Ocean Conservation

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When:

Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - 1:00pm - 3:30pm

Where:

Who: This program is designed for children doing 6th through 8th grade level science work. Sea Life genuinely emphasizes grade level over age — so, any child doing doing 6th through 8th grade level science work is welcome, regardless of age, however children younger than 10 must be accompanied by a parent or other responsible adult in the classroom and should have the social skills to do well in a classroom environment.
All children in attendance must be enrolled in the program.

How much:
Cost for Child/Student: $13.02
Cost for Adult/Educator: $10.90
Cost for Adult Exhibit Admission (Partial Drop-Off option): $6.62
Cost for Sibling Exhibit Admission (Partial Drop-Off option) for ages 3 and up: $5.51

Please register by: Friday, November 22, 2013 - 5:00pm

Description

How much (continued):

Partial Drop-Off Option: Parents may drop off children ages 10 and up for Ocean Conservation and the Behind-the-Scenes Tour but must meet their children at Ray Lagoon at 2:30pm for the Ray Feeding and free exploration. Parents are asked to use their best judgement as to whether or not their children will require their assistance to have a successful and positive experience in the classroom and tour portion of the program and to join them if it is their best interests that they do so. Parents and siblings may enter and explore the aquarium during class time — just be sure to be at the Ray Lagoon by 2:30pm. The Ray Lagoon is the first exhibit at the bottom of the escalators.
Pre-purchase is strictly required. Exhibit admissions may not be added at the door nor may Exhibit admissions be converted to enrollment after the registration deadline.
Only enrolled children may attend the Ocean Conservation Marine Science Classroom Session and Behind-the-Scenes Tour. Sibling admission is for exhibits only. 
Exhibit admission is free for Sea Life members. If you are a member opting for Partial Drop-Off please make a note of it in the comment field of the registration form.
Exhibit admission is also free for children ages 2 and under. 

Sea Life Member Discount: If you have a membership to Sea Life, you may deduct $5/student and $6/adult (and the applicable sales tax) from the prices above. This discount will not be reflected in your calculated total due, so please make a note of your membership status in the comment field of the registration form and make the necessary adjustments to your payment. 
Discounted Sea Life member cost for Child/Student: $7.51
Discounted Sea Life member cost for for Adult/Educator: $4.29
Pre-notification is strictly required. No refunds for members can be made after the cancellation deadline. Members must bring their membership cards to the event for verification of membership status. 

Description

Investigate the effects of pollution and work to develop an Environmental Action Plan. Learn how, even in Minnesota, you can make a difference during a 45-minute Marine Science Classroom Session on Ocean Conservation.

Then go Behind-the-Scenes for first-hand look at how Sea Life staff care for the World's Largest Shark Collection. This 45-minute guided tour will take you up on deck above the tunnel system where you can see animals that are currently off-exhibit and look down on . You will also explore the Laboratory to find out how staff members treat and maintain the 1.3 million gallons of water that make up the aquarium. Your tour guide will also take you into the Food Prep Kitchen to see what Sea Life feeds its 10,000+ creatures in order to keep them healthy and strong. (Depending on the number of participants and parents, we may be divided into two groups. Families will be kept together, but if your child wishes to also be grouped with a friend, please let the organizer know in the comments field of the registration form.)

Next, watch the Cownose Stingrays and other inhabitants of Ray Lagoon being fed during the the 2:45pm Ray Feeding.

End by exploring the rest of the aquarium at your leisure. Plan to spend 30 minutes to 1 hour exploring the aquarium on your own.

• Ray Lagoon - In the wild, Cownose Stingrays can be found in schools of up to 10,000! You can see how they use their synchronized wing flaps to stir up sediment on the aquarium floor and watch them breaching the water surface to look back at you. Children of all ages can play with the Rays by climbing above and below Ray Lagoon. A special observation deck is available for guests to look down upon the many Sting Rays, Eels, and Guitarfish living here. Smaller explorers can get up-close to their favorite sea creatures by climbing below Ray Lagoon and gazing through unique viewing bubbles!
• Interactive Rock Pool — This is where you might get wet! If you’ve ever wondered what lives in the rockpools around our coast, this is the place to find out. Get up close to the wonderful creatures that live on our shores. Everything in the Touch Pool is safe to touch ... and rockpool experts are on-hand to show you how to gently touch a live Sea Star or get up close with a Pencil Sea Urchin.
• Jellyfish Discovery — Unlike most other marine creatures, and despite their stunning beauty and great variety, jellyfish are rarely given the attention they deserve. Now you can marvel at their graceful motion and ghost-like forms in a spellbinding spectacle that reveals their mysterious lives and world in a new light. Jellyfish have been around for more than 650 million years, which means that they outdate both dinosaurs and sharks.
• Octopus Garden — Octopus, cuttlefish, nautilus and more display their supernatural skills including camouflage, ink clouds and jet propulsion. This exhibit is scheduled to close at the end of December 2013, so don't miss these amazing creatures!
• Seahorse Kingdom — Enter an enchanted kingdom with Seahorses from around the world. Did you know that the male Seahorse looks after the brood of babies in a special abdominal pouch so the female can start producing a new batch of eggs immediately to increase the total number of young the pair create? Witness "pregnant" seahorse dads, as well as baby seahorses, all while learning how Seahorses thrive in their environments.
• The Tunnel — The amazing glass tunnel takes you 14 feet under the water's surface to witness the lakes, rivers, reefs, and deeper oceans of the world. Four distinct environments can be found here:
• Rainbow Reef — This colorful coral garden is home to Nurse Shark, Zebra Shark, Bamboo Sharks, Cownose Stingrays, Bird Wrasse, Remora, Sohal Tang, and many other tropical fish.
• Atlantis — Home to Sandtiger Sharks, Brown Sharks, Green Sawfish, Nurse Sharks, Loggerhead Sea Turtles, Guitarfish, Jacks, Cobia, and many other vicious predators.
• Amazon River — Home to an Arapaima, Black Pacu, Giant Musk Turtle, Midas Cichlid, Tiger Shovelnose Catfish, and many other exotic species!
• Sturgeon Lake — This angler's paradise is home to Alligator Gar, Lake Sturgeon, Large Mouth Bass, Muskellunge, Paddlefish, and many other familiar fish!

Class schedule:
1:00pm-1:45pm Ocean Conservation Marine Science Classroom Session
1:45pm-2:30pm Behind the Scenes Tour
2:30pm-2:45pm Break (restrooms are located in the Ray Lagoon area, near the escalators*)
2:45pm-3:00pm Ray Feeding in the Ray Lagoon
3:00pm-3:30pm/4:00pm Free Exploration of Aquarium — your admission is good for the rest of the day, so you may exit and reenter using your name badges and the Galaxy ID Number printed on them as proof of purchase (the last entrance is at 7pm and the aquarium closes at 8pm).

* There is also another restroom on the main floor of the Aquarium when you first come down the escalators (by the member desk).

Event information Cancellation information Additional information Registration form 

Payment information

Payment must be received by: Mon, Nov 25, 2013 - 5:00pm

1. Please plan to send your payment the same day that you register.

   The organizer will expect to receive your payment within 3 days of your date of registration — or by the payment deadline above, whichever comes first.

2. Immediately after you register, you will be emailed payment instructions from admin(at)homeschoolrecess(dot)com.

   Make sure your email filters recognize this address as a legitimate sender. If you don't receive this email, please check your spam, junk or bulk mail folder. Contact the organizer if you are unable to find it; if you receive no response to your email, please call the organizer.

   You are not officially registered until the organizer receives your payment.

3. When the organizer records your payment, you will be emailed a payment receipt from admin(at)homeschoolrecess(dot)com.

   The organizer updates payment records daily. If you've sent your payment and haven't received a payment confirmation, please contact the organizer by email or phone.

4. If the organizer doesn't receive payment within 3 days of your date of registration or by the payment deadline, whichever comes first, the organizer may remove your family from the registration list.

   You will be notified with an email from admin(at)homeschoolrecess(dot)com should this unfortunate event occur.

   If you are unable to send payment immediately, please contact the organizer to make other arrangements. To help the organizer identify you in the registration database, please forward your payment instructions to the organizer along with your request. This protects the organizer from non-payment due to payment instructions blocked by overly aggressive spam protection.

5. If you need to cancel your registration, please do so via an email request to the organizer.

   Non-payment is not an acceptable way to cancel your registration. If you wish to cancel, please be respectful of the volunteer organizer's time and send an email request.

   If you fail to send a cancellation request by the cancellation deadline, you will remain responsible for reimbursing the organizer for the cost of your family's participation.

Event information Payment information Additional information Registration form 

Cancellation information

Cancellation deadline: Mon, Nov 25, 2013 - 5:00pm

TO CANCEL BEFORE THE DEADLINE: 
(1) Please let the organizer know as soon as possible via email. 

TO CANCEL AFTER THE DEADLINE: 
(1) Let the organizer know as soon as possible via email. 
(2) No refunds can be made as the organizer has already paid for your tickets. 
(3) To avoid empty seats, please attempt to transfer your tickets to another family by posting the availability to the HSAdventures Yahoo Group (and elsewhere as appropriate). 
(3a) Any reimbursements should be handled privately between you and your substitute. 
(3b) Please let the organizer know about the substitution. 
 
TO CANCEL ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT: 
(1) It is not cool to just not show up. Please let the organizer know if you are unable to attend — via email, text message or voice mail. 
(2) To avoid empty seats, please attempt to find a last-minute substitute for your family by posting to the HSAdventures Yahoo Group (as well as through any other other methods at your disposal). 

Event information Payment information Cancellation information Registration form 

Additional information

Please arrive by:

Please plan to arrive no later than 12:45pm in order to have plenty of time to find parking, check in with the organizer, visit the bathrooms and otherwise prepare for our classroom program to start promptly at 1pm. Please plan to be early to avoid being late due to inadequate maps, confusing road signs, road construction, heavy traffic, parking difficulties, inclement weather or uncooperative children. If you find that despite your best efforts, you are running unavoidably late, please let the organizer know! You may reach the organizer by phone, text message or email on the day of the event.

Where to meet:

Please meet the organizer in the seating area by the main entrance to Sea Life, at the top of the escalators. Do NOT check in at the reception desk. Do NOT go down the escalators. 

The organizer will be wearing a Homeschool Adventures shirt. Please retrieve your receipt and name badges from the organizer when you arrive as this is how she will check-in participants. 

Parking information:

Free parking in the Mall of American ramps. Park in the East Ramp to be closest to Sea Life. 

Directions:

SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium is located beneath the Mall of America at 120 East Broadway, Bloomington, MN 55425, at the intersection of I-494 and Hwy 77.

Closest entrance to Sea Life is the East Entrance on Level One.

Event information Payment information Cancellation information Additional information

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