NOAA
A Quest for Anomalies
Sometimes scientists learn more from unexpected findings than from routine analysis! Junior oceanographers dive deep to explore hydrothermal vent communities in the fourth lesson in a series of five. Scholars examine data and look for...
American Physiological Society
What Environmental Conditions Lead to the Hatching of Brine Shrimp?
Will changing the environment in which brine shrimp live impact their reproductive success? Young scientists get hands-on experience studying the habitat of brine shrimp in a two-week immersion lesson. The teacher's guide provides all of...
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 focuses on researching...
NOAA
Importance of Deep-Sea Ecosystems – How Diverse is That?
When judging diversity of an ecosystem, both species evenness and species richness must contribute. After a discussion of diversity and a guided example using the Shannon-Weaver function, scholars use the same function on two other...
Curated OER
Restaurant Beneath the Waves
In this marine life worksheet, students fill in the boxes beside each ocean creature name with one of the following feeding methods: predator, scavenger, grazer, and filter feeder. Students then list or draw marine creatures that use the...
Ocean Explorer
Easy as Pi
Seamounts are large, extinct volcanoes that rise up from the bottom of the ocean floor. They are a relatively new landform in the scientific community, and this instructional activity invites students to learn about the amazing diversity...
Aquarium of the Pacific
Kelp Forest Conservation
There otter be a better way. As a class, groups work together to create a food web based on the organisms in the kelp forest. Budding scientists watch a video on the kelp forest to see how the organisms create a food web and hear about...
NOAA
Deep-Sea Benthos
Much like a distant planet, the underwater world of deep-sea benthos is strange and largely unknown. How do creatures survive and thrive in such extreme pressure and temperature conditions? Young oceanographers join the crew of Operation...
NOAA
Chemosynthesis and Hydrothermal Vent Life
What's life like in a hydrothermal vent? Find out in part five of a 13-part series. Learners journey to one of the harshest environments on the planet, the hydrothermal vent, to learn about the creatures that survive the extreme...
Biology Junction
Echinoderms
Turn a walk on the beach into an in-depth biology lesson! Scholars learn about the different classes of echinoderms in an informative PowerPoint presentation. The lesson explains the unique characteristics of the five different classes...
University of Waikato
Build a Marine Food Web
Dive into a lesson on marine ecosystem interactions. Individuals learn about and devise a marine food web. The resource provides organism cards and pupils use article resources to discover interactions before modeling them in a food web.
Curated OER
Exploring Deep Ocean Habitats: Alien Invasion
Young scholars compare and contrast "alien species" and "invasive species."Students explain positive and negative impacts associated with introduction of non-native species, and give a specific example of species that produce t
Curated OER
Life on the Edge: Exploring Deep Ocean Habitats Cool Corals
High schoolers research the basic morphology of Lophelia corals and polyps to determine the significance of these organisms. They detail the reasons that biological communities are focusing on the Lophelia corals as major conservation...
Curated OER
Whales and Fish: Creatures of the Deep
Practice comparing and contrasting details in informational text with a reading passage about whales. It explains the ways that fish and whales are similar, as well as the ways they are different, and specific characteristics of various...
Curated OER
Who's New in the Deep Sea?
Students examine the methods and technology that scientists use to study the deep sea and other remote environments. In this ocean habitats instructional activity students make observations about organisms from video clips, generate...
Curated OER
Habitats
Learners examine how different living things interact with their environment. As a class, they discuss the characteristics of a habitat and write the list on the board. In groups, they focus on one habitat and create a mural of the...
Curated OER
Living in Extreme Environments: Havens on the Deep Sea Floor
Students identify the characteristics of an extreme environment in the deep ocean and consider what organisms need to survive in these elements. They research sampling and data collection methods in this environment.
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...
Curated OER
Big Fleas Have Little Fleas
A benthic habitat hosts a vast collection of organisms and its structure influences the biodiversity. Middle-school marine biology explorers will discuss how corals impact structure, and therefore diversity, on the ocean floor. They draw...
Curated OER
Wildlife
First, biology pupils research land and marine habitats along the route of skipper Rich Wilson's Great American II. Then, using colored paper clips scattered across a colored paper background, they play the predator-prey game to...
Curated OER
Penguins Around the World
Students investigate penguins. In this Science lesson, students compare and contrast penguins to flying birds. Students use a Venn diagram to illustrate the differences and similarities of penguins and flying birds.
Curated OER
Animals of the Lost City
Begin with a demonstration of exothermic reactions and discussion of chemosynthesis. Your aspiring oceanographers research vent communities and then craft a mural of a vent community. This is a terrific method of introducing learners to...
Curated OER
History's Thermometers
Ancient coral beds give scientists clues to past ocean temperatures in much the same way that tree rings indicate historical weather conditions. High school scientists examine coral oxygen isotope ratios and plot the data as a function...
Science Matters
That’s An Otter Story
Young scientists discover how sea otters' habitats have changed due to human impact. Through conversation, video observation, and story reading, scholars identify how human interactions change a specific ecosystem in both positive and...