NOAA
An Ocean of Energy
Young biologists trace the path of the sun's energy through marine ecosystems in the second part of this four-lesson series. Building on prior knowledge about producers, consumers, and decomposers young scholars are introduced to the...
Curated OER
Web of Predators and Prey
Students investigate the food chain by researching the Internet. In this ecosystem activity, students view the video "Competitor and Predator" and read a book from the series "The Magic School Bus." Students utilize a worksheet to...
Curated OER
Food Webs
Young scholars create a bulletin board display illustrating food chains they make from a list of ocean organisms. Students also play a game showing what happens when one of the organisms is removed from the food chain and how they are...
Curated OER
Rocky Shore Food Web Drama
Students explore food chains. In this ecosystem lesson plan, students discover how plants and animals rely on each other for survival. Students research the rocky shore ecosystem and create a skit representing the ecosystem.
Curated OER
Blue Planet: Open Ocean
Students research facts about animal species. In this ocean activity students view a video, prepare illustrated cards and create a food-web display.
Curated OER
Food Chains
Fourth graders investigate food chains. They review cycles and discuss ecosystems. They select an environment and create a food chain in small groups. They write their food chain and label it for the class to evaluate. They create...
NOAA
Deep-Sea Ecosystems – Entering the Twilight Zone
Imagine an ecosystem without any light or oxygen, where living things convert carbon dioxide into food. This ecosystem is thriving and might just be the largest ecosystem on our planet, yet we know very little about it. The instructional...
Curated OER
Who Eats Whom in the Open Ocean?
Students examine how organisms interact with one another in the ocean. For this science lesson, students discuss predators and prey in the ocean. Students discuss food webs and how organisms interact with each other.
Curated OER
Energy Through the Ecosystem
In this ecosystem activity, students use a diagram of an ocean-based food web to complete 5 short answer questions about the energy flow through this ecosystem.
Ask a Biologist
It’s a Plankton Eat Plankton World
For as small as they are, plankton sure play an enormous role in maintaining marine ecosystems. Dive into an investigation of these tiny organisms with a hands-on life science activity in which children cut out pictures of sea animals...
Curated OER
9th Grade
Ninth graders discuss the principal source of energy entering the marine ecosystem. They name some of the autotrophs at the Maui Ocean Center. Students name some of the heterotrophs at Maui Ocean Center. They are taught that plants are...
NOAA
Animals of the Fire Ice
When the sun's rays can't reach the producers in a food web, where does all the energy come from? Extreme environments call for extreme food sources. Young scientists investigate creatures that appear to get their energy from methane...
NOAA
Through Robot Eyes
How do robots assist ocean explorers in collecting data and images? The final installment in a five-part series has science scholars examine underwater images collected by robots and identify the organisms shown. Groups then calculate...
Curated OER
Food for Thought
Young scholars explore the food chains in a variety of ecosystems and its relationship to the survival of threatened or endangered marine animals or fish in the ocean. The interdependence of the species is investigated in this lesson.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Modeling Trophic Cascades
In the ecological game of who eats who, one small change can have a big impact! Individuals create food chains in an array of ecosystems, then determine what happens to organisms in the chain when one organism changes its feeding...
NOAA
Deep-Sea Ecosystems – Life is Weird!
A pool of brine in the deep sea can be up to four times as salty as the surrounding sea water. The deep sea ecosystem relies on chemosynthesis and the organisms that live there are often strange to us. The lesson plan focuses on...
Curated OER
Getting Food
Students complete activities to learn about the ocean food web. In this ocean life lesson, students discuss how the tides affect feeding, learn about filter feeders, grazers, predators, and scavengers. Students then group the animals...
Curated OER
Introduction to Ocean Grazers
Students explore biology by creating a poster with classmates. In this oceanography lesson, students identify the importance of coral reefs to the ocean's ecology and examine a food web of ocean animals. Students define a list of...
Curated OER
Fish Are Animals Too
Students create posters that show how a shark is a major predator in kelp forests and coral reefs after studying the food webs for these ecosystems. They determine that fish are important animals in the ocean's web of life.
Curated OER
Chewin' in the Chesapeake
Students examine a web page on food webs and select a habitat to research. For this research lesson students identify the organisms found in the food web and present their findings to the class.
Curated OER
Water is Life
Krill is a very small ocean animal that is key to keeping the ocean ecosystem going. The class reviews food webs and chains, learns about the importance of krill, discusses krill anatomy, builds a model of a krill, and then has a...
NOAA
Sustaining Our Ocean Resources
Lead young scientists on an investigation of fishery practices with the final installment of this four-part unit. Using a PowerPoint presentation and hands-on simulation, this lesson engages children in learning how fish populations are...
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...
University of California
Energy and Biomass Pyramids
Young scientists play tag as they act out the food pyramid in the ocean ecosystem. Energy circles pass from the smaller prey to the predators and at the end of the activity, a data chart and analysis questions allow pupils to apply their...