NOAA
Deep-Sea Ecosystems – Cool Corals
Young oceanographers research deep sea corals that thrive on chemosynthesis. The lesson focuses on the biology of the animal, preferred habitat, associations, and interactions.
NOAA
Deep-Sea Ecosystems – A Tale of Deep Corals
Many have debated which came first, the chicken or the egg, but this lesson debates which came first, the hydrocarbons or the carbonate reef. After a discussion on deep-sea corals, scholars receive a set of questions to research and...
Curated OER
Deep Gardens
Marine biology beginners read about the 2005 Florida Coast Deep Corals expedition, research phylum Cnidaria, and then report on a specific coral deep-sea coral group. There is an abundance of background information and internet resources...
Curated OER
Treasures in Jeopardy
In small groups, middle schoolers research deep-sea coral reefs and design a poster to educate the public about their importance. They compare them to shallow-water reefs and consider the impact of bottom-trawl fishing. Many internet...
Curated OER
Corrosion to Corals
Students study galvanic exchange and how it produces electric currents. In this ocean lesson students predict what metals deteriorate in salt water.
Curated OER
Design a Reef!
Here is an ambitious, but highly valuable undertaking: set up a miniature coral reef in your classroom. Young marine scientists research coral reef ecosystems and ensure all vital factors are included in their functioning model. The...
NOAA
History's Thermometers
How is sea coral like a thermometer? Part three of a six-part series from NOAA describes how oceanographers can use coral growth to estimate water temperature over time. Life science pupils manipulate data to determine the age of corals...
Curated OER
Deep Gardens
Students investigate the differences and similarities between shallow-water and deep-sea coral reefs. In this coral reef instructional activity, students research and compare the characteristics of reefs. Students describe various...
Curated OER
Treasures in Jeopardy
Learners study how coral reefs can be protected from humans and their activities. In this conservation instructional activity students explain the benefits of coral reefs and what humans can do to help protect them.
Curated OER
What's So Special?
Young scholars study the biology and morphology of Lophelia corals. In this investigative lesson students explain how the coral contributes to communities, and create a poster.
Curated OER
Marine Archaeology
Students examine marine archaeology. In this archaeological data lesson plan, students see how archaeologists use data to make inferences about shipwrecks. Students read data and make their own inferences, write about marine life and...
Curated OER
Call to Arms
Learners explore how scientists build robotic arms that move similar to humans. In this robot lesson, students examine how scientists make robots. Learners design and construct a mechanical arm that moves like a human arm. Students...
Curated OER
Hot Food
Students compare and contrast photosynthesis and chemosynthesis as processes that provide energy to biological communities. They investigate the energy content of hydrocarbons used in coral communities.
Curated OER
Treasures in Jeopardy
Students compare and contrast deep sea coral reefs to shallow water reefs. In this coral reef lesson students develop a poster that could be used to educate the public about the importance of coral reefs.
NOAA
Biological Oceanographic Investigations – Call to Arms
How many simple machines does it take to make a robotic arm? An inquiry-based lesson explores that topic and challenges pupils to build a robotic arm that can stretch, turn, and more. A few questions help guide them in the right...
Curated OER
Let's go to the Video Tape!
Using actual data from a deep-sea video survey, high school marine biologists consider the biodiversity, compare species richness between two communities, and learn to calculate the diversity index. The lesson plan is all-inclusive,...
NOAA
Exploring Potential Human Impacts
Arctic sea ice reflects 80 percent of sunlight, striking it back into space; with sea ice melting, the world's oceans become warmer, which furthers global warming. These activities explore how humans are impacting ecosystems around the...
Curated OER
What's the Connection?
Students explain hardground communities in the Gulf of Mexico. In this deep-sea ecosystem lesson, students investigate the connection between deep-sea ecosystems and petroleum deposits. They discuss the relationship between hydrocarbon...
NOAA
Importance of Deep-Sea Ecosystems – Chemists with No Backbones
Marine invertebrates offer us many new options for developing pharmaceutical drugs, such as w-conotoxin MVIIA, which is extracted from the cone snail and is a potent painkiller. The lesson encourages scholars to research various types of...
NOAA
Importance of Deep-Sea Ecosystems – The Benthic Drugstore
You never know what you will find next in the deep sea ecosystem. So far, scientists have found items that work as anti-tumor agents, anti-inflammatory agents, agents that stop uncontrolled cell division, and much more. The lesson begins...
NOAA
Currents
A deep ocean current circles the globe at a force that is greater than 16 times all the world's rivers combined. Groups analyze the effects of submarine topography on deep ocean current speed. They then determine how this speed affects...
Curated OER
Sound Pictures
Young scholars examine the components of a sonar system. In this physical science lesson plan students explain how multibeam and sidescan sonar systems are useful to ocean explorers. Young scholars simulate sonar operations in an...
NOAA
Come on Down!
What do we do when a dive is too dangerous for humans to accomplish? Send in the robots! Middle school scientists get acquainted with several different models of submersible robots in the second lesson of six from NOAA. Lab groups then...
NOAA
Individual Species in the Deep Sea
A tube worm's outer covering is made of chitin, the same material that makes up the shells of lobsters and crabs. Scholars create tube worms and analyze and discuss the longevity of organisms living near cold seeps. They then discuss and...