10/22/2026
Destination spotlight: the Florida Keys.
Imagine standing knee-deep in the tangled roots of a mangrove forest, salt on the breeze, a wading bird watching from a branch. Then imagine slipping beneath the surface to meet the living coral reef that mangrove shoreline helps sustain. In the Florida Keys, land and sea are one connected story, and our students learn to read it.
On this journey, students volunteer at the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center and contribute to conservation at the Everglades Wildlife Outpost. The science is woven right into the service. Students walk the mangroves to understand the ecosystem that supports coastal life, practice reef fish identification, and snorkel the reef at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to see how the pieces of a coral ecosystem depend on one another. They learn about the threats facing coral reefs and the efforts underway to protect them, then carry that understanding into the work they do with their hands.
For educators, this is marine science and ecosystem interactions made real, the kind of learning that connects naturally to Next Generation Science Standards. We design every trip backward from your classroom goals, so the field work serves your curriculum.
Each day includes guided reflection, a chance for students to name what they saw, what moved them, and what they will do with it back home.
Come home with more than memories. Come home with a greater sense of purpose.
We would love to build this journey with your school. Explore the Florida Keys trip here: https://www.appleseedexpeditions.com/floridakeysschooltrip
