By James Rose

Special to the Pioneer

The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centres mobile education program, AquaVan, presented by BC Hydro, will be visiting Eileen Madson Primary School on Wednesday, October 6th.

The AquaVan will be delivering fully interactive and immersive educational programming with the goal of inspiring students to make positive changes in aquatic conservation, said program manager Catriona Wilson. Now more than ever, it’s vitally important that we help students make connections to our oceans. The oceans need our help. The AquaVan does that through our live animals and education programming, added Ms. Wilson. The team aims to teach students that they can make a difference, that actions they make in their daily lives can have an impact on our oceans and aquatic habitats.

Designing the program to give children close encounters with marine life helps students understand that even if they do not live near an ocean we are all connected through rivers and streams to the ocean, said Ms. Wilson.

AquaVan programs feature artifacts, activities and live marine invertebrates such as crabs, urchins and sea stars. The kids will get an up-close and personal encounter with these fascinating creatures. Through engaging and interactive programming, we encourages students to discover the connection between animals, environments and themselves, said Ms. Wilson.

For the Vancouver Aquarium, the impetus for the program was a desire for the organization to take its message of ocean conservation outside the Aquarium walls and to reach as many students as possible in British Columbia and Alberta. The AquaVan program engages students and may give them that first connection to animals in the ocean leading them down the lifelong path of stewardship of all our aquatic habitats, said Ms. Wilson.

For more information on the AquaVan, other Vancouver Aquarium programs as well as conservation initiatives, visit vanaqua.org.