Curated OER
Marine Energy
In small groups, energy engineers research and make a topographic map of a marine natural resource. They report to the rest of the class pros and cons of extracting their assigned resource. The two activities may take up to four class...
American Museum of Natural History
What do You Know About Marine Biology
Show me what you know about the sea. Learners answer 10 questions about marine biology. The questions range from what evidence points to the origin of life to the biggest threat to oceans.
American Museum of Natural History
What is Marine Biology?
A marine environment covers the majority of the earth but is arguably the least understood. Teach young scientists about the characteristics of oceans and ocean species using an interactive online lesson. The in-person or remote learning...
Curated OER
Ocean Life
Students explore the topics of ocean water salinity, ocean life zones, marine life classification, and ocean food chains. They observe demonstrations, conduct experiments, complete quizzes and handouts, and analyze key vocabulary.
Curated OER
Marine Archaeology
Students examine marine archaeology. In this archaeological data lesson plan, students see how archaeologists use data to make inferences about shipwrecks. Students read data and make their own inferences, write about marine life and...
Curated OER
Life in the Crystal Palace
Marine biologists research sea ice communities. Assign some groups to construct paper models of sea ice communities in winter, and some to construct models of them in summer. The lesson is simplistic, but the Internet resources provided...
Curated OER
The Ocean
Plant and animal life of the ocean is the focus of this science lesson. Young scientists sort a variety of seashells and explore why many sea animals have shells. They examine the shells, write journal entries highlighting the...
Wilderness Classroom
Ocean Life
Our oceans are composed of many complex relationships. Young oceanographers explore relationships between organisms, understand the world ocean's currents, and discover the effects of water pollution and how it behaves. There are three...
American Museum of Natural History
Journey to Deep Sea Vents
Take a deep dive into oceanography. The online interactive allows for learners to board a submersible to dive to the bottom of the ocean to investigate sea vents. On the way down, individuals see different marine life at different...
Curated OER
Shipwreck Mystery
Students draw inferences about a shipwreck. In this marine archaeologist lesson, students examine historical and archaeological data to draw inferences about the age and identity of shipwrecks.
Curated OER
Faking It
Middle school earth scientists describe the behavior of the Coriolis force. They compare and contrast conditions under which the Coriolis force has a significant impact with conditions under which it has very little. They model the...
Curated OER
Famous Quotes and Mottos
Students read about the accomplishments of John Paul Jones and the Continental Marines. They explore famous quotes and mottos, i.e. "Semper Fidelis." Students discuss other quotes or mottos by famous people in history. They discuss...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 3
How far have California's Channel islands moved? What was the rate of this movement? Class members first examine data that shows the age of the Hawaiian island chain and the average speed of the Pacific Plate. They then watch West of the...
Curated OER
Coasts and Reefs: Shallow Marine Processes
A more thorough presentation on coastal systems would be difficult to find! Detailed diagrams illuminate the offshore, shoreface, foreshore, and backshore zones of beach. The sources and movement of sediments along the coastline are...
Curated OER
Ocean Planet: Sea Secrets
Students identify ocean features and draw a profile using data points on a map. Through discussion and research, they discover the importance of oceanography and plot a profile of the ocean floor in search for a vessel full of precious...
Curated OER
The Robot Archaeologist
Students discover what is needed to program an underwater robot to complete a course of action. In this robot archaeologist lesson plan students design an archaeological strategy of an underwater vehicle.
American Museum of Natural History
Dive Into Worlds Within the Sea
Make connections between ocean organisms. Individuals explore three different ecosystems in the ocean. With an online interactive, they learn how different organisms depend upon each other. Learners first answer questions to connect...
Curated OER
Wildlife
First, biology pupils research land and marine habitats along the route of skipper Rich Wilson's Great American II. Then, using colored paper clips scattered across a colored paper background, they play the predator-prey game to...
Curated OER
Chilean Sea Bass
Introduce your mini-marine biologists to using databases. Tables of how many Chilean Sea Bass were caught and number of hours spent fishing are examined. Using the data, individuals calculate the "Catch per Unit of Effort" for each year....
It's About Time
Effects of Plate Tectonics
Explore our world from within as you lead young scientists on a thrilling adventure. Pupils examine the location of plate boundaries to determine earthquake and volcano distribution around the globe and explore the cause of hot spots in...
Curated OER
Create an Underwater Scene
Learners apply knowledge of underwater ocean life by creating an ocean life scene with marine animals and plants placed at appropriate ocean depths.
Curated OER
2005 Hidden Ocean Expedition What's Eating You?
Analyze data and make inferences about the trophic position of organisms in the Canada marine food web. After a review of the geography and formula, discuss results and write an essay to improve the understanding of Artic food webs.
Curated OER
Deep Gardens
Marine biology beginners read about the 2005 Florida Coast Deep Corals expedition, research phylum Cnidaria, and then report on a specific coral deep-sea coral group. There is an abundance of background information and internet resources...
Curated OER
Treasures in Jeopardy
In small groups, middle schoolers research deep-sea coral reefs and design a poster to educate the public about their importance. They compare them to shallow-water reefs and consider the impact of bottom-trawl fishing. Many internet...