Last Sunday, everything at the new environmental education centre Haus Graven in Langenfeld revolved around the ocean and its inhabitants. In small groups, over 50 children were able to learn a wealth of interesting facts about oceans and marine wildlife through educational play.
The children learned how the marine ecosystem functions. If top predators such as sharks or large marine mammals decline due to bycatch, hunting, and pollution, the entire ecosystem becomes destabilised. A complete collapse could be the consequence, which also has repercussions for humans, as the oceans are crucial producers of oxygen, among other functions.
Many other questions were explored using guessing games.
Another key topic was plastic and our handling of it. Fittingly for the theme "Threats to the Oceans", the environmental advisory service of the Verbraucherzentrale was present and started a waste separation rally with the children. Using single-use products and suitable alternatives as examples, the children discussed how best to prevent the generation of waste. The sobering collection of marine litter compiled by ElasmOcean from various countries around the world demonstrated how much waste is already present in the oceans, and the consequences this ultimately has for humans as well. The children were introduced to further threats faced by marine organisms in order to discuss potential courses of action together.
"A thoroughly successful event", says Lisa Schwarz, the educational director of the environmental education centre Haus Graven. "We are delighted to be able to offer such a fantastic programme together with our dedicated cooperation partners, which has been equally well received by parents and children alike".
Due to high demand, not all interested children were unfortunately able to participate. However, the next Ocean Day is already being planned and is expected to take place in autumn 2022. It will then once again be time to recruit junior marine conservationists!
