Washed Ashore Exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo

AUSMEPA having launched online art activities for children here using upcycling and recycling concepts we find it heart warming to learn about the wonderful exhibition by artist Angela Hastletine Pozzi that was held at the San Francisco Zoo.



The clip was produced by our sister organisation, the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)


www.ausmepa.org.au

SEA TURTLE; art & craft project

Sea turtles start out by hatching from eggs under the sand of a beach. They risk their lives as they race to get to the sea. They spend years at sea and when a female is old enough she returns close to where she was born to lay her own eggs.

In this activity we will make a mother turtle.

What you need:

·        Card or manila folder

·        Scissors

·        Glue

·        Texta, black and green

·        Photocopy templates to use as guides

·        Optional, use of onion skin to create shell pattern

 

What to do:

·        Using the illustrations as a guide cut an egg shaped piece of card or manila folder

·        Using the cut out as a guide draw the turtle head, body, tail and flippers

·        Colour the scaly skin using a green texta

·        Colour in two eyes with a black texta or paint

·        Cut out pieces of card or onion skin and decorate the top of the shell

·        Cut out the pieces of card to create the breast plate on the underside of the shell

·        Put the head, flippers and tail template between the upper shell and the breast plate

     ·        Secure with glue
 


 You can see AUSMEPA art activities on their new Kids Investigating Sea Solutions webpage here 

www.ausmepa.org.au

KIDS INVESTIGATING SEA SOLUTIONS (KISS)

AUSMEPA has launched a new flexible student website for helping our marine here environment. It will support a wide range of marine issues that are of ongoing interest as well as those that become topical over time. The main areas of interest will include action projects, habitats, marine creatures and other topics that spring up all the time.  

Mangroves, a marine and coastal issue that students and communities can relate to, have started off the new webpages. The values of mangroves are poorly understood and are far more valuable than people assume. Areas that would be covered:

• The importance of mangroves as habitat, fish resources, barrier to storms and tsunamis and a carbon sink.
• Why mangroves are threatened.
• What are mangroves and where they occur?
• Mangrove adaptations including examples of life cycles.
• How saltmarshes are associated with mangroves and their conservation.
• Animals dependant on mangroves including aquatic and are breathing animals.
• What is being done and what communities and schools are doing to conserve mangroves. 
• Community projects, organisations, links and references

This topic can be fitted into a number of areas in science and geography of the Australian Curriculum.

Art and craft activities 

At AUSMEPA we are well aware that implementing many learning styles gives students a better way to embed and communicate what they have learned and it can be lots of imaginative fun.

The new KISS webpages include art and craft activities here under the KISS Craft tab.

Current activities begin looking at elements related to denizens and habitats of the open ocean, coral reefs, rocky reefs, seagrass and wetlands.

www.ausmepa.org.au

AUSMEPA's new marine art and craft pages

Welcome to AUSMEPA's marine art pages HERE

Art is a way to express ideas in a different language. It is most successful when it can be understood by the many rather than the few. However, the art and craft at AUSMEPA is designed to encourage the expression about and to serve as a demonstration of learning about things in the ocean. And it is fun.

The materials suggested in the activities reflect lateral thinking, as art so often does. 

The limiting factors are what you have at hand, what can be sourced easily and economically as well as thinking outside the box.

These activities may provide a good partner to science or sustainability units of work in the classroom. Or they can stand alone. 

The activities are not rated for age as almost all can be adjusted up or down to suit.

We would love to hear about what you've created after looking at these projects and any comments you have that might make the experience richer for others. Send them to education@ausmepa.org.au

www.ausmepa.org.au/kiss