The Marine Discovery Center welcomes you and your students to “explore your water” through our hands-on and feet-wet programs. Browse through our list of exciting programs and let us plan your next student Discovery!

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Our programs include chemical, physical, biological and ecological concepts that incorporate FL’s Sunshine State Standards.

Activities include backwater ecotours among the mangroves, seine netting, water quality testing, invertebrate investigations, kayaking, GPS scavenger hunts, animal sign interpretation and much more!

The Indian River Lagoon Experience

The Indian River Lagoon Experience can be presented to a minimum of 30 participants (students, teachers and chaperones) and a maximum of 120 participants. Please read the information below for more details.

Grade Level: 3 – 12
Participants: minimum 30 – 40
Length of Program: 3 hours (3 activities)
Fee: $16.50/ participant

This program includes 2 land-based activities lasting 40 minutes each, a 30-minute lunch on our deck and picnic area, and a 70-minute exploration activity of the Indian River

Lagoon Estuary from our 40-passenger pontoon boat. Activities include the following:

1. Plethora of Plankton
2. Dockside Investigations
3. Discovery Eco-Adventure

Please divide your students into 2 groups of equal numbers if possible.

Grade Level: 3 – 12
Participants: minimum 41 – 80 (3 activities)
Length of Program: 3 hours
Fee: $16.50/ participant

This program includes 2 land-based activities lasting 40 minutes each, a 30-minute lunch on our deck and picnic area, and a 70-minute exploration activity of the Indian River

Lagoon from our 40-passenger pontoon boat. Activities include the following:

1. Plethora of Plankton
2. Dockside Investigations
3. Discovery Eco-Adventure

Please divide your students into 4 groups of equal numbers if possible. Two of the groups will begin with the estuary exploration by boat, and the other groups will rotate between the land-based activities.

Grade Level: 3 – 12
Participants: minimum 81 – 100
Length of Program: 31/2 hours (4 activities)
Fee: $16.50/ participant

This program involves four activities and a 30-minute time period for lunch on our deck and picnic area. Each activity will be 45 minutes long and consist of the following:

1. Plethora of Plankton
2. Dockside Investigations
3. Discovery Eco-Adventure
4. Choice of either Feeding Frenzy or Shoreline Explorations

Please divide your students into 4 groups of equal numbers if possible. Each group will rotate through the four activities.

Grade Level: 3 – 12
Participants: over 100 – 125
Length of Program: 4 hours
Fee: $16.50/ participant

This program involves five activities and a 30-minute time period for lunch on our deck and picnic area. Each activity will be 40 minutes long and consist of the following:

1. Plethora of Plankton
2. Dockside Investigations
3. Discovery Eco-Adventure
4. Feeding Frenzy
5. Shoreline Explorations

Please divide your students into 5 groups of equal numbers if possible. Each Group will rotate through the five activities.

Activity Descriptions

Shoreline Explorations

Shoreline Explorations offers students a chance to explore the mangroves up close and study why these tropical plants are so important to Florida’s coastal ecosystems. While participating in a scavenger hunt, students learn how to identify 4 different mangrove species, several shoreline invertebrates and a variety of edible plants found along our shoreline. Students will also have a chance to discover the aquatic life living among the mangroves while skimming the waters of the lagoon using a seine net.

Plethora of Plankton

Plethora of Plankton peers into the fascinating world of marine plankton – the drifters of the sea. Students will watch a brief slideshow on plankton and check out a live sample of plankton through our discovery scopes. The program will conclude with the students creating plankton and participating in the plankton race. Concepts of food chains, food webs, and energy transfer; buoyancy, density and salinity are presented throughout this program.

Discovery Eco Adventure

The Discovery Eco-Adventure offers students an up close and hands-on experience with some of the lagoon’s most unique inhabitants while traveling on our 40-passenger pontoon boat. Live animals and specimens will be passed among the students as we disappear into the mangroves of the Indian River Lagoon. While exploring a bird rookery island and searching for bottlenose dolphins and manatees, students will use their knowledge of the scientific method to learn more about their local environment.

Feeding Frenzy

Step into the fascinating life of the shark and what separates these magnificent creatures from other fish. Our instructors will present a variety of shark artifacts including shark teeth, sharkskin, shark fins and preserved shark specimens for a hands-on investigation into the lives of these fascinating creatures!

Dockside Investigations

What makes an estuary and estuary and why is the Indian River Lagoon North America’s most biologically diverse estuary? Dockside Investigations answers these questions through an in depth, hands-on experience that includes water experiments and dip netting.