PACIFIC LIFE WHALE EDUCATION KIT

With the generous help of the Pacific Life Foundation, in 1999 the Ocean Alliance published the WHALE Education Curriculum Guide and accompanying Kit. The kit was honored with a Parent's Choice Award in 1999. The WHALE Education Kit is a multimedia, thematically based, hands-on education program designed to develop in students a comprehensive appreciation for whales, science and the ocean environment.

Phase One of the program was launched in California in January of 1999 in over 110 classrooms in and around Orange County, California. Ocean Alliance first introduced the program to educators at the "Whales and Technology" Workshop hosted by the Orange County Marine Institute (now the Ocean Institute).

Phase Two of the Pacific Life WHALE Education Program involves Ocean Alliance staff visiting nine selected Museums of Science/IMAX Theaters in the United States. Twenty to forty classes per city will be invited to attend a complementary showing of Whales and each school will receive a free WHALE Education Kit. Ocean Alliance staff involvement provides a unique opportunity for students and educators to learn directly from experts in the marine mammal field and hear first hand information relating to the Whales film.

The WHALE Education Program is a collaborative effort between Ocean Alliance, Destination Cinema (National Wildlife Federation, Zephyr Productions) and selected Museums of Science across the Nation.

WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE PACIFIC LIFE FOUNDATION WHALE EDUCATION PROGRAM?

• Increase awareness about whales and the problems all mammals face (including humans) and inspire students to learn more about the ocean environment and to act upon this new knowledge.
• Increase student interest in the sciences by making science relevant, interesting, fun, and accessible.
• Improve science literacy, thus enabling students to make informed, responsible decisions concerning the environment.
• Provide students with knowledge and first hand experience of research techniques used by whale scientists.
• Provide insights into the lives of whale researchers through meeting an Ocean Alliance staff person who also serves as a role model for students.

The Program Kit includes:

• WHALE Education Program Curriculum Guide and worksheets
• Whales Video (IMAX) by Destination Cinema, National Wildlife Federation, Zephyr Productions, Dr. Roger Payne/OCEAN ALLIANCE
• In the Company of Whales CD-ROM by the Discovery Channel and Dr. Roger Payne/OCEAN ALLIANCE
• "Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises - The visual guide to all the world's cetaceans" by Mark Carwardine/Eyewitness Handbooks
• Whales Zoobook by Wildlife Education, Inc.
• Dolphins and Porpoises Zoobook by Wildlife Education, Inc.
• Songs of the Humpback Whale CD by OCEAN ALLIANCE
• Deep Voices CD (blue, fin, humpback and right whale sounds) by OCEAN ALLIANCE
• Ocean Alliance ocean ecology poster designed by Laura Engleby and artist Robin Makowski

WHAT MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE ARE ALREADY INVOLVED?

To date OA has confirmed and/or has conducted the program with the following science museums: