Students explore the marine ecosystem and the importance of sharks. In this shark instructional activity, students look at photos of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and discuss the animals that live there. They discuss...

Get a better understanding of babies in the sea. The class learns about the two kinds of plankton. They then determine the baby pictures of eight marine animals given a picture of the adult and some hints about the larvae. When scholars...

The biogeochemical cycle ... no physics? The fourth installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program introduces the biogeochemical cycle by having pupils simulate movement between Earth's...

Life's a beach! The 16th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program first examines different types of coasts and how they form. An activity then has learners investigate the shoreline...

Mid-ocean ridges, rift valleys, island arcs, mountain ranges, earthquakes, volcanoes ... there are so many features associated with plate tectonics. The 14th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography...

Ecology aces examine sea surface temperature maps and relate temperatures to concentration in fish and zooplankton populations. Take your class to a computer lab and provide experience with actual remote sensing data. Some of the links...

In this ocean zones worksheet, students label the ocean diagram with the different zones. Then students write in animals that live in each of the zones and research basic information about those animals. This worksheet has 6 fill in the...

In this science learning exercise, students match the names of oceanic and coastal creatures with their descriptions. No information is given on the page.

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...

First graders research ocean animals and plants on the web.  In this ocean habitat lesson, 1st graders prepare a multimedia presentation.  Students will work on their presentations in pairs and every group should have its own...

Students examine ocean life by identifying methane hydrates.  In this ocean life instructional activity, students research organisms that live in the coldest, deepest parts of the ocean and live off methane hydrates.  Students...

Students conduct an experiment.  In this salinity lesson plan, students learn about sea ice, why it is important and how changing amounts can affect the sea.  Students conduct an experiment to find out the effects of salinity...

Young scholars investigate the many ecological and economic issues related to over fishing the world's marine resources. Working in committees, students research the related topics of equipment and fishing techniques.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of several garbage patches around the world where garbage accumulates naturally. As part of a GIS unit that combines oceanography, environmental science, and life science, class members investigate...

Get your junior oceanographers to generate tidal prediction graphs on an interactive website. They will feel like experts in the field, or shall we say, experts in the ocean! This is a brief, but worthwhile activity that could be used to...

Learners 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.

After a concise introduction to the water cycle, junior meteorologists access NOAA's average snowfall data. They choose a city to examine in terms of precipitation. Then they look at historical snowfall data and use it to predict snow...

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill directly impacted an area of the Gulf of Mexico the size of Oklahoma. A marine biology activity looks at the impact of an oil spill on the deeper parts of the ocean. Scholars download actual data collected...

Buoys around our coastlines are equipped with sensory devices which monitor temperature, salinity, and water pressure. Emerging earth scientists examine some of this data and relate salinity to the electrical conductivity of the surface...

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....

Challenge scholars to research a biome and create a presentation for the producers of Survivor to choose their ecosystem for the next season's show. The materials include outlines, worksheets, and grading rubrics for individuals as well...

Learners examine how food webs illustrate the ways in which organisms depend on each other for energy and nutrients, and make food webs showing the feeding relationships among organisms encountered in the Gal??pagos coastal waters.

In this online interactive science worksheet, students respond to 7 multiple choice questions regarding icebergs. Students may submit their answers to evaluated.