The Blue Reef aquarium in Tynemouth has expanded its educational offering with a new Eco Tour for 2017.

Blue Reef Tynemouth

Eco Tour, a one hour long guided tour, will focus on the ecological impacts both humans and animals have on their surrounding environment.

Students will be taken on a guided tour of the aquarium by a marine expert where topics including invasive species, the effects of litter and climate change will be covered.

The tour will allow time for discussion at various points and at the end of the visit there will also be a Q&A session and a look at how even the smallest changes can have a significant impact on the local environment.

More at Blue Reef Tynemouth

Schools can also visit Blue Reef Tynemouth and take part in a range of workshops, such as Rock Pool Encounter, Life Cycles Under the Sea and What is Evolution?

Rock Pool Encounter, which can be adapted to suit all Key Stages, lets students meet the rock pool creatures of the aquarium in a hands-on encounter. Pupils will learn how the creatures have adapted to survive in one of the toughest habitats on earth and teachers can choose from a selection of topics, such as food webs, adaptation and habitat conditions, to form the focus of the workshop.

Life Cycles Under the Sea is a Key Stage 2 workshop which explores how animals are able to survive and reproduce in a marine environment. The workshop will also look at the threat to the survival of these animals and how humans can protect them.

Meanwhile, for Key Stages 3 and 4, What is Evolution? discusses the theory of life’s evolution from water onto land. Pupils will also explore the topic of extinction and why certain species are able to survive and why some have become extinct.

For more information call 01912-581031 or visit www.bluereefaquarium.co.uk/tynemouth.