Taking the Ocean to the Inland

On May 17th 2024, in a Brazilian city 300 km far from the sea, the All-Atlantic Blue Schools Network (AA-BSN) and the AtlantECO project promoted an in-presence event to celebrate ocean literacy in education, gathering 180 students from basic and secondary education.

The event involved many activities for the students. One of the most anticipated activities was the launch of the animated series ‘Max and his friends in: Discovering the Sea’, which was created in a partnership between AtlantECO, through the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in Brazil, and the University’s Institute of Scientific Culture (ICC). Also, there were interactive activities as observing live plankton under a microscope, and a celebration of students from Brazilian Blue Schools and medalists from the Ocean Olympics, both initiatives coordinated by Maré de Ciência Program of the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations of Brazil (MCTI), and UNESCO, with the support of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the Boticário Group Foundation.

The animated series was based on the Common National Curriculum from Brazil, so teachers can use the episodes as classroom supplementary material to bring awareness about ocean conservation, plastic pollution and climate change. Subtitled in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, the episodes are available on the UFSCar’s official YouTube Channel.

The event was streamed, and you can watch it on the Maré de Ciência Youtube Channel!