About
K-16 Marine Science Education Programs include science field trips, classroom programs, exhibit discovery experiences, and student field monitoring opportunities. Students take part in enriching outdoor activities in the marine environment on Crissy Beach, engaging lab activities in the sanctuary’s pier classroom atop the San Francisco Bay, and indoor explorations of marine life and ecosystem exhibits. Programs also include ocean science lessons in Bay Area classrooms, games, slide shows, and use of props such as crab traps, Humboldt squid, Dungeness crabs, and fishing gear, along with virtual options like Science of Crabs, Soundscapes of Wonderful Whales and Playful Pinnipeds, a virtual plankton lab, and Virtual Exploration of Rocky Intertidal and Sandy Beach Ecosystems.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Visitor Center field trip programs are 90 minutes long; Science of Crabs is a 60-minute virtual program; Soundscapes of Wonderful Whales and Playful Pinnipeds is a 60-minute interactive online program; the virtual plankton lab program Plankton! Microscopic Marvels is a 60-minute virtual program; Virtual Exploration of Rocky Intertidal and Sandy Beach Ecosystems is 40 minutes for one module or 1.5 hours for both modules.
• Price: The fee is $75 per virtual marine science program (LiMPETS program fees vary). Fees are not required for Title I schools.
Visitor Center field trips are described as highly interactive and NGSS standards-based ocean STEM learning programs, and the Ocean At Your School option brings ocean science lessons directly to Bay Area classrooms aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and NOAA Ocean and Climate Principles. Ocean After School serves primarily at-risk San Francisco children in grades 2 to 7 and is provided free-of-charge to these schools, while Fisherman in the Classroom brings working fishermen into classrooms to discuss the fishing industry using props and interdisciplinary content. LiMPETS connects over 5,000 students to the ocean each year, is available for 6th grade through college students, and offers hybrid virtual and in-person options with training tools and activities in the LiMPETS curriculum.
Specific virtual and hands-on activities include live observations of sand, hermit, rock, and shore crabs, crab costume dress-up, the “mommy crabby dance,” interactive and online quiz questions, observations of marine mammal artifacts, exploration of living plankton streaming from two microscopes, an interpretive dance of the barnacle life cycle, and ocean acidification demonstrations. Soundscapes of Wonderful Whales and Playful Pinnipeds uses soundscape activities and artifacts to teach about marine mammals, and Plankton! Microscopic Marvels focuses on a virtual plankton lab with live microscope views.
Greater Farallones Association, founded in 1995, partners with NOAA’s national marine sanctuaries to protect and conserve Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries through foundational science, immersive education programs, and restoration projects. The Association notes that these sanctuaries have been designated as a global Hope Spot for the ocean by Dr. Sylvia Earle with Mission Blue. Community involvement includes partnerships with NOAA’s national marine sanctuaries, support for the Ocean After School program from the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, and grant support for the Marine Science Education Fellowship from the JW & HM Goodman Family Foundation.
One Beach Watch volunteer since 2012 states that participation feels like making a contribution to something much bigger while focusing on a specific beach. A teacher describes LiMPETS as an incredible opportunity for students and notes that LiMPETS scientists and educators are respected as ambassadors for the oceans.
Last updated May 17, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Visitor Center field trip programs are 90 minutes long; Science of Crabs is a 60-minute virtual program; Soundscapes of Wonderful Whales and Playful Pinnipeds is a 60-minute interactive online program; the virtual plankton lab program Plankton! Microscopic Marvels is a 60-minute virtual program; Virtual Exploration of Rocky Intertidal and Sandy Beach Ecosystems is 40 minutes for one module or 1.5 hours for both modules.
• Price: The fee is $75 per virtual marine science program (LiMPETS program fees vary). Fees are not required for Title I schools.
Visitor Center field trips are described as highly interactive and NGSS standards-based ocean STEM learning programs, and the Ocean At Your School option brings ocean science lessons directly to Bay Area classrooms aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and NOAA Ocean and Climate Principles. Ocean After School serves primarily at-risk San Francisco children in grades 2 to 7 and is provided free-of-charge to these schools, while Fisherman in the Classroom brings working fishermen into classrooms to discuss the fishing industry using props and interdisciplinary content. LiMPETS connects over 5,000 students to the ocean each year, is available for 6th grade through college students, and offers hybrid virtual and in-person options with training tools and activities in the LiMPETS curriculum.
Specific virtual and hands-on activities include live observations of sand, hermit, rock, and shore crabs, crab costume dress-up, the “mommy crabby dance,” interactive and online quiz questions, observations of marine mammal artifacts, exploration of living plankton streaming from two microscopes, an interpretive dance of the barnacle life cycle, and ocean acidification demonstrations. Soundscapes of Wonderful Whales and Playful Pinnipeds uses soundscape activities and artifacts to teach about marine mammals, and Plankton! Microscopic Marvels focuses on a virtual plankton lab with live microscope views.
Greater Farallones Association, founded in 1995, partners with NOAA’s national marine sanctuaries to protect and conserve Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries through foundational science, immersive education programs, and restoration projects. The Association notes that these sanctuaries have been designated as a global Hope Spot for the ocean by Dr. Sylvia Earle with Mission Blue. Community involvement includes partnerships with NOAA’s national marine sanctuaries, support for the Ocean After School program from the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, and grant support for the Marine Science Education Fellowship from the JW & HM Goodman Family Foundation.
One Beach Watch volunteer since 2012 states that participation feels like making a contribution to something much bigger while focusing on a specific beach. A teacher describes LiMPETS as an incredible opportunity for students and notes that LiMPETS scientists and educators are respected as ambassadors for the oceans.
Last updated May 17, 2026.
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