Education Resources

Teacher E-mail List

To receive E-mail notification of upcoming events at the Tennessee Aquarium, please join our teacher e mail list at http://www.tnaqua.org/EDnewslefter. asp and just enter your e mail address.

Videos

Want to bring a little adventure into your home, center or school? Check out educational Videos (for two weeks at a time) on a variety of intriguing topics. We have videos available for all ages. Our collections include Eyewitness Video, National Geographic Kids, Amazing Animals and many more. For further information or to arrange a time to come peruse our collection, call George Bartnik at (800) 265 0695, ext. 4049 or e mail GPB@tnaqua.org. While use of videos is free, a refundable deposit is required.

Discovery Boxes

Discovery Boxes covering topics such as habitats, reptiles and amphibians, life cycles, birds, ocean life and river ecosystems are available for you to check out and use in your home, center or school. These boxes are filled with resources such as books, puppets, videos, leader's guide, scientific equipment and other fun teaching tools that ignite the natural curiosity of children. Discovery Boxes are designed for all ages including preschoolers (although some are geared more towards a particular age group). To take advantage of these great materials, contact Christine Young at (800) 262 0695, ext. 4062 or E-mail at ecy@tnaqua.org.

While use of Discovery Boxes is free, a refundable deposit is required.

Website

The Tennessee Aquarium website is a resource for teachers and students alike. Planning a trip with your students? Want to know more about our programs? Interested in Aquarium led teacher training? Find all the information you need and more at http://www.tennesseeaquarium.org (click on Kids & Teachers at the top of the screen).

The website is also a fun tool for students to use in animal research. Check out the Meet Our Animals to find images and read about some of the more than 10,000 animals housed at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Gift Shop

The Tennessee Aquarium Gift Shops at both the River Journey and Ocean Journey buildings feature merchandise that reflects the many exhibits your students have just seen. The Geo Store at the IMAX Center offers items related to the movies that are currently showing.

If you are bringing a group the the Tennessee Aquarium and do not have time to shop, why not order fun packs or Aquarium T shirts as souvenirs for your kids? Just call the order line (800) 262-0695 (ext. 4199) or call direct (423) 785-4199 and we will customize your order to fit your needs. We can organize your order by teacher or by grade level.

Fun packs are $5 and contain some of our most popular and fun items for kids including:

• Fun Fish Game
• Plastic snake
• Bouncy ball
• Notepad
• Growing Fish

For older students, order an engraved dog tag necklace! To receive order forms and more details contact the Aquarium Gift Shop.

Our Tennessee Aquarium commemorative T shirts are white with black lettering and have a blue logo symbol and cost just $8.00 each (regularly priced at $10.95). T shirts come in both child and adult sizes (S, M, L, XL) Pick up your order on the day of your visit at any of our three gift shops River Journey, Ocean Journey or IMAX or make arrangements with us to ship it to you ahead of time so that students can wear their shirts on field trip day.

To order
Call: (423)785-4199 -- Aquarium Gift Shop
Online: http://www.tnaqua.org/KidsTeachers/School_packs.asp
E mail: Isk@tnaqua.org

* Teachers get a 10% discount in any of our shops for items to be used in the classroom. Discount does not apply to fun packs or Aquarium group T-shirts.

Docents

What do you do when you are visiting the Aquarium and have a question about the exhibits? Look for the royal blue shirts and light blue lab coats worn by our incredible staff of docents. After ten weeks of training and daily updates, the docents are some of the most informed people in the buildings. In addition to being knowledgeable about the buildings and exhibits, they also know many of the animals' favorite hiding places. Docents can be found throughout the buildings in galleries and special docent stations and often have unique items to aid in their interpretation of the exhibits to visitors. Docents are also present at each touch tank to provide instructions and valuable information about the animals. To get the most out of your visit (or that of your students), we encourage you to seek out and take advantage of our docents, an extraordinary resource. Want to find out about volunteer opportunities for you or your students (14 years and older)? Call the Volunteer office at (423)785-3057 or e-mail JMP@tnaqua.org.

Docents are available in all the galleries to answer questions and point you in the right direction. Take advantage of their willingness to share a "wealth" of knowledge.