New Zealand Marine Studies Center
Sally Carson, director of the NZ Marine Studies Centre, is also co-author with Rod Morris of The New Zealand Seashore Guide.

Educator/teaching fellow Rob Lewis collects a plankton sample, which is used to feed the seahorses and pipefish in two aquaria in the Centre.
The NZMSC building opened in 1996.  It has exhibits and a teaching space, as well as touch tanks. 
Aquaria containing seahorses and pipefish.
Students, teachers and other groups frequently visit the NZMSC.  (Above) A group of about 60 young people organised by Pacific Trust Otago (PTO), "a charitable organisation based in Dunedin that provides support to Pacific communities in the Otago region," had a busy day at NZMSC including exploring the rocky shore and  the touch tanks.  NZMSC offers a variety of programmes for visitors, depending on their ages and interests.  For example, a popular program for Year 3-8 students, "Supper in the Sea," explores feeding adaptations of marine life forms: producers, grazers, filter feeders, scavengers, and predators.  In "Small Animal Study," Year 13 students use one animal species, for example the porcelain crab ("half crab") to practice the scientific method from research question to hypothesis to experiment and data collection and analysis.
Lots of teaching options are available. 
Tanks set up for a lesson on predator response.
A polychaete worm set in a dish for observation.
A group of year 12 and 13 students went out on Polaris II.

Shore guides produced by the NZ Marine Studies Centre are an invaluable resource. 
Signs of the Sea is a NZMSC project that encourages mindfulness and awareness of the coastal and marine environment.

NZ Marine Studies Centre  |  Marine Metre2
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