Teachit
Life Cycle of a Penguin
Celebrate the circle of life with this fun hands-on activity. After cutting out, gluing together, and assembling this visual model, students are able to spin through and observe the life cycle of penguins.
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.
NOAA
Why Should I Care?: Show How Increased Carbon Dioxide Makes the Ocean More Acidic
How does a change in pH affect the ocean ecosystem? Scholars explore the idea by making an acid-base indicator in part seven of the 10-installment Discover Your Changing World series. First, they explore impacts of carbon dioxide in...
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Marine Biology Stationary
Encourage letter writing with marine biology-themed stationary. Three versions showcase a variety of underwater creatures.
Rainforest Alliance
How Do Jaguars and Howler Monkeys in Belize Depend on Us?
How does weather play a role in the lives of land and sea creatures? Find out with a instructional activity focused on habitats and the ways animals from different homes are connected. Here, learners explore how the life of a...
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...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Ocean Acidification
Human impacts on the environment can sometimes be difficult to measure, especially under water! An activity centered on ocean acidification gives science scholars the opportunity to examine the effects of carbon dioxide on marine life....
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Fish Morphology
Life comes in all different shapes and sizes, and fish are no exception. Here, young scientists create fish prints as they learn how specific characteristics allow different species to survive in their particular habitats.
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Can Small Pollutants Harm Aquatic Organisms?
Nanoparticles have toxic effects on plant and animal life—even though you can't see them. The second instructional activity of a two-part series has young scientists conduct an experiment that exposes plant and animals to nanoparticle...
Wilderness Classroom
Ocean Life
Our oceans are composed of many complex relationships. Young oceanographers explore relationships between organisms, understand the world ocean's currents, and discover the effects of water pollution and how it behaves. There are...
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Treatment of Oil Spills—Microscale Chemistry
When oil spills happen, how is the oil cleaned up? Pupils of polymer science discover an amazing substance that turns oil into a solid during a microscale experiment. Individuals observe oil or paraffin before and after addition of the...
Curated OER
Ecosystems
A critical look into the structure and function of ecosystems is here for young learners as a series of lessons and worksheet activities. Topics covered include land-based and marine ecosystems, connections to the water cycle, food...
Science Matters
Blubber Gloves: It’s All About Insulation
Instill the concept of adaptation with the help of Blubber Gloves—ziplock bags, shortening, and duct tape. Scholars discuss how animals and plants keep warm in polar regions, record their predictions, and try on their Blubber Gloves to...
Umaine Museum of Art
Bony Fish Anatomy Worksheet
Take time to appreciate the beauty in the anatomy of animals with this cross-curricular art and science activity. After viewing examples of fish-themed artwork, children complete the included worksheet by labeling the...
NOAA
Make an Edible Coral Reef
Coral reefs are full of an abundance of life and color. Why not celebrate it with an edible coral reef? Learners and teachers alike use cake, icing, and candies to create a tasty version of a coral reef that's complete with colors,...
Curated OER
Magazine Project
Groups of students create magazines that contain stories and images of one aspect of the ocean, and ocean life. The expectations for the final products are quite high, so this lesson will require some effort to properly implement. A...
NOAA
Motion from the Ocean
Create a fish mobile using cardboard and string to hang in the classroom while studying ocean life. Each printable requires pupils to cut out two of the same fish to create consistency on the front and back.
Rainforest Alliance
Protecting the Critical Habitat of the Manatee and Loggerhead Turtle
Explore ocean habitats with a lesson that showcases the home of manatees and loggerhead turtles in Belize. Here, pupils compare and contrast the homes of ocean animals to those of humans, listen to an original short story about...
SeaWorld
Design a Fish
Craft some neat refrigerator magnets while studying ocean animals with a lesson about the anatomy of a fish. After kids learn about the different parts and shapes of fish, they use modeling compound to design their own fish.
Rainforest Alliance
Who Takes Care of the Maya Forest Corridor?
Who keeps animals safe? Who keeps us safe? Discover the helpers that make learning and growing possible through a medley of activities that focus on habitats—ours and those in the rainforest. Scholars are asked to identify one...
National Geographic
Rescuing, Relocating, and Rehabilitating Wildlife
Bring up the Deepwater Horizon (BP) oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Display the colorful diagram of the coastal and marine organisms living in the area. Show a video about relocating the eggs of the Gulf's sea...
University of Waikato
Ocean Acidification and Eggshells
Eggshells and seashells have a lot in common. Learners use the similarities to conduct an experiment that models the effect of ocean acidification on marine animals. Using varying levels of acidic liquids, pupils make observations on the...
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...
University of Waikato
Estuary Metaphors
Mixing metaphors into science. To begin, the instructor leads a discussion about estuaries to determine what the class already knows. Working in small groups, pupils determine how a selected object is similar to an estuary, how it...