Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Layering and Circulation

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students examine relationships and interactions between different types of water. They experiment with colored water of different temperature and salinity and discuss how the results relate to real ocean currents.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Magic School Bus: The Wild Whale Watch Lesson Plan

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students research information about whales. In this early childhood lesson plan, students create an illustration of a whale to display in a sea scene in the classroom. Students then use the library and internet to research a whale of...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Exploring The Oceans

For Students 6th - 8th
For this science worksheet, learners look for the information in order to answer the basic facts concerning common marine life using puzzles.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Design a Reef!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore coral reef ecosystems.  In this ecosystems science lesson, students research coral reef ecosystems to determine the major functions the participating organisms must perform.  Students construct a miniature...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Mollusks

For Students 6th - 9th
In this mollusks worksheet, students color several figures and label them with the correct parts. They complete 14 short answer questions related to mollusks.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Will, Water Way

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Young scholars test tap water for hardness and mineral content. In this environmental science instructional activity, students identify the different stages of the water cycle. They classify plant and animals according to the rules of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Salmon Homing Instincts

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students identify the stages of the salmon life cycle. In this fish lesson, students experience first hand what it would be like to be a returning salmon attempting to identify a home stream by smell.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Take Only Photos and Leave Only Bubbles: Learn About American History from a Sunken Spanish Galleon

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students simulate the research process of investigating a shipwreck. In small groups, they conduct Internet research, and develop and write a proposal for excavation of the archaeological site.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Getting Food

For Teachers K - 4th
Learners 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. Learners then group the animals...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fish Fashion 101

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students explore fish anatomy. In this fish anatomy and adaptation lesson plan, students define and identify the location of fish body parts. Students add these parts of a fish's anatomy to a life-sized fish costume worn by a...
Worksheet
Curated OER

How Big is Big?

For Students 2nd - 4th
The blue whale is the focus of this life science worksheet. Learners read an excellent selection on the blue whale, and answer ten comprehension questions. Then, students are divided into two groups. Each group has to estimate how big 85...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ocean Exploration

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students explore whales. In this animal adaptation and whale activity, students access prior knowledge about whales from previous lessons, then use background knowledge to predict the eating strategies of a baleen whale and a toothed...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Out of Old England in the 1630s-Flat Me Project

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Learners write letters to penpals. In this geography/literacy lesson, students become penpals with a classroom in England to learn about customs and society across the ocean. Flat Stanley by Will Holton is read aloud, and learners...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life of an Island: From Mountain to Atoll

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students research the evolution of a volcanic island from origin to erosion. They determine the relative ages of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands given their position in the archipelago.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Helping Right Whales - Right Now

For Teachers 4th - 5th
In this whales worksheet, young scholars answer eight questions referring to the right whales found in the Atlantic Ocean. Students read a map to answer three questions and five questions are multiple choice.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trash Traits: Marine Debris, Litter, Ecology, Oceans

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students perform experiments to examine whether trash can float, blow around, or wash away. The effects of these characteristics on the presence of marine debris in the environment are then discussed.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Ocean Animals Picture Matching Worksheet

For Students Pre-K - K
In this picture matching instructional activity, students draw lines to match 6 color pictures of common ocean animals to their identical copies in another column.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Marine Communities

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Learners view a video and then complete lab exercises to help them explain marine communities and animals in them.
Unit Plan
University of Southern California

Human Impact on the Sea

For Students 4th - 8th
How far does the human hand reach?  Five interactive lessons lead classes through a unit exploring the human impact on ocean resources, pollution, and even extinction. Learners discover how their decisions affect the ocean...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

Calling All Explorers

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Let's get moving! The second installment of a 2-part series of six adventures helps learners take part in individual explorations by sea and by land. After navigating the waters in an informative WebQuest, groups create and hide their...
Website
American Museum of Natural History

What's the Big Deal About Water?

For Students 6th - 12th
It may seem simple, but water is one of the most unique substances on Earth. An interactive online lesson describes its properties and importance in so many different situations. Learners interact with the lesson to learn the role water...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

Wet Maps

For Teachers 5th - 6th
How do oceanographers make maps under water? Junior explorers discover the technologies and processes involved in creating bathymetric maps in part three of a five-part series designed for fifth- and sixth-grade pupils. The...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

What's the Difference?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Due to the isolation of seamounts, their biodiversity offers a great deal of information on the development of biological and physical processes. Pupils use simple cluster analysis to rate the similarity and differences in biological...
Activity
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Teach Engineering

Are We Alone?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Find an answer to the age-old debate of whether life exists on Mars. Groups determine criteria to help look for signs of life on Mars. The activity has the class simulate testing Martian soil samples for signs of life before drawing...