The Reading Improvement Through Marine Environment Exploration Project involved five classes of fifth grade students from three schools in Staten Island, New York. It was funded under the Elementary Secondary Education Act, Title I. The classes were selected by principals and teachers from the respective schools on the basis of students' educational deficiencies related to reading. A total of 105 students participated in this two month program. It involved utilization of the resources of the Gateway National Park. The rationale for the program was that content related reading skills could be improved through actual investigative manipulative activities in a natural environment. It was predicted that this kind of activity would be supportive of reading and writing exercises. The program concentrated on three selected skills for reading in the content area: (1) fact, fiction, and opinion, (2) classification, and (3) construction and interpretation of graphs. Activities designed for students included: mapping the area they were working in, collecting material from the beach, studying wild life, and planting and raising flora indigenous to the shore area. An analysis of the subtest scores for each of the three SRA Reading Diagnostic "Probe" Tests concerned with fact and opinion, classification, and graphs, indicated significant differences between pre and post measures, even within the short time span and three times a week schedule of the program. (Author/AM)