met by our stations.

"Shorelines" can be adapted for K-2^nd, 3^rd-8^th, or 9^th-12^th. The stations offered will change based on season, group interest, availability, and weather. Please let us know if you have a particular focus you’re interested in.

K-2^nd: Seining, Oysters, Bay Sharks, Terrapins (live terrapin), Blue Crabs (live blue crab), or Marsh Hike

3^rd-12^th: Seining, Oysters, Scopes (3^rd-12^th), Bay Sharks (3^rd-7^th only), Terrapins (live terrapin), Blue Crab Lab, or Marsh Hike

Mixed Grade Group

We ask that groups be composed of students within at least 3 grades or years of each other. For example, 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th grade could be together, or 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd. If you have a larger mix, then you must book two separate field trips. However, those trips could run on the same day. Our maximum number per age group is 42 per age range/group. This means we can go up to 48 students per day of mixed-age students.

Station Options

Rotations run for about 45 minutes

• Seining (all grades): Students in grades 3+ will don waders and use nets to try and catch a diversity of fish and invertebrates in the nearshore zone. K-2^nd grade students will help with handling creatures, while chaperones put on waders and seine for them.
• Oysters (all grades): Students sort through oyster baskets and learn about why oysters and vertical reef structure are important to benthic biodiversity.
• Microscope & Magnification Lab (3^rd grade and up): Set up with a wide variety of bay organisms, macroalgae, and plankton, students will use microscopes and make their own samples to study epibenthic biodiversity and plankton.
• Blue Crab Lab (all grades): Dive into the world of blue crabs by learning about their adaptations for living in the Bay. If the season allows, we’ll see a live blue crab up close!
• Marsh Hike (all grades): Students take a short walk to our Marsh Overlook to learn about why marshes are important. For older students, we’ll talk about ecology and our SERC research.
• Bay Sharks (K-2^nd and 3^rd-7^th grade): We’ll learn about how our scientists study sharks that visit the Bay, and why sharks are really our friends!
• Turtles and Terrapins (all grades): Visit with our ambassador terrapins and learn all about turtle and terrapin adaptations for living in the Bay, and how scientists study turtles.

How many people can SERC accommodate on field trips at one time?

We are only allowed 60 program participants at a time at stations, but you may bring up to 120, and have ½ do self-directed activities and ½ do stations, then swap. This means instead of the usual 4 stations in a day, each set of students would be able to do 2 stations. We ask that groups be composed of students within at least 3 grades or years of each other. More information about Mixed Grade Groups above.

Fees

To book a field trip, groups will fill out a form or contact Karen McDonald at McDonaldK@si.edu. Fees are based on a flat rate by number of students, please see the table below. Payment for field trips is required one month before your trip date. We now only accept credit cards (Vis, MC, Di, Amx). Please contact us if this is prohibitive for your field trip. Field trip fees are nonrefundable. If there is inclement weather we will work to reschedule.

Please do not bring more than the confirmed # of students. If you bring more than confirmed we will charge a service fee of 10% of your program cost and may need to modify your program.

Chaperones

If the group has more than each number of students, they should round up. For example, if you have 12 students, round up to 2 chaperones instead of 1. For mixed age groups, you should use the ratio for the youngest grade you have for the entire trip. For example, if you have grades 2, 3, and 4, then you’d use the chaperone ratio for 2^nd grade.

Chaperones need to:

• Be 20 years of age
• Be responsible for student behavior
• Learning specialist do not count toward chaperone numbers

Maximum number of chaperones: Minimum + 5. Bring the minimum number of chaperones required, and not beyond the maximum. If you bring fewer than the required number of chaperones we may adjust your program, offer alternative activities, or ask you to divide your group. As a last resort, we may cancel for the safety of students.