Curated OER
Create a Hawaiian Tako Lure
Students create a tako lure. In this Hawaiian culture lesson, students research how Hawaiians use natural resources to survive. Students are introduced to new vocabulary and create an octopus lure.
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Natural History of Costa Rica
Learners use outline maps to become acquainted with Costa Rica. They see how it was formed and how its origin has created very diverse environments. Students then use atlases and compare their physical maps with maps of climate and the...
Curated OER
Nina Bonita: Culture and Beauty
Students read Nina Bonita by Ana Maria Machado. In this reading comprehension/ geography activity, students recall various parts of the story and create a map of where the rabbit traveled throughout the story. They participate in group...
Curated OER
Beach Ball Striking
Students practice a variety of striking skills: "sweeping" the ball, passing to partners, and striking at a target. They review and address safety concerns with the use of a long-handled implement/stick and demonstrate how to hold the...
Curated OER
Jelly Critters
Young scholars compare and contrast three different organisms that are considered gelatinous zooplankton. They describe how they fit into marine food webs.
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Ocean Microstructure
Students assess the ocean's microstructure by analyzing graphs created during tne Ronald H.Brown research cruise. they discuss at what depths various sea animals live and write paragraphs on data analysis from the graphs.
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Leaving Home
Students explain the importance of larval dispersal and retention to populations. They collect data on organisms and examine it.
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Salmon and Steelhead Life Stories Web Search
Students conduct an Internet investigation to discover the natural history of local salmon and/or steelhead. They then write a story that describes the life of a salmon or steelhead from the local creek, including a description of each...
Curated OER
Amphipods
Students identify organisms that live at the bottom of the body of water. In this biology lesson, students evaluate the effects of pollution to amphipods population. They examine collected data and create a bar graph comparing them.
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How Warm is the Water?
Learners research how surface sea temperature changes throughout the year. They draw a time series of sea surface temperatures for each month of the year and a depth profile for a summer and winter month using an OceanExplorer Profiler...
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Search for the Humpback Whale
Students work in teams to research and explore whale adaptations, behavior, migration, habitat, communication, and interactions with humans and present their findings.
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Sea Stars and the Northern Abalone: A Race for Life!
Students compare and contrast the ecosystem, structure and behavior of survival of the abalone versus the sea star. They consider the ramifications of reintroducing the endangered abalone. They present their findings to the class.
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Sea Water Mixing and Sinking
Students investigate the role of temperature and salinity in determining seawater density. They use a Temperature-Salinity Diagram to examine the effects of mixing on density.
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Natural Disaster
Describe how plate tectonics account for various land formations. Learners discuss different marine sanctuaries and create a poster about tectonic activity in these areas. They share their posters with the class.
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What's for Dinner?
View a video presentation comparing chemosynthesis to photosynthesis. Review the findings of the 2004 Ring of Fire Expedition that studied biological communities around the hydrothermal vents of the Mariana Arc. In...
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....
Curated OER
Save a Reef!
Design a public information campaign to improve understanding of the coral reef crisis. Read about and discuss the biology and threats to the coral reef. The class creates a public information program about the problems facing the coral...
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Beans and Baleen
Predict whale populations using different beans as whales! Learners observe different types of beans in a dish knowing that each bean represents a different kind of whale. They then predict how many "whales" there are in a certain area....
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Visual Vocabulary
Students interpret and name the vocabulary termed acted out by the mime. In this science/language arts/physical education lesson, students are given a set of vocabulary terms to discuss within their group. Next, students place all...
California Academy of Science
Academy Seafood Market and Fishery
What fishing method is the most sustainable? Find out through a fun, but meaningful game in which your little fishermen use different techniques to see what they catch. After the fishing activity is over, there are several discussion...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Recycling the Seafloor
Students classify earth's layers and plates using Ocean Seismicity data. In this plate tectonics lesson plan, students outline where the plate boundaries are on the world map. They then compare these predicted boundaries with USGS map of...
Curated OER
Ocean in a Bottle
Students create an enclosed ocean in a bottle and add different pollutants to explore the effects of pollution on the environment.
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The Incredible Journey
Pupils study salmon and steelhead. They play a game in which they act out the salmon and steelhead journey from their spawning ground, to the open ocean, and then back to the spawning ground again. They identify obstacles these fish face...