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Underwater Campus

Activity

Imagining Ancient Times

When this area was a shallow sea, what would your campus have looked like? Write a creative paragraph or create an art piece describing what you imagine. If you walk with a guide to Shoal Creek trail, just West of your school, you can search for marine fossils in the small pebbles along the banks of the creek. There are lots of exogyra, oyster and some clam fossils. Even a marine dinosaur was discovered in Shoal Creek!

A fossilized shell of an ancient sea creature

A crab shell laying on a rock by the ocean

Science Seed

A long time ago, a large part of Texas was covered by a shallow sea. This happened about 265 million years ago, during a time called the “Guadalupian” epoch. The sea was full of creatures like oysters, snails, clams, sea urchins, coral, and giant sponges. When these creatures died, their shells and skeletons sank to the bottom of the sea. Over many years, these remains built up on the seafloor, layer by layer. As more and more layers of shells and skeletons piled up, they eventually turned into a type of rock called limestone. Other sediments covered these layers, which is why we now see this limestone and the fossils of those ancient sea creatures in Central Texas. So, the landscape we see today was created by the ancient sea and the creatures that lived in it!

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earn Badges

Badges can be earned through hands-on experiences within each of the 16 branches of science, or “Science Slices.” You can earn a badge in each branch of science by doing four activities in these categories. We also encourage participants to keep a Nature Journal to record their memories, and to express themselves creatively through writing or drawing after each activity. We recommend that each child (and parent if they’d like) write or draw in a journal after each activity, with expectations of your children that match their age (the goal is self-expression, not perfection).

Explore Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired

The Ecologist School Pocket Guide: TSBVI edition is a collaboration between Families in Nature and the Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired as an effort to help our community learn more about the TSBVI campus, while getting outside into nature together! This booklet has 80 lessons across 16 different branches of science to help you play, learn, and volunteer on campus!

join Families in Nature

It is our vision to inspire all families to fall in love with nature and foster the next generation of conservationists. Becoming a member of Families in Nature will give your family the opportunity to have adventures in nature, experience field science, develop as youth conservation leaders, and make memories that will last a lifetime. Memberships are free for everyone.

Who are we?

Families in Nature works to create opportunities for nature connection with the purpose of sparking a deep love and desire to protect, conserve and restore the environment. Our mission is to connect children and their families to nature and to each other through time spent learning, playing, and volunteering outdoors. It is our vision to inspire ALL families to fall in love with nature and foster the next generation of conservationists.