WHEN you're a kid, escaping from the classroom is never a bad thing.

But as 40 Sathya Sai Primary School Murwillumbah students discovered earlier this month, sometimes a trip to the beach can reveal more than first meets the eye.

Kindergarten to Year 2 students visited the Rocky Shore and marine museum at Hastings Point, with teachers and museum educators believing the trip provided a practical lesson about marine biodiversity.

Marine educator from the Museum of Marine Natural History, located at the North Star Holiday Resort at Hastings, Rhett Brambleby said the visit was an exciting opportunity to help the kids appreciate the precious ecosystem in their community.

"If we can educate our kids about these ecosystems, then they'll be a bit more active in looking after their environment," Mr Brambleby said.

"The curricula these kids are studying included one class looking at wet and dry environments, another looking at hot and cold environments, and the third studying the way we change.

"The beauty of the rocky shore at Hastings is that it has all that happening in a single day. We can easily observe the adaptations of the rocky shore inhabitants to this dynamic environment."

Sathya Sai principal Leelah Broughton said the excursion was a perfect complement to the school's sponsorship of a dolphin dubbed Scooter, through Dolphin Research Australia.

The kids saw a whale rib bone, viewed creatures from the ocean under the microscope and learnt how to walk carefully among rock pools to identify specimens.