Middle School Marine Ecology Trip: The Florida Keys
Itinerary
Monday, June 13th- Students depart from BWI Airport at 7:55am and arrive in Ft. Lauderdale at
10:20am. Students will travel by coach to MarineLab in Key Largo, Florida. Students will be
staying at MarineLab from Monday-Wednesday. We will arrive at MarineLab around 1:00 pm.
Students will participate in a swim test and gear orientation. Students will then participate in
discussion and take a field trip to learn about seagrass ecology. Students will then have dinner in
MarineLab’s dining hall. Students will then participate in a lab about invertebrate diversity and
discuss coral reef ecology to get ready for Tuesday’s activities. Students will sleep in rooms of 6
with chaperones in rooms close by.
Tuesday, June 14th- Student will participate in a variety of experiential education field trips on the
water to learn about mangrove ecology, coral reef ecology, and field identification of reef fish. At
night, students will participate in a plankton tow.
Wednesday, June 15th- Students will wake up and participate in their last field trip at MarineLab.
We will depart MarineLab around 12pm and drop luggage off at the Holiday Inn. We will then
have lunch and spend the rest of the day at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Students
can swim and enjoy the local beach. We then head back to the hotel for dinner and settle in for
the evening.
Thursday, June 16th- After breakfast, students head to Marathon, Fl to visit the Dolphin
Research Center, where they will learn about dolphins and have a chance to interact with them in
the water. We will then travel to the Turtle Hospital. Students will get to feed the resident sea
turtles and tour the hospital and rehabilitation facility to see what doctors are doing to help the
turtles.
After a wonderful trip in the Keys, the group will head to Sunrise, Fl for their last night. The group
will have dinner, play laser tag, and unwind before departing in the morning.
Friday, June 17th- Students have breakfast at hotel and head to FLL airport. We will depart FLL
at 11:00am and arrive to BWI at 1:35pm.