Fun, Family Summer Activities
Stephanie Vatalaro
7/9/2010
Take Me Fishing™ is excited to be partnering with Discovery Education on a new initiative called “
Explore the Blue.” The goal is to reach children nationwide to inspire a lasting appreciation for the natural world. The campaign is also working to provide parents and teachers – key influences in children’s lives – a set of online tools to promote conservation and youth participation in on-the-water activities.
If you are planning an outdoor excursion for your family this summer, you are in luck. Check out these hands on, outdoor activities that encourage families to spend time together, exploring all that nature has to offer.
Activities include:
Virtual Field Trip – Learn how to create an Aquarium Terrarium – all with recycled materials. Through this virtual field trip, you’ll learn how different plants and animals help each other survive and thrive in an ecosystem and the importance of conservation.
Boating Journal – How many type of boats can you name? Compile a checklist, plan an outing to observe as many as you can, and discuss how each is powered.
Building Boats – Create model boats using different materials, then test them on the water for a fun activity that will teach the basics of buoyancy, water displacement, surface area and boat design.
Exploring Ecosystems – Research the ecosystem of a local body of water, then visit it to compare your research with what you find there. You can create your very own field guide!
Making Maps – Create a map of your excursion area and record where you go and what you see along the way to compare different habitats within an ecosystem.
Observational Journal – Start a journal about a nearby water system, complete with photos, descriptions of the plant and animal life, weather conditions and other observations.
Stay tuned, because in mid-August ‘Explore the Blue’ will add instructional materials designed specifically for educators in the classroom. These materials will include lesson plans, videos, multimedia content, activities, and worksheets – all aligned to state education standards. In addition, the campaign will launch an interactive game for students to develop and care for their own ecosystem, as well as a digital essay contest encouraging students to document their fishing and boating experiences through video and/or digital photos.
Visit ‘
Explore the Blue’ to learn more!
Stephanie Vatalaro
Stephanie Vatalaro is vice president of communications for the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation and its Take Me Fishing and Vamos A Pescar campaigns where she works to recruit newcomers to recreational fishing and boating and increase awareness of aquatic conservation. Stephanie grew up in the Florida Keys as the daughter of a flats fishing guide. Outside of work, you can find her fishing and boating with her family on the Potomac River in the Northern Neck of Virginia.