Workforce Industry Skills Explorations

🎓 Audience

Education: Grade(s) 9, 10, 11, 12, Teacher(s)/Educator(s), Parent, Adult Learners, Homeschool/Family , Learning Pod; Public Library: Library Patrons, Library Staff

 🐾 Topics

Career & Technical Education (CTE), Economics/Business, Health & Physical Education, Industrial Technology, Professional Development, Science, STEM, Technology/Information Science

🗂️ Format

• Introduction and Prior Knowledge - The program opens with an overview of aquatic veterinary medicine and animal health, inviting participants to share prior knowledge, questions, or interests related to animal care, conservation, or veterinary careers. Educators are encouraged to connect this discussion to biology, anatomy, ethics, or career and technical education pathways.

• Segment 1 – Challenges facing marine animals? - Learners explore how veterinary teams collaborate during wildlife rescue and rehabilitation efforts. Discussion focuses on triage, treatment, recovery, and release decisions, as well as the ethical considerations involved in caring for wild animals and balancing individual welfare with ecosystem health.

• Segment 2 – What our vets are doing? - Learners are introduced to daily husbandry practices used in aquariums, including nutrition, habitat management, behavioral observation, and preventative health care. This segment establishes how routine care supports long-term animal welfare and provides baseline data for medical decision-making. Live or recorded demonstrations highlight common veterinary diagnostic tools such as physical exams, imaging, sample collection, and health monitoring technologies. Educators can emphasize how data, observation, and problem-solving are used to assess animal health and guide treatment plans.

• Segment 3 – Training for the future - Veterinarians and animal care technicians discuss career pathways, training, and interdisciplinary teamwork. Participants are invited to ask questions about education requirements, daily responsibilities, and how veterinary medicine intersects with conservation science, technology, and research.

• Live Q&A and Reflection - The session concludes with time for participant questions and guided reflection, allowing educators to reinforce key concepts and connect the experience to classroom learning goals.

Segments may vary based on animal needs, veterinary priorities, or field conditions. Every effort is made to deliver the program as outlined, with flexibility to use a combination of live and recorded video when necessary to ensure animal welfare and program quality.

🎯 Objectives

1. Explore the role of veterinary medicine in supporting animal welfare, conservation, and ecosystem health across aquarium and field settings.

2. Identify common diagnostic tools, treatment methods, and husbandry practices used to assess and maintain animal health.

3. Examine how rescue, rehabilitation, and release efforts are planned and carried out, including ethical considerations in wildlife care.

4. Ask questions and engage in discussions about animal health, veterinary career pathways, and the collaboration between veterinarians, technicians, and researchers.

✏️ Standards this program supports

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

• LS1.A (9–12) –– Structure and Function in Living Systems. Learners examine how the structure and function of organs and body systems support animal health. Through veterinary demonstrations, participants see how anatomy and physiology guide health assessments, diagnostics, and treatment decisions in aquatic and terrestrial animals.

• LS1.B (9–12) –– Growth and Development of Organisms. Learners analyze how growth, healing, and development influence veterinary treatment plans. Case examples from rescue and rehabilitation illustrate how age, life stage, and condition affect medical decision-making and outcomes.

• LS1.C (9–12) –– Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms. Learners explore how animals obtain, use, and regulate energy and materials to maintain homeostasis. Veterinary care examples highlight nutrition, metabolism, stress response, and recovery during illness, injury, and rehabilitation.

• LS2.A (9–12) –– Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems. Learners investigate how animal health is connected to environmental conditions and ecosystem interactions. Veterinary interventions are framed within population health, disease transmission, and conservation outcomes.

• LS2.C (9–12) –– Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience. Learners analyze how disturbances such as pollution, injury, and habitat loss affect animal health and ecosystem stability. Rescue, rehabilitation, and release efforts demonstrate strategies for supporting resilience at both individual and population levels.

• LS4.D (9–12) –– Biodiversity and Humans. Learners explore how human activities influence biodiversity and animal health. Veterinary medicine is presented as a tool for mitigating human impacts through wildlife care, ethical decision-making, and conservation-focused practices.

• ETS1.B (9–12) –– Developing Possible Solutions. Learners observe how veterinary teams evaluate constraints, test interventions, and refine treatment plans. Diagnostic tools and clinical workflows model iterative problem-solving used in real-world animal care and veterinary science.

Ocean Literacy Principles

• • Ocean Literacy Principle #5 – The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.

  • Ocean Literacy Principle #6 – The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• • 4 - Quality Education

  • 14 - Life Below Water

  • 15 - Life on Land

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS)

• SC.912.L.14 – Organization and Development of Living Organisms. Application: Learners examine how cells, tissues, organs, and body systems work together to maintain animal health. Through veterinary demonstrations and case examples, participants observe how genetics, pathogens, immune response, circulation, and neurological function influence diagnosis, treatment, and recovery in animals under professional care.

• SC.912.L.17 –– Recognize the consequences of the interactions between humans and the environment. Application: Learners analyze how human activities contribute to animal injury, illness, and habitat degradation, and how veterinary medicine helps mitigate these impacts through conservation and ethical care.

• SC.912.N.1 – Define a problem based on a specific body of knowledge, and conduct systematic observations to identify variables. Application: Learners observe how veterinary teams define health problems, gather diagnostic data, and evaluate evidence to guide treatment and care decisions.

• animal welfare: The physical and mental well-being of an animal and the responsibility to ensure it is cared for humanely.

• anatomy: The study of the structure of an animal’s body and how its parts are arranged.

• conservation: The protection and careful management of nature.

• diagnosis: The process of identifying a disease or injury by examining symptoms, behavior, and test results.

• diagnostic tool: Equipment or methods used to assess animal health, such as imaging, lab tests, or physical exams.

• ethics of care: Principles that guide responsible and humane treatment of animals.

• husbandry: The daily care of animals, including feeding, habitat maintenance, and health monitoring.

• pathogen: A virus, bacterium, fungus, or parasite that can cause disease.

• rehabilitation: The process of helping injured or ill animals recover so they can return to the wild or long-term care.

• rescue: The act of locating and safely assisting animals that are injured, stranded, or in danger.

• treatment: Medical care given to help an animal heal or manage a condition.

• veterinarian: A medical professional trained to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease in animals.

• veterinary technician: A trained professional who assists veterinarians with medical procedures, diagnostics, and animal care.

Play Vet WISE Bingo

Play virtual bingo using a computer, smartphone or tablet during your program to focus on key concepts and vocabulary.

• Online

🌐 Websites

• Mote News = "Veterinarian"

• Mote Veterinary Science Internship

• Mote Animal Patients 

• MARVET Marine Veterinary Medicine 

• Santa Fe College - Become a Zookeeper

• Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) - Student Membership

• AZA - Animal Wellbeing Resources

• MyVetPulse.com - multimodal veterinary AI service.

• ZooMonitor - ZooMonitor is a free web application developed by Lincoln Park Zoo and Tracks Software to record and visualize animal behavior data.

• Zoo Diet NaviGator - zoo diet management software

• AZA Animal Care Manuals - This Federal law regulates the treatment of animals in research, teaching, testing, exhibition, transport, and by dealers in the United States of America.

• Sante Fe College - Organizational Management, B.A.S. with a concentration in Zoo and Aquarium Management

📚 Podcasts & Publications

• Aquadocs - Aquatic Veterinary Medicine podcast

• Hart, Leslie B., Kerry Wischusen and Randall S. Wells. 2017. “Rapid Assessment of Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Body Condition: There’s an App for That.” Aquatic Mammals 43, no. 6: 635-644. https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.43.6.2017.635.

• Brando, S., V. D. L. R. Goulart, H. M. Buchanan-Smith, S. R. Planellas and L. Caes. “The role of self-care in perceptions of satisfaction with life, organizational job satisfaction, and self-efficacy in zoo and aquarium professionals.” Frontiers in Veterinary Science, vol. 12, 2025, Article 1677195, https://bit.ly/46aN4PG.

🖥️ Videos

• Mote SEA Show Do Fish Get Sick Too? Ocean Health Webinar

• Mote Welcomes New Sea Turtle Patients

• Mote's Sea Turtle Hospital takes in 6 cold-stunned sea turtles

• Mote Marine Lab rescues new sea turtle patient Joyce

• New turtle patient at Mote Marine Laboratory's sea turtle hospital

• Manatee mother and calf release in Sarasota, June 18, 2020

• Mote Marine Laboratory's Dolphin, Whale & Sea Turtle Hospitals

• What to Expect from a Mote Internship