Atlantic Ocean Adventures at Home with Free Education Resources from EU ATLAS Project
The ATLAS Educational Outreach Portfolio was developed by ATLAS project partners Dynamic Earth, University of Edinburgh (Scotland, UK), and AquaTT (Ireland). Children (of all ages), parents and teachers can learn about deep sea creatures and habitats by completing their own augmented colouring sheets, that come to life when viewed through the Spectacular App. Learners can try their hand at surveying with the ‘ATLAS coral reef’, a composite of images from the cold-water coral reefs in Irish and Scottish waters, displayed as a floor mat featuring key deep sea animals from ATLAS research. Students can also find out which deep sea creature they would be, via an interactive, beautifully illustrated flowchart. For teachers, or parents leading home-schooling, there are seven education packs, each containing ready-planned lessons and activities related to the deep sea. These include multi-lingual resources covering ‘Animal, vegetable, mineral?’, a lesson explaining hydrothermal vents, the importance of the ocean, ocean acidification, and some fun experiments demonstrating the effect of high pressure in the deep sea. There is also a taxonomy challenge, and a lesson on threats to coral reefs. With many of us still confined at home, now is the perfect time to embark on deep-sea exploration with ATLAS Atlantic Adventures. To bring Atlantic Adventures into your home, please visit the education tab at www.eu-atlas.org for the full portfolio of free ATLAS educational resources. Follow our social media channels (Twitter @eu_atlas and Facebook @EuATLAS or follow #ATLASatHome) for more ocean-themed learning activities. Notes for Editors: ATLAS (“A Trans-Atlantic Assessment and deep-water ecosystem-based spatial management for Europe”) is a research and innovation action funded under the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020, Grant Agreement No 678760. It is the largest integrated study of deep Atlantic ecosystems ever undertaken. The four-year project was launched in May 2016 and has a total budget of €9.4 million. Led by the University of Edinburgh (Scotland, UK), ATLAS brings together 25 partners (and one linked third party) from 10 European countries, the USA and Canada. Dynamic Earth is a science and cultural learning centre in Edinburgh (UK). AquaTT (Ireland) is the project dissemination partner. For more information on the ATLAS project, please visit www.eu-atlas.org or follow the project on Twitter @eu_atlas | Facebook @EuATLAS | LinkedIn ATLAS - Deep Discoveries | YouTube: EU_ATLAS For communication and press queries, please contact Dr Annette Wilson, ATLAS Project Officer, AquaTT (annette@aquatt.ie).