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