Environmental Education
Our mission is to inspire the exploration and conservation of the amazing ocean world.
In its awareness raising activities the Primorsky Aquarium focuses on popularization of science and environmental education.
THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT PROJECT
Every Wednesday from October through May, participants in the Educational Environment project - preschoolers and schoolchildren, university students, children from orphanages and special education schools as well as families with three or more children –- become complete masters of the giant clamshell on Russky Island. Over the first three years of the project’s life, nearly 30,000 children attended free-of-charge classes and tours at the Primorsky Aquarium.
Special entertaining tours await kindergarten pupils on Wednesday.
Schoolchildren are offered classes which are curriculum-aligned but entirely different from those at school.
University and vocational school students are invited to participate in the project with their teachers who are to give them classes or lectures on Biology, Ecology, Design or Engineering at the Aquarium’s exhibits.
We also conduct insightful tours of the exhibits for groups of children with difficult life circumstances and for families with three and more children.
THE GROWING UP AT THE AQUARIUM PROJECT
The Growing up at the Aquarium project incorporates several clubs for children aged between 6 and 17 years. The purpose of the project is to cultivate eco-literacy in children and to introduce them to all aspects of aquatic life as well as to the professions of biologist and ecologist.
Stage 1 – Belyok, an environmental biology club for children aged 6 to 7 years
Throughout a school year kids meet with various specialists engaged in taking care of the Aquarium residents, learn the methods of understanding the nature and become aware of how important any living creature is. In summer the members and their parents go on a field trip to Popov Island.
Stage 2 - Sea Guardians, an ecology club for children aged 8 to 9 years
Attending the Sea Guardians club, children get acquainted with the wild life diversity and the factors that form the habitat conditions; they also learn about how animals interact with each other and with humans, and what needs and lifestyle various animals have. Kids gain an experience of socially relevant activities through participation in volunteer clean-ups, coastal litter monitoring, sapling planting and environmental education events.
Stage 3 - Ichthyology Club for children aged 10 to 11 years
During learning sessions at the Ichthyology Club, preteens become familiar with species richness of aquarium fish, their biology and behaviours. Children develop practical skills in setting up and maintaining a fish tank and caring for its inhabitants.
“Graduating” this stage, the club members should present a jointly established fish tank with a self-sustaining ecosystem composed of well-matched plants and animals.
Stage 4 – AQUAlaboratory, a marine biology club for children aged 14 to 17 years
The AQUAlaboratory invites teenagers to dive into the world of science. Here, pupils are introduced to little known, subvisible or extinct organisms ranging from microscopic plankton to ancient giant marine reptiles. They also learn about the main stages and processes of evolution that have resulted in the current biodiversity, study the basics of microscopy and participate in paleontological field trips across Russky Island.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENCE-RELATED HOLIDAYS
We regularly welcome visitors to the Primorsky Aquarium to celebrate environmental and science-related holidays: World Wetland Day, Russian Science Day, World Fish Migration Day, World Penguin Day, World Oceans Day, Shark Awareness Day, Knowledge Day, Sea Monsters Day (the event coincides with Halloween) and others. The festive events aim to draw the public’s attention to some theme or issue through attractive, entertaining and emotion-packed content, to inform people about a problem and evoke an emotional response from them, thus changing their attitude to the problem.
PROGRAMS FOR SPECIAL GUESTS
Since December 2016 the Primorsky Aquarium has been conducting a monthly charity event, called Ocean of Hope. Each time it is organized either for 2 orphans, or for 2 children with disabilities. The event program includes a free-of-charge tour of the exhibits, a music and dance performance and a dolphin encounter, which is available only for special guests. The event also hosts a charity fair: all collected funds are spent to assist these children.
In October 2018 the Aquarium launched an educational project for special needs children, Crystal Bridge, designed to provide classes for 4 children with developmental delay and autism throughout a school year. The project seeks to socialize the children, to reduce their psychological and emotional strain and to develop them intellectually and emotionally.
WORKSHOPS AND LAB SESSIONS FOR CHILDREN
We offer children a number of paid training workshops that enable them to try their hands at the Aquarium-related jobs.
I am a scientist (12-17 years old) - pupils will become familiar with the profession of marine biology, study different types of protozoa, obtain skills in preparing infusorian samples, and surely make a scientific discovery: though unicellular, these organisms exhibit a fantastic variety of forms as well as complicated anatomy and physiology.
I am an exhibit guide (12-17 years old) – the workshop gives teenagers the chance to try one of the most important Aquarium jobs – an exhibit guide - a specialist who can answer plenty of questions and tell amazing stories.
During the workshop children will be taught to deliver information sharing their knowledge in a way that brings out positive emotions in visitors and makes them keep coming back to the Aquarium.
I am a dolphin trainer (10-17 years old) – children will learn about the dolphin’s body structure, the evolution the mammal has undergone, the history of its relationships with humans. Dolphin trainers will explain to the participants how to understand the body language of this animal and reveal some secrets of their skills.
Clearly Visible Plankton (10-14 years old) - in the course of this lab session pupils will see the enlarged models of plankton species at the Microworld exhibit, observe planktonic organisms under microscopes, draw and identify them using identification cards.
PUBLIC LECTURES
On Sundays our specialists give short lectures of the series entitled “Lectures 5 +” to children and their parents at the Aquarium’s exhibits. Each lecture deals with a particular animal.
In addition, public lectures of the series “42. Brief and to the Point” are regularly delivered, both as part of event celebrations and as separate events, to young and older visitors. These are 15-minute witty and impassioned lectures similar to those held at TED conferences. They take place in the video hall at the Evolution of Life in the Ocean exhibit.