Isle Of Wight Primary School Pupils Gets Hands-On With Marine Biology On Ryde Beach

Thirty Ryde primary school children learned some important environmental lessons as they explored their local beach.

The children from Dover Park teamed up with University of Portsmouth marine scientists in a series of ‘seaside safari’ activities sponsored by Wightlink Ferries.

Dover Park is one of Wightlink’s partner schools. The ferry company works with them on various educational activities, many aimed at encouraging interest in the environment.

During the seaside safari on Ryde beach, the young explorers studied rockpools and seagrass and also learned about micro-plastics before sieving the sand to see for themselves how the small plastic particles have entered the local eco-system.

A morning of activities then ended with a beach clean.

“The children haven't stopped talking about their experience and they really gained a lot from the morning,” says Year 2 teacher Michelle Cooper.

“It was great to see them on the beach and they were clearly loving learning about the various sea creatures and the microplastics that can cause problems for them.

"What we have been learning in class - that the children will be really mindful about how we must look after our environment and certainly help cut the amount of plastic and litter that finds its way onto the beach.”

Expedition leader Georgios Georgiou, Research Assistant at the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Marine Sciences brought along some university students to help.

He says:

“I'm so glad the kids had such a fun experience - hopefully we will have a few recruits to the university once they're older!

“We all really enjoyed working with the children and showing them a bit about the work that we do. They were so well behaved and it was so lovely to see them so passionate about the environment.”