Fellowship Blog
March 27, 2025
VA SEA transforms science education
A sea of vibrant pom poms are scattered across the tabletop as students bring freshwater fish to life—coloring and gluing googly eyes onto clothespins to create their own bluehead chub. Students use their bluehead chubs to build nests out of pom poms, where they observe and collect data on the structures they’ve created. This is just one example of the many lesson plans developed through the Virginia Scientists & Educators Alliance (VA SEA) program.
VA SEA is a cumulative network of graduate students, teachers, and informal educators who collaborate to transform scientific research into engaging lesson plans. These lessons span elementary to high school levels, expanding their reach and usability in educational settings.
Each cohort of VA SEA graduate students develop lesson plans inspired by their own research. The lessons are pilot tested in classrooms to gather teacher feedback, then refined and published for free public download.
“VA SEA brings a fresh approach to science education by helping graduate students turn their real-world research into hands-on lessons for K-12 classrooms,” said Lisa Lawrence, Marine Education Program Leader at William & Mary’s Batten School for Coastal & Marine Science & VIMS. “It’s a win-win—kids get exciting, new science and graduate students build valuable science communication skills.”
“It’s a win-win—kids get exciting, new science and graduate students build valuable science communication skills.”
– Lisa Lawrence, Marine Education Program Leader
Since the creation of VA SEA in 2015 by educators at the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia and the Marine Advisory Program at the Batten School & VIMS, 88 lesson plans have been developed by 77 graduate students across seven East Coast universities.
“I wanted to join VA SEA because I felt it was important to communicate that math and data science are crucial to marine science and a viable career path,” said Madison Griffin, graduate student at the Batten School & VIMS. “Thinking back, I never could have imagined that I could have combined my interests in statistics and marine science into a career, so I wanted to share that with students around the world.”
VA SEA lesson plans also make impactful strides in classrooms worldwide, with 24,791 lesson plan downloads by 2,151 institutions in 172 countries. Beyond the classroom, these lesson plans are used in informal learning environments like aquariums, which must be adaptable to educate students of all ages.
“When I led my lesson plan activity at the Virginia Aquarium, I adjusted the requirements to meet the needs of toddlers rather than middle schoolers, which allowed me to connect with younger ages and parents,” said Griffin.
“Thinking back, I never could have imagined that I could have combined my interests in statistics and marine science into a career, so I wanted to share that with students around the world.”
– Madison Griffin, VA SEA Graduate Student
Each year, the program hosts the VA SEA Lesson Plan Expo, a showcase where educators connect directly with the current cohort of VA SEA graduate students.
The success of VA SEA inspired four related initiatives, including the Oregon Marine Scientist and Educator Alliance, the Alaska Knowledge, Science, and Education Alliance, Michigan’s Teaching Great Lakes Science, and Vermont’s Watershed Alliance Teacher & Researcher.
Each year, the program hosts the VA SEA Lesson Plan Expo, a showcase where educators connect directly with the current cohort of VA SEA graduate students. Attendees visit student displays, explore their lesson plans, and discuss how to integrate them into their curricula. The 8th annual VA SEA Lesson Plan Expo is scheduled for April 16, 2025.
Dawn Sherwood, a teacher at Highland Springs High School, enjoys the fact that everything in the VA SEA lesson plans is based on real science. She also appreciates that plans are structured so that parts of a lesson can be pulled out and incorporated into the curriculum to meet specific needs of her classroom.
“No matter the age level, it gives me ideas of something that I can add to my class,” Sherwood said.
Photos by Lathan Goumas | Virginia Sea Grant
Story by Bayleigh Albert | Virginia Sea Grant
Published April 15, 2025
Recent Stories:
Coastal Communities
March 18, 2025
Coastal & Ocean Literacy
March 10, 2025
