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Hey Kids,
Welcome to the AWARE Kids Club!
Are you wondering who AWARE Kids are and what they do?

AWARE Kids are the superheroes of the underwater world. They love the water and help protect all creatures great and small. Hundreds of AWARE Kids across the globe are making a difference right now in their own schools and neighbourhoods.

As an AWARE Kid you can be an underwater superhero, too. On this site you'll discover the exciting world of sharks, coral reefs, whales and more. But being an AWARE Kid is not just about learning; AWARE Kids get out in the world and take action. And action is important to protecting our wild water planet. Explore this site to find awesome puzzles, funky facts, cool contests and ways you can take action today.

The underwater world needs heroes. You can be one of them by championing the causes of the world's most fragile and important aquatic ecosystems. The Fun Part - You can make a difference. Learn about some of the most pressing problems facing these vulnerable environments and everyday actions you can take to help conserve them. It's informative, interesting and most importantly, you learn how to make a difference.

Ethan and Lewis learning about turtles

Cameron and Megan enjoy the day

What You Learn

AWARE Kids also helps children develop an understanding of the forces, processes and dynamic life-supporting qualities of the Earth. Knowledge of the Earth's fresh and saltwater resources is relevant to an understanding of our environment and our existence. Students experiment to determine how water is important to all life forms. They consider issues of water use from various perspectives and identify ways in which water is used responsibly in their community. Students demonstrate their scientific skills and processes when they use a variety of media to communicate the results of their investigations and act on their findings in a responsible manner. Studying the conservation of the underwater environment through the AWARE Kids materials is more than integrating the traditional science disciplines to examine the aquatic realm.

But what do we do? We look at a wide range of fun and interesting subjects that everyone will enjoy......

Crazy About Coral Reefs !
Coral reefs come in all shapes and colours and are jam-packed with amazing creatures like butterfly fish, blue sea stars, pimply reef crabs, giant clams, and sausage sea cucumbers. Reefs are "buzzing" with sea life! In fact, reefs are home to more than 4000 species of fish, 700 species of coral and thousands of other plants and animals. No wonder coral reefs are called "the rainforests of the sea."

And you can imagine how important coral reefs are because they provide a home for all of those creatures to live. But they also provide food, medicine and shelter from storms for humans. And don't forget adventure! Have you or your family ever gone diving or snorkeling near coral? Talk about an awesome experience! But sadly, coral reefs are very fragile. Just one touch of a human hand or scrape of a boat anchor is enough to damage them. Coral reefs are also in danger from over fishing, pollution from cities and global warming.

Map of World Coral

Sharks Rule !!!
Sharks are sleek, mysterious and cool. Their streamlined, torpedo-like bodies can reach speeds of up to 60 kilometres/45 miles an hour - that's fast! And, ruling all the world's oceans. But not all sharks are salty - some cruise in freshwater rivers and lakes, too.

And you'll never believe how old these creatures are. They've been around for more than 400 million years! That's at least as old as dinosaurs and definitely older than anyone you know, which means these perfect predators were on earth before humans even existed.

But why should you care? Because as top predators, sharks play a major role in the food chain. When sharks disappear, it throws the whole system off balance.

Kelp - It's a forest out there
Imagine you're scuba diving underwater through a giant kelp forest. Wild, wavy plants are all around you. Look down. Chances are you can't see the bottom. That's because giant kelp can grow up to 60 metres/200 feet high. They can even grow as much as 15 centimetres/6 inches each day. But if you could see further down you would see that kelp plants have no roots, stems, leaves or flowers like an earthly plant. Here's the scoop: Kelp are actually large brown algae.

Kelp is very important to humans too... It is responsible for producing 70% of the worlds' oxygen supply. I think we need to look after this as well???

Go Wild with Whales and Dolphins
Did you know there are more than 70 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises living in the world's oceans? From a 30 metre/100-foot blue whale all the way down to a "tiny" 2 metre/6-foot dolphin, cetaceans come in all shapes and sizes. And, they take centre stage when they come to the surface. Whales and dolphins are known for their breaching, spouting and tail-slapping behaviour. But they're also great singers and talkers, too. Some whales, like humpbacks, sing beautiful tunes underwater. Blue whales make long distance calls with low frequency bursts of sound. And others, like orca whales and dolphins, communicate with clicks and squeaks.

Sea turtles live most of their lives in the open ocean and travel great distances. They're very graceful in the water and are awesome navigators. Can you believe adult females return to the exact same beach where they were born to lay their eggs in the sand? How do they find their way home? Scientists are still unlocking the clues to this mystery. Perhaps we can work it out

Sea turtles don't have teeth. Instead they have "beaks" they use to eat their favourite foods like sea jellies. When plastic bags and balloons get in the water, sea turtles often mistake them for jellies and eat the plastic by mistake. There are also other dangers facing our sea turtle pals including pollution, entanglement in fishing nets and destruction of nesting beaches.

The group show their work

Cameron and Megan playing the turtle game

Ethan and Lewis making a poster

The subject covered really are great fun as well as being educational. best of all it gets the kids out and about meeting other kids and learning to enjoy and appreciate our environment