Adopt A Beach

Adopt A Beach offers fun, hands-on, and curriculum-linked activities that help students conserve and learn about the marine and coastal environment. Adopt A Beach delivers a wide range of incursions and excursions suitable for all primary and secondary students in the Perth Metro Area. From beach clean-ups to building sandcastles, there is something for every class. By participating in our program, students can:

Learn about the importance of coastal and marine ecosystems
Learn about sustainability issues and solutions relating to ocean plastic pollution, beach erosion, population pressures and climate change.
Restore the coast and create habitat through dune care activities like planting native seedlings and weeding invasive species.

Why choose Adopt A Beach

Understanding and appreciating our oceans and coasts (and nature in general) is crucial. They provide a home to incredible biodiversity, support livelihoods, and play a vital role in maintaining a healthy planet. Our program helps students connect to nature by utilising our amazing local beaches as outdoor classrooms. Here (and in the classroom), we deliver fun and hands-on activities that educate students on the importance of our marine and coastal environments, the impact of human activities and the significance of sustainable behaviours and practices. By instilling this appreciation and knowledge, we hope to build a generation committed to caring for our coasts and creating a sustainable future.

What’s Included

Experienced and friendly environmental educators with backgrounds in environmental science, sustainable development, and community development.
All tools and equipment required for the activity.
Worksheets, where applicable.

Programs Available

In School Activities

Bring in a Beach!

Year Group: Years 4-6

Duration: 1 Hour

Group Size (max): 30 students

Description: Students visit six stations and investigate real objects that have been washed up along our coasts. This is a fun and predominantly self-guided activity that focuses on biodiversity, classification, and human impacts such as marine pollution.

Students will:

Explore the biological and man-made items that wash ashore.
Consider the source of litter and its impact on the people and the environment.
Investigate the features and adaptations of commonly washed-up creatures like sea stars, sea snails, sponges, and sea dragons.

Curriculum links: HASS│Science│Cross-curriculum: Sustainability

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Build a Beach!

Year Group: Years 4-6

Duration: 1 Hour

Group Size (max): 30 students

Description: Where did the beach go? Learn about beach erosion by building miniature beaches in containers and testing the impact of coastal waves, storm surges and rising sea levels. Make predictions and assess a variety of approaches to manage coastal erosion. Strong STEM focus.

Students will:

Explore the key coastal processes that shape our coastlines (erosion, accretion, deposition, and transportation).
Understand how human activities accelerate erosion rates and how it impacts on both communities and ecosystems.
Assess a range of different coastal defences and their effectiveness in protecting our coasts.

Curriculum links: HASS│Science│Cross-curriculum: Sustainability

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Coastal Critters!

Year Group: K-Year 3

Duration: 1 Hour

Group Size (max): 30 students

Description: Explore the lives of Little Penguins, Leafy Seadragons and Green Turtles and how these coastal critters are adapted to their habitats. Investigate their unusual lifecycles and how we can all help conserve these animals in the wild.

Students will:

Learn what a life cycle is.
Explore the growth stages of Little Penguins, Leafy Seadragons and Green Turtles.
Find out how different animals have different diets, habitats, and adaptations.
Consider how human activities can harm marine life and what we can do in our schools, homes and communities to help them.

Curriculum links: HASS│Science│Cross-curriculum: Sustainability

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At Beach Activities

Exploring Coastal Erosion Hotspots (Available from T2)

Year Group: 7-12

Duration: 1 to 1.5 Hours

Group Size (max): 30 students

Description: Explore some of Perth’s most vulnerable coastlines and investigate the factors contributing to beach erosion, along with its impact on the community and environment. Locate and assess a range of coastal defences including dune restoration, rock walls, sand renourishment, sandbags, groynes and more.

Available sites include: C.Y O’Connor Beach, Kwinana Beach, and Watermans Bay (more sites will be added at a later date).

Students will:

Learn about coastal hazards and erosion hotspots, along with its social and environmental impacts.
Identify the steps in developing a Coastal Hazard Risk Management and Adaptation Plan (CHRMAP).
Understand the challenges in managing coastlines in a rapidly changing environment and assess coastal management options – avoid, retreat, accommodate and protect.

Curriculum links: HASS│Science│Cross-curriculum: Sustainability

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Build a Beach!

Year Group: Years 4-6

Duration: 1.5 Hours

Group Size (max): 30 students

Description:

Learn about beach erosion by building sandcastles and testing the impact of coastal waves and storm surges. Make predictions and assess a variety of approaches to manage coastal erosion. Strong STEM focus.

Students will:

Explore the coastal processes that shape our coastlines (erosion, accretion, deposition, and transportation).
Understand how human activities accelerate erosion rates and how it impacts on both communities and ecosystems.
Assess a range of different coastal defences and their effectiveness in protecting our coasts.

Curriculum links: HASS │Science │Cross-curriculum: Sustainability

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Beachcombing

Year Group: K-Year 12

Duration: 1 to 1.5 Hours

Group Size (max): 30 students

Description: Let’s go on a beachcombing adventure! Investigate the biological and man-made items that have washed up on the strandline. Classify a variety of biological objects that are found and consider adaptions for survival along with human impacts on the coastal environment. This is a great way to look at the local biodiversity along our coasts.

*There is no expectation of students to enter the water at any stage.

Students will:

Investigate the biological and man-made items that have washed up on the beach.
Identify and classify a variety of biological objects using the Beachcombers Guide.
Explore the different features and adaptations of different marine organisms (sea snails, Seadragons, seagrasses, seaweeds, and egg cases)

Curriculum links: HASS│Science│Health and Physical Education (Outdoor Education)│Cross-curriculum: Sustainability

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Dune care, coastal planting and/or weeding

Year Group: K -Year 12

Duration: 1.5 Hours

Group Size (max): 30 students

Description: Understand the importance of dunes to a healthy coastal ecosystem. Students will participate in planting native coastal plants to help stabilise dune and provide additional coastal habitat and/or remove weeds to reduce competition for native plants and improve ecosystem health. This a great activity that helps students foster a sense environmental stewardship.

*All necessary equipment is provided for excursion.

Students will:

Understand the importance and features of a healthy coastal ecosystem.
Identify common native plant and weed species found along the coast.
Consider different adaptations of native plants that enable survival in dry, hot, and windy conditions.
Identify weed management techniques for common coastal weed species.

Curriculum links: HASS│Science│Cross-curriculum: Sustainability

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Beach clean-up

Year Group: Years 4-6, 7-12

Duration: 1 to 1.5 Hours

Group Size (max): 30 students

Description: Students work in teams to clean-up a section of beach and then sort and survey what they collected. This data is added to the national Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) database, which provides valuable information on where, when, and what kind of marine pollution is showing up on our beaches. Cleaning-up the beach is a great way to foster active citizenship and environmental stewardship in students.

*All necessary equipment is provided for excursion.

Students will:

Learn about plastic pollution, including what it is, how it ends up in our oceans and how it impacts the marine and coastal environment.
Conduct a marine debris survey and submit data to the AMDI database (age and time dependent).
Consider ways to reduce plastic pollution in the home, school, and community.

Curriculum links: HASS│Science│Health and Physical Education (Outdoor Education)│Cross-curriculum: Sustainability

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Costs

Group

Cost

All schools within the following LGAs:

Town of Cottesloe
Town of Cambridge
City of Cockburn
City of Fremantle
City of Joondalup
City of Kwinana
City of Nedlands
City of Rockingham
City of Stirling
City of Wanneroo

FREE

Schools beyond the above LGAs in the Perth Metropolitan Area

Price per incursion (up to 30 students, 1 hour activity) = $200

Price per excursion (up to 30 students, up to 1.5 hour activity) = $300

Price per extended AAB session (Incursion and excursions, up to 3 hours) = $500

FAQs

Can we have Adopt A Beach come out all the time?

We’re chuffed you want to spend all your time with us but to ensure our program is accessible to more schools, we offer a limit of four engagements per school each year. Each engagement day can consist of up to two activities or three sessions of same activity.

Can we adopt a site?

Schools can choose to adopt a site and make regular visits over the year, engaging in activities like planting, weeding, and beach clean-ups. This is a great opportunity for schools wanting to make a positive impact on their local beach and community, while also observing the seasonal changes in coastal plants, animals, and landforms.

Can we please do some planting?

Places and plants are limited. To avoid disappointment, please ensure you book early with your preferred date falling within the planting season (end of May to early July).

What are the costs involved?

Adopt A Beach is FREE for schools within our supporting local government areas (LGAs). However, schools outside of this network will be charged a fee. Please see our pricing guide to see which applies to your school.

We are a school that needs financial support to participate.

No worries, contact your Adopt A Beach coordinator and let’s see what we can do.

Is there a minimum number of students required to book?

To make the most of our visits, we prefer a minimum of 15 students.

Sounds good to me! How do I book?

It’s easy! Fill in the booking form with your chosen activities, number of students and potential dates and we’ll get back to you.

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Partners

We acknowledge and appreciate the support of all our partners, supporters, funding bodies and sponsors.

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Why choose Adopt A Beach

What’s Included

Programs Available

In School Activities

At Beach Activities

Costs

FAQs

Partners

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