Home-school students present projects on Ocean Day

World Ocean Day on June 8 at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium was swimming with information on how to keep oceans healthy.

Mote hosted home-school students at its Ocean Day celebration to present the final projects that they have been working on all semester. 

Mote's home-school program is for students ages 12 to 16 with an interest in marine life from across Sarasota and Manatee counties. Groups of three or four students teamed up to inform people about important issues impacting the health of oceans and the environment. Topics included clean water, rare turtle populations and toxic runoff.

"A lot of us are interested in a career in marine science when we are older, so I really enjoy exploring these different topics," said student Ayden Croowe. "I also have met a lot of fun people my age which I don't usually get to do since I am homeschooled."

Croowe's group focused their project on spreading awareness of problems affecting seagrass beds. He said that seagrass serves as a nursery for offshore fish and protection for marine mammals like manatees. As an interactive activity for their project, Croowe's partner Isabelle Gunderson used her 3D printer to make small models of manatees. Croowe promised a manatee to anyone who could beat him in a game of cornhole. 

Another group focused on informing people about coastal plastic pollution and discouraging the use of single-use plastics. This team included Coco Claypoole, Addison Riesen, Solomyn Hionkas and Love Gordon.

For their interactive activity, they asked people to guess how many pieces of plastic are in a jar that they collected on a beach day. The team was able to collect 150 pieces of plastic in one trip. People who guessed the closest number received a reusable straw.

Mote Public Programs Manager in the Education Department Dana Henderson works closely with these students throughout the year. She said that programs like these are necessary to make a difference in future generations keeping Florida waters clean. 

"They spend all of spring semester working on these projects," said Henderson. "So they come into fruition and interacting with the public shows how much work they have put into and how much they have grown through it."