Bite-Size Science, Big Impact: Birch Aquarium Brings Scripps Research to Local Schools

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is launching Science Bites, a new program that brings science education into the community. These lessons include both the opportunity to explore real scientific data as well as hands-on experiences for high school students. The lessons also help high school science teachers integrate Earth science in meaningful ways for students.

The Science Bites program was developed through a partnership between Birch Aquarium’s Hub for Scripps Science, UC San Diego and San Diego Unified School District, along with other curriculum developers from Scripps Oceanography and the community. The goal is to create engaging, accessible education resources that feature Scripps climate science and deepen students’ understanding of the topics. 

“With Science Bites, we aim to make science learning fun! Hands-on, locally relevant high school lessons connect students with current research at Scripps Oceanography,” said Nan Renner, Birch Aquarium’s Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships. “Students ask questions, conduct investigations, dive into cool data visualizations and share their ideas. Also, local Indigenous knowledge adds a perspective that students find really interesting.”

A unique aspect of this program is that members of the aquarium’s Education Team visit local high school science classrooms to demonstrate the curriculum in-person to directly train educators on the curriculum. The lesson demonstrations take one to two class periods and train teachers on how to utilize the lesson plans directly in their classrooms. This on-site approach makes the program more accessible, affordable and ideally less stressful by eliminating the need for teachers to arrange travel or find class coverage. In-classroom training also provides a professional development opportunity for the aquarium educators by expanding their experience in the field. 

Class topics include evapotranspiration, carbon sequestration and atmospheric rivers. Each lesson includes access to Scripps Oceanography research and other resources like worksheets and instructions for hands-on activities, plus an "Indigenous Bite" to connect the lesson with traditional ecological knowledge. The lesson plans are Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned and written to fit seamlessly with core high school science courses including Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Lesson plans and other resources are available for free on the San Diego Unified School District website and teachers who use Science Bites in the classroom are invited to give feedback. 

Science Bites is just one of Birch Aquarium’s many School and Youth Group programs, which engage  more than 40,000 Pre-K-12 students each year at the aquarium, in schools and in the field.