Customized to meet TEKS at each grade level, the Traveling Bay Touch Tank and associated lessons provide safe and effective hands-on experiential learning for students of all ages.
The Touch Tank on Wheels is designed for campus visits. It is 24” wide to fit through standard doors and has non-marking wheels for hallways and gym floors.
Students will learn about and get the opportunity to touch live specimens collected from local bays, including several species of fish, crabs, shrimp, sea snails and more. Our goal is for each student to fall in love with at least one animal that they meet at school the day we visit. If they love the animals in the bay, they will naturally be inspired to protect them.
Students discuss each specimen’s unique adaptations for survival in the marine environment while identifying structures and functions, gaining appreciation for the ecological niche that each animal occupies. Each student will receive individual attention while at the touch tank to ensure both the students’ safety and to give them the opportunity to ask educators specific questions.
Texas Floating Classroom educators will discuss potential careers at sea, the role that the ocean and inland waterways play in the transportation of goods, and ask students to consider what actions they can take in their daily lives to help keep trash and other contaminants out of their watersheds.
