User:Melsousou/sandbox

UCSB is currently in the middle of constructing another building, one that will be unlike any other on campus. Students from Santa Barbara County and all over the state will have access to a unique, new high-tech, hands-on teaching facility for marine science, located on campus.

The new Ocean Science Education building will house the Outreach Center for Teaching Ocean Science (OCTOS) and incorporate the educational outreach program of UCSB's Marine Science Institute (MS) and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CSMS)

OCTOS is designed to expand science education for kindergarten through 12th graders. It will also provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, who will ll be voluntary guides, to learn about teaching science.

Steven Gaines, director of MSI, says that "Most people only see the ocean from its surface. At OCTOS we will use technology to submerge students of all ages so they can explore the riches of the ocean and help solve its global challenges."

The building will feature touch tanks, classroom, and a virtual theater. The outreach center will also include an interactive representation of an ocean floor research transect. Fully outfitted, the building will provide nearly 80% of the energy it uses, despite the energy-intensive uses of the aquarium feature.

The project will cost an estimated $20 million dollars, $8 million of which has already been provided by the federal government. The remaining $12 million will reportedly be made available through private funds raised by the university.

The building was supposed to be completed in August of 2011 but the university terminated their contract with their contractor because he was many months behind schedule and did not complete the building by the projected date. So at this time, the project remains unfinished.