Speaking about the popular workshops, manager of the Lifetime Lab and organiser of the workshops Mervyn Horgan said, “The high level of participation across 21 primary schools reflects Cork’s rich maritime history and continued interest in the marine sector. It was fantastic to engage with these students through marine related experiments and activities on topics such as the Real Map of Ireland showing Ireland’s marine resource and identifying marine species. The students have gained a wide range of skills that will hopefully encourage future studies in science, maths and geography”.  

Thanking the Marine Institute for their involvement with the workshops he added, “Raising awareness of marine science in classrooms brings long term benefits. The Explorers Education Programme and workshops are an innovative way of engaging in science education, combining topics of sea life, science and geography with practical experiments and activities. The support provided by the Marine Institute for these workshops ensures that students become interested in Ireland’s marine resources and its future development early in their education”.  

The Explorers Education Programme seeks to develop an interest among primary school students in Ireland’s extensive 220 million acre marine resource, which is one of the largest in the EU. The programme and workshops are currently used by over 50 schools reaching over 5000 thousand students throughout Ireland.  

The programme aims to raise awareness and interest in Ireland's marine resource, oceans and seashores through teaching cross curricular lessons and activities. A wide variety of marine based lesson plans, activities and science experiments, including details on the Real Map of Ireland, can be downloaded from www.explorers.ie.  

The Explorers Education programme was developed by the Marine Institute in collaboration with a number of key partners including Galway Atlantaquaria, Sealife Bray Aqauriaum, Blackrock Education Centre, Galway Education Centre and the Lifetime Lab, Cork.    

Schools awarded with the Explorers Education Certificate of Participation:  

St Patrick’s BNS, Gardiners Hill; Cork Educate Together; Scoil Íosagain, Farranree; St John’s GNS, Carrigaline; Holy Cross Mahon; St. Luke’s NS,O’ Mahony’s Ave Cork; GlenFlesk NS; Eglantine GNS, Douglas; Scoil Maria Assumptha; Our Lady of Lourdes, Ballinlough; Sundays Well BNS; Glasheen BNS; Scoil Mhuire Junior School; Glasheen GNS; Scoil Mhuire Gán Smal; St. Anthonys BNS, Ballinlough; Beaumount GNS; Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh BNS; Scoil Oilibhéir.

Photographs of the workshops at the Lifetime Lab, Cork  can be seen on the Explorers news page on the website www.explorers.ie 

ENDS

For more information and photographs please contact:

Communications Office
Marine Institute
Phone: 091 387 200
Email: cushla.dromgoolregan@marine.ie or lisa.fitzpatrick@marine.ie

or

Mervyn Horgan 
Lifetime Lab
Phone: 021 4941500
Email: mervyn_horgan@corkcity.ie