REDONDO BEACH, Calif. - It’s a day of discovery at the beach for a class of fourth graders from Valor Christian Academy.

It starts with putting sand in a strainer -- not to build a sandcastle -- but to find sand crabs, and Venice Hom finds a few of the little creatures as she sifts the sand in water.

It’s one of the hands-on activities that the SEA Lab provides to teach kids about marine life and ocean conservation.

Normally the students would be able to go into the ocean to grab their own buckets of water but with high winds and a high surf advisory, SEA Lab Corp member Adrian Perez is taking precautions.

“I think like 20 miles per hour, it’s going to get really fast today,” said Perez.

Another activity he has the students doing, is collecting items along the sand to see what they can find.

Venice and her best friend Sophie Nack have found quite a bit of trash.

“So we found like a piece of foam and some plastic, like a thick thing like a walnut shell," said Sophie.

“And we found a sock,” added Venice.

When it’s time for the group to head back to the SEA Lab from the beach Perez hopes the kids remember the trash they found and how they can help make a difference.

“Hopefully they always remember to put their trash where it belongs, that’s one of the number one things I want to make sure, and that they just have an idea of how much of whatever they do at home, or whatever they do at school, or wherever they may be, can just affect whatever is around them and in the world,” said Perez.

In spite of how much theses kids are learning about the environment through the SEA Lab, the future of this organization is uncertain after this school year. It sits on the AES Power Plant site that has been sold to developer Leo Pustilnikov.

But even while its future is in limbo, SEA Lab Director Maria Madrigal is staying committed to the mission and the message they want all students to takeaway.

“Understand that they are connected to the ocean, and that we do have a responsibility to take care of it,” said Madrigal.

It appears that today, they’ve accomplished what they set out to do.

“It’s really fun because there’s like some facts we might know but some unusual facts that we don’t," said Sophie. "And we get to like touch, feel, or see new creatures that we haven’t seen before."

“And like we love sea animals so it’s really cool to see all of them,” said Venice.

Leaving this young generation touched . . . by the wonder under the sea.