Curated OER
Ocean Scenes and Coral Reefs
Students explore plants and animals that live at various ocean levels, including beaches and coral reefs. They demonstrate their comprehension of ocean layers and life with chalk drawings. Students draw details of plant and animal life,...
Curated OER
Tracking Ocean Ecology
Students look at the data maps given to them about how chlorophyll affects the algae blooms and make predictions about the harm they will cause. In this data maps lesson plan, students manipulate data sets from the website.
Curated OER
Wreck Detectives
Junior archaeologists examine types of artifacts from the Bronze Age on the internet. In collaborative groups, they create a story about a ship from this period and then construct a model of the ocean floor after their ship has sunk....
Curated OER
Exploring Marine Objects
Students identify the sources of water on Earth. In this life science lesson, students list the different plants and animals that live in the ocean. They explore marine objects in the lab and draw them.
NOAA
I Can't Breathe!
The Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area of low oxygen that kills marine life, costs the United States $82 million every year. Young scientists research anoxic ocean environments then come up with a hypothesis for the cause of the Gulf of...
Curated OER
Specialized for the Sea
Students use pictures and make a mural to investigate how ocean animals are adapted to certain parts of their environment.
Curated OER
Surface Air Temperature Trends of the Caribbean
Students use real satellite data to determine the changes in near-surface air temperature at different times of the year over the Caribbean Sea. They discover how Earth's tilt causes seasonal differences in incoming solar energy. They...
California Academy of Science
Coral Reef Habitat Match
Different animals live in different habitats, and each animal has specifically adaptive traits that make them tailor-made for their environments. This is true on land and in the ocean. Little ones examine how various marine animals have...
Dawn N . Ericson
California Kelp Forest Restoration
This unit is so cool, you won't be able to "kelp" yourself! Intended for all grades, this science and activity guide for teachers offers a unique opportunity to understand kelp's role as a valuable ecological resource. Teachers and...
Florida International University
Pipeline to the Coral Reefs
Discover firsthand the effects of internal waves on coral reefs. Through a series of experiments, learners simulate internal waves and upwelling events as they make observations on the movement of water and other debris. They then...
NOAA
Biological Oceanographic Investigations – Signals from the Deep
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill directly impacted an area of the Gulf of Mexico the size of Oklahoma. A marine biology lesson looks at the impact of an oil spill on the deeper parts of the ocean. Scholars download actual data collected...
California Academy of Science
The Heat is On: Cause and Effect and Climate
The higher the number of letters in the final word for the National Spelling Bee, the higher the number of people killed by venomous spiders. Obviously, those two facts correlate, but no causation exists. Scholars view data based on...
Curated OER
Life in Extreme Environments
Learners compare and contrast local environments with the extreme environment of the Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Students explore and gain knowledge of the adaptations organisms use to survive extreme conditions and the diverse conditions...
Curated OER
Ocean Pollution
Middle schoolers study their role in eliminating ocean pollution and helping keep the oceans clean. In this environmental issues lesson, students define pollution and brainstorm examples of ocean pollution. Middle schoolers define...
Curated OER
I Can Preserve My Planet
Students explore renewable and nonrenewable resources. In this ocean preservation lesson, students use KWL charts to understand ways the ocean is important to our daily lives. Students create a poster or wirte a letter to someone...
Curated OER
How to Hide in the Ocean
Students observe the advantages of camouflage. They design a well camouflaged fish of their own.
Curated OER
Oceanography Multimedia Projects
Students examine marine life. In this oceanography lesson, students design a multimedia project using PowerPoint or HyperStudio that encompasses research that they do on ocean ecosystems.
Curated OER
Group Foraging
Students explore co-operation by researching ocean life. In this fish science lesson, students identify many vocabulary terms associated with oceanography and discuss what group foraging means among fish. Students utilize paints and...
Curated OER
Blue Planet: Open Ocean
Students research facts about animal species. In this ocean lesson students view a video, prepare illustrated cards and create a food-web display.
Curated OER
How Harmful Is It?
Pupils complete a form that requires them to make decisions about how severely different types of marine debris affect people, animals, vessels, communities. Results are totaled and analyzed to determine which types of marine debris are...
Curated OER
Feeding in the Flow
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has developed a tremendous library of ocean-themed lessons that can be used in a variety of science settings. "Feeding in the Flow" is one of those activities; Its focus is on...
Curated OER
Caught in a Net
Learners read and discuss the bycatch of the sea and the economic impact of taking bycatch away. For this bycatch lesson plan, students discuss the rights of fisherman and observe pictures of sea animals.
Curated OER
Egg Carton Lobsters
Who doesn't love learning about the ocean? And who wouldn't want to help create an ocean themed mural? Little learners make lobsters out of recycled egg cartons, pipe cleaners, and paint. These are then used as part of a larger 3-D ocean...
Curated OER
Investigating the Effect of Salinity on the Density and Stability of Water
Water with varying amounts of dissolved salt are dyed and then used to compare densities. The objective is to discover the effect of salinity, and therefore density, on ocean water on the stability of the ocean. Many branches of science...