Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

The tall ship Bill of Rights, a 136' Gaff Rigged Schooner owned by the South Bayfront Sailing Association, is an ideal platform to offer a marine science experiential education program to the youth of Chula Vista. The vessel currently spends most of her time on the San Diego Bay, between her berth in Chula Vista and the mouth of the bay in Point Loma. This makes her the ideal platform for groups wanting to explore their local waters. The project produces interactive curriculum for elementary-school students in such a program with 6 modules including: (1) marine debris, (2) water quality, (3) algae and kelp, (4) fish, (5) plankton, (6) wetlands. Within each module, disciplinary core ideas that would be applicable for each lesson are identified. The lessons cover many different core ideas depending on how the discussion was structured or focused.