Curated OER
"Whales are Mammals" Idea Web
Third graders explore the characteristics of whales that defines them as mammals. Using the internet and Inspiration software, 3rd graders create and organize "idea bubbles" to organize facts about whales. They locate details to...
Curated OER
Understanding How Researchers Study Dolphins
Students examine how researchers study dolphins and whales. In this scientific research lesson, students complete a Web-based interactive lesson focused on showing how researchers study aquatic mammals. A worksheet and web resources are...
Curated OER
The Sights and Sounds of Orcas
Students investigate the orca whale. They participate in an online Webquest, listen to whale vocalizations online, answer discussion questions, and locate and read newspaper articles on marine mammals and orca whales.
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
Whale Form and Function
Pupils identify similarities and differences in specializations of morphology among a variety of cetaceans and approximate the reasons for these specializations.
Curated OER
Whales
Write factual accounts, reports and express personal viewpoints about whales. They eill also write on a variety of topics related to whales, shaping ideas and making choices in language and form.
NOAA
Endangered Species Origami
Make sea turtle or whale origami in a hands-on activity that provides instructions for folding and facts for learning about each.
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
Plankton / Phytoplankton
Students discuss the importance of plankton in the ocean ecosystem. In this biology lesson, students identify the different types plankton by observing them under the microscope. They explain how plankton population affect global climate.
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Arctic Smorgasbord
Though the walrus spends roughly one third of its time on land, it eats organisms that live on the bottom of the ocean. The first in a series of five, the lesson uses a variety of plant and animal cards to have scholars build an arctic...
American Museum of Natural History
You are the Queen
A day in the life of a wasp queen is not as royal as it may sound. Pupils assume the role of the wasp queen to complete an interactive activity that simulates building a colony. They make decisions along the way and note the changes from...
Sea World
Splash of Math
How can kids use math to learn about marine life? Combine math skills with science lessons in a resource featuring activities about life in the sea. Kids graph and calculate data, solve complex word problems, measure geometric shapes,...
Curated OER
Marine Sanctuaries
Middle schoolers delve into diverse marine ecosystems and the problems they face. They discover students the national marine sanctuaries found in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and off the coast of American Samoa.
ARKive
Biodiversity and Evolution
Why is diversity in biology so important for an ecosystem? Explore biodiversity, evolution, and natural selection with a presentation for your biology class. It features clear information, activities for further understanding, and...
Sea World
Marine Animal Husbandry and Training
Step into the role of a zoo director with several activities about animal training and running a zoo. Kids calculate the amount of food each animal needs, design a habitat for penguins, decide how to breed bottlenose dolphins, and train...
NOAA
A Laboratory Simulation of Ocean Surface Currents
Stimulate interest in ocean currents with a simulation. The first installment of a five-part middle school series teaches future oceanographers about the forces that interact to cause ocean currents. A simulation shows how wind and the...
American Museum of Natural History
Find My Plankton Baby Picture
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...
Curated OER
Northwest Connections
Students compare and contrast where they live in Hawaii to the Makah Indian Reservation in Neah Bay, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, then make a Venn Diagram after hearing two stories dealing with the Trickster type characters of...
Curated OER
Vocab-u-lous! Build a Fabulous Vocab
In this vocabulary worksheet, students decipher the correct choice of word to complete the sentence. All words begin with the letter "B."
Curated OER
Getting Food
Students explore seashore ecosystems. In this marine animal biology lesson plan, students sort photographs of various sea creatures according to their eating habits and discuss each animal's identifiable traits. Students draw and label...
Curated OER
Blue Planet: Frozen Seas
Students study the animals from the Arctic and how they have adapted. In this ocean lesson students create a poster about their given animal and present it to the class.
Curated OER
Squid Dissection
First graders participate in dissecting a squid. They identify and locate specific parts of a squid with teacher guidance. They draw a picture of what their squid looked like and label specific parts.
Curated OER
The Deep
In this deep ocean worksheet, students answer twenty questions after watching a video about the species that live in the deep ocean. Topics include jelly fish, hatchet fish, anglers, tubeworms, sea urchins, and plants that grow in deep...
Curated OER
Indian Ocean Explored
Students examine the rich array of marine wildlife that lives in waters surrounding the Indian subcontinent. They explore the relationships among organisms in coral reefs. They explore environmental dangers to coral reefs and research...