My entire life I wanted to explore the ocean and the environment.  I have always had a great appreciation for the processes that are not completely understood and the unknowns that have yet to be discovered in the environment. In the beginning of my professional career in research, I worked as a naturalist on a whale watch boat and as a laboratory technician working on environmental cleanup projects such as water and land pollution. Then I moved into my dream job of being a research chemist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in marine & geochemistry where I was able to be in the foundation of the research community and learn from many amazing scientists & researchers who devoted their lives to exploring the mysteries of the environment as well as protecting the animals and organisms living in it.  For me, working as a student mentor with graduate and post graduate students, made this experience one I will always cherish.  As a teacher, I want my students to be excited about what they are learning and with my background in research, I will work extra hard to make sure that if there is an aspect of a topic that a student is interested in, I will make every effort to alter my lessons to include those topics.

Homework Offered
Each week the students will be provided with a recording to listen to as well as weekly readings on the classroom board. Each student will also be provided with their individual login to Ck-12, which is a site I will be using to provide additional assignments for the students.  This class is designed for students to work at their own pace, while still interacting with the teacher and other students. In both Ck-12 and on the Outschool classroom page, there will be discussions based on the lesson material, that I will reply with feedback. Each quiz in Ck-12 is graded, but the student does have several tries to get the grade they desire. No due dates will be placed on assignments and the weekly recordings will be available on the board and be utilized at the times the student wishes. A small project will be assigned to go along with the lessons to help to expand knowledge on the concepts discussed. This project can be submitted through the Outschool classroom board or through the Ck-12 site, whichever the student prefers. 
This class is designed to best suit each student individually, therefore, if a student would like more reading materials, then I can provide that. Families can also use all of the recordings, discussions, the project, and reading materials the way that they see works best for their student(s). 
1 - 2 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Each week, the students will be required to complete the weekly discussion question in addition to answering the questions in the articles posted with the lessons. Students may also complete the questions in the nearpod lessons while they are watching the recording for the week.  This will help to them to reinforce the concepts presented in the lessons.  In addition, students will also be provided a login to Ck-12, where they can access supplemental materials such as readings, videos, and interactives. Quizzes in Ck-12 are offered as a way to gauge student understanding of the optional lessons given in Ck-12. In addition, students will be assigned an optional project as part of the class curriculum.

Assessments can be provided at the end of the class, but the teacher will provide feedback on assignments weekly.  If a family requires an assessment sooner, that can be provided as well. 
Grades Offered
Grades and/or progress reports can be given if requested by the learner or parent. 

Students do not need to have any previous knowledge of marine biology or marine ecosystems. 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, NOAA, various scientific articles from Nature, Science Direct