Educational Opportunities at Greater Cleveland Aquarium

September 24, 2025

Education

At Greater Cleveland Aquarium, we offer a variety of educational opportunities that provide inquiry-based, hands-on learning experiences.

#1: School Field Trips: Field trips enhance Ohio’s Learning Standards and Next Generation Science Standards for all ages, from preschool to college, with topics such as habitats, adaptations, food chains and conservation. Each program, led by Aquarium Educators, begins with a brief introduction to the topic. Students are placed in small group sizes, which provides them with the opportunity to ask questions and spend sufficient time exploring. Along with guided tours, we also offer lab classes covering topics such as squid dissection, water quality and urban birding, where students can participate in hands-on learning outside of the classroom.

#2: Homeschool Opportunities: The Aquarium also offers homeschool co-op classes with guided tours focused on topics similar to our school field trips. In addition, Homeschool Family Days provide an opportunity for families to enhance their homeschool journeys with self-guided scavenger hunts through the galleries using themed activity sheets curated for students of all ages. These programs are offered throughout the year, with each day featuring a different fun and educational topic. Throughout the experience, families can visit our educator-led stations for hands-on learning and participate in daily activities.

#3: Virtual Programs: In addition to in-person programs, we have virtual programs that allow larger groups to learn in the comfort of their home bases without the need to travel. These programs provide live educator-led tours throughout the Aquarium that enable participants to ask questions as they explore each gallery. These programs are customizable so organizers can choose their desired program length and topic, such as Animal Senses, Invertebrates, Camouflage or Wild, Weird & Creepy.

#4: Career Days: Middle school and high school students interested in pursuing careers in our field can register for our Middle School and High School Career Days, giving them the opportunity to meet real-life educators, guest experience staff, aquarists and divers while learning about the many fascinating jobs that keep an aquarium running. High school students can also learn about Aquarium team members’ career journeys, educational paths and tips on building resumes and preparing for college. Each program has its own specific, hands-on, interactive experiences related to the content throughout the day.

#5: Girl Scouts & Self-Guided Groups: Along with our Aquarium Educator-led tours, we also partner with Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio to offer badge-related programs. Registration, pricing and program descriptions are available on the council website and in the seasonal program guides here. In addition, we offer discounted admission rates for self-guided groups, including schools, summer camps, youth or adult groups. Self-guided groups are able to explore Aquarium galleries at their own pace with opportunities to participate in daily activities. We also welcome groups with special needs, and our building is wheelchair accessible. Accommodations, including a small comfort room, three reservable wheelchairs and KultureCity sensory bags are available.

If we’ve piqued your natural curiosity, visit greaterclevelandaquarium.com/education-field-trips/ for additional information or to schedule a program. Bring along your “school of students” to learn some fin-tastic facts while exploring aquatic habitats from around the world. We hope to “sea” you soon!

– Lindsay

Back-to-Schooling September: Questions from Guests!

September 18, 2025

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Thank you for submitting your curiosity questions during Back-to-Schooling September. Here are answers to some of the questions that we did not yet answer on social media.

How do sharks sleep?
Sharks do not sleep like humans do, but they do have restful and active periods. Because many sharks must swim constantly to breathe, they only rest half of their brain at a time; the other half stays awake to maintain basic functions like swimming. They also don’t have eyelids to close, so their eyes stay open while resting.

Do fish fart?
Fish can release gas for a variety of reasons, but it’s not usually due to digestion. Many fish have swim bladders to control their buoyancy in the water; they release gas to adjust their position in the water. Some fish release gas to communicate to one another in schools. Fish that lack swim bladders, like sharks, typically do not fart.

How many tentacles do jellyfish have?
Jellies (they’re invertebrates, not fish) have a wide range of species and therefore a wide range of tentacles. Moon jellies, like you can see at the Aquarium, typically have 8 tentacles with stinging cells for trapping food and 4 frilly oral arms that help clean the body and direct food to the mouth. Other species like lion’s mane jellies can have hundreds of tentacles, and the tentacles on a Portuguese man o’ war jelly can be more than 30 feet long!

Will you get a hammerhead shark?
A top priority of the Aquarium is animal wellbeing. Habitats at the Aquarium must provide the needs of animals to not only survive but thrive. Hammerhead sharks have needs that cannot be met well in an Aquarium setting. Their large size (13 feet long) and constant movement would require a huge open space, larger than the Aquarium can accommodate in a historic building. Hammerheads are also highly sensitive to changes in water quality, light and noise, which could cause significant stress in an Aquarium setting. And, hammerhead sharks are a highly social species, spending time in large schools. In order to properly care for a hammerhead, you’d need a whole group of other hammerheads too.

Why is the water for the stingrays deep?
The stingrays in the touchpool have choice and control over their environment. If they are curious and want to come to the surface within touching range, they can. If they want a break or a rest, they can swim deeper in the water to avoid interaction. The deeper pool helps ensure healthy stingray wellbeing.

What is the difference between a whale and a whale shark?
Whales are mammals. They have hair, are warm-blooded and produce milk to feed their young. Whale sharks are fish. They are covered in dermal denticle scales, are cold-blooded and their young are on their own from birth.

Do the fish eat each other? Do the sharks eat the fish?
Careful consideration goes into planning what types of fish can live together at the Aquarium and into the design of the habitats themselves. The animal care team also puts a ton of energy into ensuring each animal is provided a healthy diet to ensure its wellbeing. Plan to visit the Aquarium during our next shark, gamefish or Amazon River habitat feed to learn more about the specifics.

Why do fish swim so fast?
Fish are well adapted to their specific habitats and not all fish swim fast. Fish that live in open water often have forked or crescent shaped tails to swim fast to avoid predators. Other fish, like coral reef dwellers have rounded or wedge-shaped tails to swim slowly through the rocks and corals on the reef.

How do fish breathe?
As humans, we use lungs to breathe oxygen from the air around us. Fish use gills to breathe oxygen from the water. Some fish have an organ to pump water through their gills while resting, most sharks swim constantly to pass water through their gills, and moray eels gulp water through their mouth to pass over their gills.

What happens to the fish poo?
Keeping habitats clean is a lot of work and requires a team effort. The life support systems (LSS) team at the Aquarium manages the pumps and filters on each habitat that work to filter out waste. There are also helpful bacteria in the water that break down the waste, and the LSS team routinely does water changes to control the ammonia levels in the water that can build up from fish waste. Additionally, the animal care team spends time scrubbing the walls and vacuuming the sand or gravel in the habitats to remove algae and waste. The dive team does this in the larger habitats like shark, stingray touchpool, coral reef, and others.

Is your curiosity still burning? Check to the Aquarium’s YouTube channel to learn more about the Aquarium and aquatic life.

Back-To-Schooling September: A Teacher’s Perspective

September 12, 2025

Education

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

With buses, lunches, permission slips and other details, it takes dedication and coordination to organize student field trips. We are thankful to teachers who coordinate this experience for their students every schoolyear. We asked seasoned educator Dan Dahnert to chat with us about what Aquarium field trips mean for his students and what keeps him returning year after year.

“I teach seventh- and eighth- grade science and math at St. Dominic School in Shaker Heights. We started doing field trips to the Aquarium in May 2018 with the eighth-grade class for squid dissection and a tour. The program offered at the Aquarium fits the Science curriculum very well and is an easy trip for schools around the city. Each year, some of the students have never been to the Aquarium (which shocks me), and most of the other students have only been when they were a lot younger.

We usually dissect an earthworm or fish before the field trip to get them ready for the experience. They react in many different ways to the squid dissection—some are all in, but some just want to leave the room because of the smell. I encourage them to participate since they will be doing more labs like this in high school. It is definitely a memorable experience for them; students who come back to visit St. Dominic update me on what they’ve dissected in high school and are appreciative of the opportunity to start in eighth grade.

The tour of the Aquarium [for this particular program] is self-guided, and we spend time talking about invasive species like the lionfish and the sea lampreys. I enjoy seeing the piranhas since I had one for a while growing up (his name was Fang). They seem to like the sharks the most, followed by the octopus, the stingrays and the gift shop. Students get especially excited whenever there is a scuba diver in the shark habitat.

I try to take advantage of the teacher programs offered at the beginning of the year each year to visit for free and find out about any new programs. It is easy to set up a field trip with the staff during the winter to prepare for the field trip later in the year. I know the students will get a quality experience at the Aquarium each May.”

Dave Dahnert
St. Dominic School
Shaker Heights, OH

Back-to-Schooling September: 7 Common Student Questions

September 5, 2025

Education

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

At Greater Cleveland Aquarium, we believe that nature is a curious thing. Students who take part in our education programs share this curiosity by asking questions about aquatic life, the environment and a variety of other topics. Below are the answers to seven questions commonly asked by students because you just might have been wondering about the same things!

Are poisonous and venomous animals the same thing?

Not quite! Poisonous animals secrete their toxin from their bodies, but venomous animals inject their toxin via a bite or a sting. Basically, if something’s poisonous, the toxin from it is ingested; if something’s venomous, its toxin is injected.

Why aren’t the sharks eating fish that swim in the same habitat as they do?

Sharks are generally opportunistic hunters and feed on fish that are injured, dying or dead as they are easier to catch. It is unlikely the sharks you see at the Aquarium would choose to expend energy to chase down a healthy fish. Also, sharks eat several large meals a month in the ocean. Here they are offered food three times a week. Why hunt for dinner when you have a meal waiting for you?

Aren’t the scuba divers frightened to be diving with sharks and worried they might be attacked?

No. While the divers are in the shark habitat, they respect the sharks by giving them their space. The sharks give the divers their space in return. While human-shark encounters do occur in the ocean, humans are not a shark’s natural prey. Sometimes if a human is on a surfboard, a shark can mistake them for a seal, but sharks do not intentionally hunt humans.

Is it safe to touch stingrays?

Yes, it is safe to touch the stingrays. Stingray barbs are used only for defense. We trim the barbs on the tails of the stingrays, which is similar to the way humans trim their nails. The touchpool is deep enough to allow stingrays to come to the surface or swim deep if they prefer not to be touched.

Why do I sometimes see a fish, turtle, stingray, etc. not moving?

Many of the species at the Aquarium have natural resting behaviors such as lying on habitat décor (i.e., plants, rocks, etc.), swimming in a stationary position and lying on the bottom of the habitat. Some species are also ambush predators, choosing to remain still until striking prey during a feed.

Where do all the animals at the Aquarium come from?

The animals come from industry approved facilities. Many are from other zoos or aquariums. Others, like the majority of the cownose stingrays and weedy seadragons, were born onsite.

Does the Aquarium have great white sharks?

No. Great white sharks do not thrive in aquarium settings, and no zoo or aquarium currently has this species. Great white sharks travel over thousands of miles over a year from tropical to cold temperate environments. Those conditions are not able to be replicated in an aquarium setting.

Visit the Greater Cleveland Aquarium during Back-To-Schooling September – Greater Cleveland Aquarium to ask any bubbling questions of your own!

Frogs v. Toads . . . What’s The Difference?

March 24, 2025

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Have you ever found yourself wondering what exactly is the difference between a frog and a toad? While these two amphibians may look similar, they have some key differences, especially when it comes to their habitats and movement.

Northern Green Frog at Greater Cleveland Aquarium. — (Northern Green Frog)

Here in Ohio, both frogs and toads play an important role in our ecosystems, and you can find them in a variety of environments, from wetlands to woodlands.

Frogs are typically found in or near water, with smooth, moist skin that helps them stay hydrated. Their long, powerful legs make them excellent jumpers, allowing them to escape predators with ease.

Toads, on the other hand, prefer drier environments like forests, gardens and even suburban backyards. They have rough, bumpy skin that helps retain moisture. They have shorter legs, which makes them better suited for walking or short hops rather than long leaps. Despite these differences, both frogs and toads are voracious insect eaters, feasting on everything from mosquitoes to beetles – making them great natural pest control!

Next time you visit the Aquarium, be sure to check out our amphibian habitats to see if you can spot the differences and know whether you’re peering at a frog or a toad. And if you’d like to learn more, join us for our Take A Closer Look virtual tour. We’ll look closely at some of our smaller residents as we tour the Aquarium and answer all of your big questions in real-time.

Wild, Weird & Creepy Creatures

October 30, 2024

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Why do some animals give us the creeps? As Halloween season is upon us, it’s important to stop and consider. Have you ever felt a shiver down your spine at the sight of a spider lurking in a nearby corner, or watching a snake slither away through tall grass? At the Aquarium, we like to highlight some of these less beloved animals and dig into why their reputations leave a bit to be desired.

Let’s start with an easy one. Sharks have long been branded as these violent and blood-thirsty predators, seeking out both fish and human without preference. Thanks to sensationalized popular media such as ‘Jaws,’ we were fast to believe this behavior is real. This fearsome image overshadows the fact that sharks are vital gatekeepers of their oceanic ecosystems, providing balance to the underwater world. Sharks are in reality remarkable survivors, deserving at the very least our respect, and even our admiration.

Snakes are another animal often evoking terror for humans, most likely due to their serpentine bodies and fear of their hooked fangs, which are sometimes equipped with venom. As with sharks, popular media and cultural narratives have painted snakes as malevolent over the years, moving far beyond the reputation snakes deserve. The vast majority of snakes are harmless, and would much rather escape our presence than engage with us. Many species also play critical roles in their ecosystems as both predators and prey.

Before judging animals based on their physical appearance and historical narratives, it’s crucial to stop and consider the facts. Facing natural obstacles in the world along with our persecution, negative reputations have pushed some of these species to the brink of extinction.

Join us for our Wild, Weird, & Creepy virtual program on October 30 to learn about some more of these animals, and how you could potentially help out with changing the narrative!

– Educator Matt D.

Are They Bad Guys or Just Misunderstood?

April 18, 2022

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Sometimes reputation is not reality. Greater Cleveland Aquarium’s Education team takes a quick looks at snakes, piranhas and sharks to see if they’re really “bad guys” or just misunderstood.

SNAKES

Snakes have been portrayed as bad guys across the globe for centuries. Ancient Greeks share the myth of Medusa with her head of snakes turning humans to stone. Christianity writes about snakes representing evil and temptation in the garden of Eden. Ancient Egyptians tell of a two-headed serpent guarding the underworld.
Paired with the fact that some snakes deliver a venomous bite, it is not surprising that many people dislike or even fear snakes. However, with more than 3,000 different species of snakes on the planet, there is much to celebrate as well. Less than 7% of snake species are able to significantly harm a human. Snakes play an important role in keeping rodent pest populations under control. Many snakes are both predator and prey in an ecosystem food web, so losing them would have a negative affect on many other species.

The snake at the Aquarium is a green tree python. She spends a significant amount of time curled up on her branch, basking in the humid, tropical temperatures. She starts her life as a different color entirely and becomes a brilliant green color as an adult.

If you encounter a snake, you should give them space, but there is no reason to harm it.

PIRANHAS

The piranha’s negative reputation can be traced back to Theodore Roosevelt. He witnessed a staged feeding frenzy of starved piranhas on a trip to South America and wrote about the experience. More than 120 years later, these fish are still working against that tale. The 1978 movie Piranha showcasing a piranha hunting humans refueled the hype, as it showcased piranha hunting humans.

In reality, humans are not part of a piranha’s food chain. Many piranha feed on smaller fish species, and some are omnivores, eating both meat and plant material. In the scientific community, they are described as timid scavengers. Piranha group together for safety to protect themselves from their own predators, like large birds.

The piranha at the Aquarium are red-bellied piranha. They can be admired for their shiny scales. They are an important part of their ecosystems in freshwater rivers of South America. Piranha should be more appreciated than feared.

SHARKS

Sharks are often portrayed as villains in movies. Jaws, Sharknado, The Shallows, The Meg and even The Little Mermaid portray sharks in a negative light. While some sharks are large, and some do have sharp teeth, there is way more to appreciate about sharks than to fear.

Sharks are apex predators. At the top of the food chain, they play a crucial role in keeping the ocean ecosystems in balance, but humans are not part of the menu. There are more than 400 species of sharks and they eat a variety of different types of foods, with the largest whale sharks eating krill, and the smallest dwarf lantern catching tiny prey with an alluring bioluminescent light.

The sharks at the Aquarium are sandtiger, sandbar and nurse sharks. A fan favorite of Aquarium guests, it can be quite calming to watch them swim slowly through the water.

You are more likely to be struck by lightning, fall off a cliff taking a selfie, or be killed by a lawnmower, than be attacked by a shark. Sharks should be revered rather than feared.

–Education

Bird is the Word

January 3, 2020

Education

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

You might be curious about the bird calls you hear while walking through the Aquarium’s Tropical Forest Gallery. Birds play important roles in their ecosystems, from being predators and prey, to acting as pollinators and seed dispersers, to providing magnificent sights and sounds we have come to expect from wild habitats. You will find three different colorful species of birds at the Aquarium. Crested wood-partridges are peculiar, ground-dwelling birds native to Indonesian rainforests. Be on the lookout for the showy red crest on the male’s head. What the female is lacking in head decorations, she makes up for with beautiful green body feathers, compared to the male’s dark blue variety. You might see these birds using their feet to move things around on the ground while foraging for edible treats.

Black-naped fruit doves are another pair of birds where a quick visual study easily distinguishes the male and the female. The male sports the black nape on his neck and head area, while the female is entirely green. Fruits and seeds make up the majority of the menu for these doves. If you’re fortunate, you may hear and see the male making his vocalization from a perch.

If extremely active birds are your favorite to observe, look no further than the curl-crested aracaris. They’re a playful and curious pair, seemingly hopping and flying around endlessly, always searching for the next item to eat or interact with. They mainly accomplish these activities using their spectacular, large, multicolored bills. Stop by and see if you can spot any out–of-the- ordinary items in their exhibit; these are provided regularly to enrich the birds’ active brains.

Matt Debelak

Shark Conservation: 4 Ways You Can Help

July 28, 2019

Education

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Sharks are some of the oldest and most complex organisms in the world and their absence would likely have a huge impact on the ocean ecosystem and our world as we know it. Today, more than 11,000 sharks are killed by humans per hour due to bycatch, finning and overfishing. With humans killing an estimated 100 million sharks a year, it’s critical that we work to protect them. Here are a few ways you can actively support shark conservation.

Education

One of the best first steps to helping our oceans and animals is to educate ourselves! Research organizations all over the world collect data and information about our effect on the environment. Evaluating their findings leads to discussions and discoveries of ways that we can make a better and more conscious impact on the world. Sharks4Kids goal is to create a new generation of shark advocates through curriculum, games, and activities that can be accessed on their website. Some other great places we can learn from include:

Charities/Research Organizations

Supporting local and global organizations making a difference is important too. Support can be in the form of monetary donations that allow scientists to fund research vital to understanding the environment. It can also be in the form of advocating and sharing the knowledge we get from these organizations with others. The Shark Research Institute in Princeton, NJ conducts some of the most well-known shark research in the world. With one of the largest collections of data on these animals, the Institute is able to provide credible information to the media and help deter misconceptions about sharks. Their efforts to help change the image of sharks is revered worldwide. Some other great places to look into include:

Reducing Single-Use Plastic

Reduce, reuse, recycle—one of the best known conservation slogans of all time is still an important and effective way to help cut down on pollution that directly affects sharks. Reducing our reliance on single-use plastic can yield amazing results. By reducing plastic usage less trash accumulates in the ocean and less sharks and their natural food sources such as sea lions and sea turtles will consume these items. When we refrain from polluting our waters we can in turn make them cleaner and there will be less of a chance for sharks to consume plastic which can be harmful. Ocean 4 Plastic is an organization with a mission to remove plastic from oceans. Their two largest projects located in Haiti and Bali guarantee one pound of trash removal per $20 donation. Their website features a live count of how many pounds of trash have been removed from oceans by their projects. They also host cleanups worldwide and build recycling infrastructure in certain locations. Some other great places that actively do this include:

Shopping Sustainably

Being mindful about where you shop for and what foods you buy can have a greater impact than you might think. For example, the shark fin trade and production of shark fin soup greatly depletes shark populations worldwide. Choosing to shop in places that don’t support or contribute to these issues can help our shark populations grow. The Animal Welfare Institute provides a map showing what restaurants in the United States currently produce shark fin soup. They implore individuals to call those places and ask them to stop providing any products containing shark fins. Want to know more about the impact of your purchase? Check out:

And, if you want a more hands-on experience, come into the Greater Cleveland Aquarium to learn more about our sharks and why it’s so important that we keep them around!

– Kloby R.