A classroom like no other

Second-grade students and staff from Anna Maria Elementary on March 6 wade behind the school into Anna Maria Sound during an estuary study with Around the Bend Nature Tours. The hands-on lesson allowed students to collect and observe marine life using dip nets. AME and other Manatee County schools are on spring break through March 20. Islander Courtesy Photo

Anna Maria Elementary second-grader Julian Feiner displays a sea star collected behind the school while wading in Anna Maria Sound during an estuary study March 6 with Around the Bend Nature Tours. Islander Photos: Courtesy AME

AME second-grader Claire Johnson wades into the bay waters behind the school during class and displays marine life collected in her dip net. Students worked with Around the Bend Nature Tours to study animals living in the coastal habitat.

Talon Almy, front, and Julian Feiner, AME Second-graders, search the shoreline of Anna Maria Sound behind the school during an March 6 estuary class. Students used dip nets to collect and identify marine animals in the shallows bay waters.