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...
Aquarium of the Pacific
Ocean Drifters
Take a drift in the ocean. Class members watch a video on plankton, the drifters of the ocean. Scholars find out about the different types of plankton and sea jellies. To add a little variety, they use the aquarium webcams to study sea...
Polar Trec
Plankton Parents
Plankton are so abundant in the ocean they outweigh all of the animals in the sea. In this three day activity, groups discuss and become familiar with plankton, capture females, and look for egg production on day three.
NOAA
Plankton
Dive into the world of plankton. The 17th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program introduces different types of plankton. Young scientists then use what they have learned to classify...
Dawn N . Ericson
California Kelp Forest Restoration
This unit is so cool, you won't be able to "kelp" yourself! Intended for all grades, this science and activity guide for teachers offers a unique opportunity to understand kelp's role as a valuable ecological resource. Teachers and...
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...
University of California
Plankton
Plankton: so much more than just a SpongeBob character. Three different activities have kids looking at both phytoplankton and zooplankton in pictures, as well as collecting their own samples (depending on your access to a saltwater...
Curated OER
Sinking Races
Students build plankton models and compete to see which sinks most slowly. They write, or orally present ,the adaptations they incorporated to slow the sinking rate of their organisms. Race results can be grounds for some prizes!
Curated OER
Zooplankton
Holoplankton are always plankton, whereas meroplankton are only plankton as larvae. Reveal several examples of each to your young marine biologists with this PowerPoint presentation. The first seven slides, an introduction to...
Curated OER
Fish and zooplankton habitat through remote sensing
Students are exposed to the variety of ways in which scientist use remote sensing and it used in everyday life. They investigate about zooplankton and fish. Students list the two important groups of organisms in both aquatic and marine...
Curated OER
A Survey of Plankton Communities
In this biology worksheet, students identify and define the vocabulary terms listed and make a prediction about the outcomes of the experiment. Then they complete the chart of the observations of the plankton diversity in drops of pond...
Curated OER
Plankton of Tyson Lagoon
In this plankton key instructional activity, students use drawings of phytoplankton and zooplankton to identify macro- invertebrates, diatoms and algae from a pond water sample.
Curated OER
Immersion Presents Monterey Bay
Students study Monterey Bay. In this Monterey Bay lesson, students create a model of upwelling around Monterey Bay. Students simulate surface water movement relative to prevailing winds.
Curated OER
Ocean Drifters
Students define terms, and identify three ways in which plankton are adapted for life in the open ocean. In this ocean drift lesson students design a planktonic organism.
Curated OER
Aquatic Foodweb
Students explore what a food web is. In this science lesson, students examine how nutrients and other pollutants enter a lake and play a food web game whereby students pretend they are either zooplankton, planktivore, piscivore, or...
Curated OER
Plankton
Young scholars research phytoplankton and zooplankton. In this food chain lesson, students read This is the Sea That Feeds Us and discuss plankton, food chains, and webs. Young scholars define phytoplankton and compare them to land...
Curated OER
Plankton
Learners explore the attributes of plankton. In this plankton lesson, students read This is the Sea That Feeds Us and discuss food chains. Learners discover the differences between phytoplankton and zooplankton as they examine the...
Curated OER
Temporary Zooplankton Mix and Match
In this plankton worksheet, students draw a line between the larvae and the adult. Students write the name of each adult animal under the 8 drawings.
Curated OER
Connect the Species
Fourth graders, in pairs, explore energy transfer and species interrelationships by viewing slides on a microscope. hey explore phytoplankton (producers) and zooplankton (consumers)
Curated OER
Lakes
Students role-play members of an ecosystem. In this lake ecosystems lesson, students simulate various organisms within an ecosystem to discover the impact on the environment.
Curated OER
Life in the Ocean
In this ocean life activity, students review the animal and plant plankton and photosynthesis in the ocean. Students fill in the blank of 15 statements and then find these terms in a word search.
Curated OER
Make and Use a Plankton Net
Students make simple plankton nets and use them to collect and identify common forms of plankton. They identify and interpret plankton, as seen under a microscope, whether there was more zooplankton or phytoplankton. Finally, students...