Through off-campus collaborations with the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the Santa Barbara County Education Office, The REEF at the Marine Science Institute creates very meaningful place-based curricula for K12 students and professional development opportunities for teachers. Through our web-based content, the Marine Science Institute has the capacity to bring our “Ocean View of the World” to students all around this Ocean Planet.
K – 12
Our K-12 programs utilize Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to meet your classroom’s needs. Through crosscutting concepts, science and engineering practices, and disciplinary core ideas, students are introduced to over 100 different species of marine organisms at The REEF including sharks and their developing embryos, octopuses, lobsters, and more! Our interdisciplinary approach allows for a holistic learning experience for students and teachers alike.
Visit us!
Our touch tank facility allows us to host interactive programs on the UCSB campus.
Can’t visit us?
Our MOBILE REEF Unit allows us to bring an “Ocean View of the World” into your classroom, or science night for schools within Santa Barbara County.
Teachers and Educators
The REEF is just one facet of MSI’s “Oceans-to-Classrooms” (O2C) Education and Outreach program. Leveraging the current, cutting research and science at the Marine Science Institute and UCSB, not only do we develop unique experiences on, and off, campus for your students, we also provide:
- Year-round, Professional Development opportunities for you, including Research Experiences for Teachers (RET)
- Custom designed lessons for YOU
- Live! Distance Learning from the REEF, Oceans-To-Classrooms Labs and Classes
- Citizen Science Opportunities
For more information, please email inquiries to our REEF Program Coordinator at outreach@msi.ucsb.edu or call us at 805.893.8765.
My first graders loved the field trip we took to The Reef. The students from UCSB who led the groups in their exploration were engaging, knowledgeable and informative. It was a wonderful hands-on learning experience. We had many conversations following the field trip about how important it is to do our part to help the Earth and someone always referenced something they learned when we were at The Reef.
Our facility can support any of your curricular needs through interactive outreach. We can also match our content to any worksheets or other materials provided for your students during their visits.
We currently support the following UCSB labs: ENV S 2, EARTH 4, EEMB 106, ENV S 100, GGSE Science Methods, INT 95B, WRIT 2, and more. We also support SBCC and CalLutheran marine science labs.
College Labs
The REEF facility can support any of your curricular needs through interactive outreach. We can also match our content to any worksheets or other materials provided for your students during their visits.
We currently support the following UCSB labs: ENV S 2, EARTH 4, EEMB 106, ENV S 100, GGSE Science Methods, INT 95B, WRIT 2, and more. We also support SBCC and CalLutheran marine science labs.
For scheduling requests/INFO, please email inquiries to our REEF Program Coordinator at outreach@msi.ucsb.edu or call us at 805.893.8765
Community Enrichment
The Marine Science Institute Professional Education/Research Staff and Faculty, along with highly qualified Graduate/undergraduate Students (many focused on science education) go Beyond K-12 and college labs!
We support programs from After School groups, Camps, Adult groups, and other organizations in between! These groups include the Braille Institute, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Oaks Parent Child Workshop, Tech Trek (AAUW), Harding University Partnership School Community Based Literacy (HUPS-CBL), Girls Inc., Boy/Girl Scouts of America (BSA/GSA), and more!
- Custom designed lessons for YOU
- Live! Distance Learning from the REEF, Oceans-To-Classrooms Labs and Classes
- Citizen Science Opportunities
- Subscribe to the VirtualREEF YouTube channel!
For scheduling requests, please email inquiries to our REEF Program Coordinator at outreach@msi.ucsb.edu or call us at 805.893.8765