Home

Educational Cruises
    Cruising Classroom (Grades 4-12)
      Stations Offered
      Preparations/Tips
      Post-cruise Activities
   Course Instruction

Specifications

Reserve A Cruise

Office Phone:
310-206-8247

When preparing your class for the Cruising Classroom program, please consider the following:

Pre-cruise Instruction:

The Cruising Classroom will provide instruction on a number of scientific concepts.  Many times teachers want to introduce these concepts in the classroom before the trip.  The big ideas include:

• What is plankton

• The history of Marina del Rey and the Ballona Wetland

• Basic boating safety

• Determining wind speed and direction

• Determining water clarity

• Water salinity, temperature, density

• Prevailing currents

• Longitude and latitude

• Basic navigation

• Marine mammal and seabird identification

• Benthic animal identification

• Animal adaptations

• Classification of animals

• Scientific process

Before The Trip:

For the teacher:

• File your field trip slips at your school
• Have emergency phone numbers ready to take with you on board
• Bring driving directions to give to the bus driver
• Confirm your chaperones (a minimum of one adult for each 9 students)
• Decide how you will break your students into three groups for our stations

 

For the Students:

   Dress

• Closed toe shoes with a rubber sole (the deck can get wet and slippery)
• Sunscreen
• Hat
• Sunglasses
• Wind breaker or light jacket / layers of clothes for changing weather
• Backpack for personal items

   Equipment

• Bring a snack for on the boat (optional lunch for later after the cruise)
• Pencils and eraser, paper, clipboard to take notes as required by the teacher
• Camera to document your research

Responsibilities during the Cruising Classroom:

For the teacher / adults:

• During the three station rotation, adults are to stay with the groups of children through all three stations
• After the stations, adults are to monitor the stern, bow, and upper deck of the boat whenever children are present
• If children eat snacks on board, monitor an effective clean-up of the area
• In case of emergency, adults are to gather children in a group in an area deemed safe by the captain or engineer
• If lifejackets are handed out, adults should help children don their lifejackets first before donning their own lifejackets
• If told to abandon ship, adults should keep children grouped together while the crew deploys life rafts.  One adult should board each life raft before the children, helping them aboard and distributing them evenly on the rafts.  Then, when all children are aboard the rafts, the rest of the adults are to board.

For the students:

• There is no gum and no running aboard the Sea World UCLA
• Follow all rules as discussed by the captain and staff
• Listen to the captain and staff when they speak to you
• Plan to ask questions
• Volunteer during stations
• If you eat snacks aboard the boat, make sure to deposit all trash in the trash cans provided

After the trip:

• Many groups plan to take the students to Burton Chace Park following the cruise for lunch and outdoor activities before returning to school.  The park has benches and a wide grassy area with a view of the marina.  The park is located at the end of Mindanao Way.  Driving directions for the bus: turn left out of the Dock 52 parking lot.  At Admiralty Way, turn left.  Turn left on Mindanao Way.  Drop off the students at the end of the street.  The parking lot is small and many busses have had trouble turning around from inside there.

• Follow up with any of our post-cruise activities

• Send us your feedback.  We love to get letters, drawings and e-mail about your experience.

• Schedule another cruise!