Sure most of you should know at least a little about me, but I thought I
would set a good example and introduce myself to the list...

I am the Public Program Specialist for the Smithsonian Marine Station and
the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit in Fort Pierce. We are a research
field station of the National Museum of Natural History. We host visiting
scientists from the Museum and around the world who are interested in
conducting biodiversity, ecology and life history studies in and on Indian
River Lagoon and Florida coastal marine ecosystems. We also host a small
aquarium exhibit that features six habitat-themed exhibits on local marine
and estuarine ecosystems. Our tanks are model ecosystems, which means
(without going into to much detail) they are as close as you can get to
experiencing the real thing without getting wet. If you're interested in
learning more about our facility, give me a call or check out our web site
at www.sms.si.edu.

I'll also happily float the first query to the list. I'm curious about how
informal facilities can improve the self-guided experience for school
groups. We don't do anything truly "self-guided." What we have is an
on-site, student-driven activity that, while it could be done independently,
benefits from a little intro and conclusion by the staff and some
interaction with the group in the galleries. Obviously, we all would rather
do something more in-depth and hands-on, but sometimes groups have only a
limited time to spend at the facility. I like what we do, it focuses and
engages the students, but it is essentially a fairly traditional
paper-and-pencil scavenger hunt.  If you are a classroom teacher, what would
you like to see in a self-guided activity? If you are an informal educator,
are you doing anything beyond the paper-and-pencil approach?

FYI, the list is now 23 members. There are around 120 current and former
FMSEA members in our region so I expect the list will grow. Feel free to
recruit vigorously.

Jim Wharton
FMSEA - SE Regional Director
Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce
(e) [log in to unmask]
(w) www.sms.si.edu
(v) 772-465-9994, 772-465-9572
(c) 775-215-6232
(f) 772-465-9380