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Water Layering and Circulation
Students examine relationships and interactions between different types of water. They experiment with colored water of different temperature and salinity and discuss how the results relate to real ocean currents.
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Bang! You're Alive
Students explore the Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Plate Tectonics. In this history of life instructional activity, students explain two ways the Theory of Plate Tectonics and the Big Bang are of direct benefits to humans.
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Salmon Homing Instincts
Students identify the stages of the salmon life cycle. In this fish lesson, students experience first hand what it would be like to be a returning salmon attempting to identify a home stream by smell.
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Take Only Photos and Leave Only Bubbles: Learn About American History from a Sunken Spanish Galleon
Students simulate the research process of investigating a shipwreck. In small groups, they conduct Internet research, and develop and write a proposal for excavation of the archaeological site.
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Fish Fashion 101
Learners explore fish anatomy. In this fish anatomy and adaptation lesson, students define and identify the location of fish body parts. Learners add these parts of a fish's anatomy to a life-sized fish costume worn by a student. ...
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Depth Line
Students use adding machine tape to plot increasing ocean depths and deep sea historical events.
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Oceanography: Understanding the Relationship Among Ocean Food Chains
Fourth graders explore relationships among organisms involved in ocean food chains to investigate interdependence of the organisms.
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You Are What You Eat: Plastics and Marine Life
Students study the different types of plastics and see which ones sink or remain buoyant. In this ocean environmental lesson students complete several handouts, and view a film on PBS.
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Ocean Temperatures
Students list data collected by marine buoys and the different kinds of moored buoys. They describe how data is transmitted worldwide. They explain the difference between near shore and offshore air and water temperatures.
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Exploring National Marine Sanctuaries
Students conduct Internet research of the living organisms in national marine sanctuaries, and the resources protected in the sanctuaries. Students gather information about each of the sanctuaries and make an oral presentation and poster...
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Ocean Creature Classification
Learners develop a Taxonomic Key for marine invertebrates from pictures they are given after practicing together with common objects, such as shoes. They then compare their key to a provided Ocean Invertebrates Taxonomic Key.
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Where's the Oxygen?
High schoolers study seawater and how temperature and salinity influence it. In this oxygen lesson students complete a lab activity on dissolved oxygen.
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Marine Debris and Me
Students study the environmental issues that pertain to the marine environment. In this research ocean landfills lesson students come up with alternative means of disposal.
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The Exploration Age
Young scholars discover information about the early explorers. In this Exploration Age lesson, students watch "The Great Age of Exploration'" and respond to the provided questions about the video.
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Marine Poetry
Students identify characteristics of good poetry and compose their own. In this marine poetry lesson, students are introduced to several different types of poetry with a marine theme. After discussing the elements...
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Who are the Women of the Pacific North West: 1830-1870?
Students view a picture from the Vancouver National Historic Reserve and discuss the people in the picture. They locate Cromwell's Map and discuss the villages located close to Fort Vancouver. Students read information regarding the role...
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Life of an Island: From Mountain to Atoll
Students research the evolution of a volcanic island from origin to erosion. They determine the relative ages of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands given their position in the archipelago.
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Helping Right Whales - Right Now
In this whales worksheet, students answer eight questions referring to the right whales found in the Atlantic Ocean. Students read a map to answer three questions and five questions are multiple choice.
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Iced In
Introduce junior oceanographers to ice conditions in The Great Lakes. The ice map links are no longer available, so you will not be able to have your class perform the mentioned data activity. You can, however, access the Canadian Ice...
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In My Opinion
Young writers craft letters to the government stating their opinion on different topics. They pick an environmental or ocean issue, research it, and craft their formal persuasive letter. Ensure your learners include supporting facts and...
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Light Stick Chemistry
In groups of three with the lights off and the shades drawn, investigators place inactivated light sticks, in three beakers: one filled with ice water, another with lukewarm water, and the other with room temperature water. They wait...
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Density Dynamics
Learners set up working models demonstrating lake turnover and the formation of deep water masses in the oceans.
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Sand Explorations
Students experiment with different samples of sand from Maui leeward and windward beaches. They create a sand map to suggest at least one contributing factor for the formation of each beach sample. They test the samples to determine...
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Online Information: Fact or Fiction
Discuss ways to determine if the information middle and high schoolers gather online is accurate. Using the Internet, they cite two sources that show conflicting points of view on a subtopic of conservation. They summarize and analyze...