BayMobile Goes the Extra Mile to Schools

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- When the BayMobile visits schools, students learn how their transportation choices affect the environment and San Francisco Bay. Operated by San Francisco's Aquarium of the Bay, the BayMobile is a mobile classroom that delivers animals, interactive experiments, and climate change education directly to the classroom.

Teachers, school administrators and educators in the nine-county Bay Area are invited to sign up for a BayMobile classroom lesson. Courses are taught by a team of talented educators and are available for K-12 students free of charge, thanks to a grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District's Spare the Air Youth Program.

Each BayMobile lesson includes multi-media presentations, hands-on experiments, and animal encounters. For part of the lesson, supplies are brought into the classroom where students can learn about subjects including climate change and ocean acidification. Another part of the lesson lets students venture outside to the BayMobile, where they encounter animal ambassadors from Aquarium of the Bay including sea stars, sea cucumbers and Western pond turtles. Lessons are hands-on and all courses meet National Education Association's Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teacher training program requirements and Next Generation Science Standards.

Launched in March and serving three Bay Area counties, approximately 4,500 students participated in BayMobile classroom lessons during the spring. Over the summer, the BayMobile visited libraries, summer camps and summer school classes, reaching another thousand students. During the 2014-15 school year, the BayMobile is expanding its reach and is available for visits in all nine Bay Area counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma).

Educators at schools in the Bay Area can schedule a visit from the BayMobile. Classes last 60 minutes and are suitable for 15-35 students. For further information, go to http://www.mtc.ca.gov/news/current_topics/9-14/baymobile.htm. For course information and to make a reservation, visit http://aquariumofthebay.org/baymobile.

For more information about the Spare the Air Youth Program, visit sparetheairyouth.org. MTC is the regional transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is the regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the nine-county Bay Area. Aquarium of the Bay is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit nature center with a mission to protect, restore and inspire the conservation of San Francisco Bay and its watershed from the Sierra to the sea.

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SOURCE MTC