Curated OER
Marine Sanctuaries
Students 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.
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.
American Museum of Natural History
What is Marine Biology?
A marine environment covers the majority of the earth but is arguably the least understood. Teach young scientists about the characteristics of oceans and ocean species using an interactive online lesson. The in-person or remote learning...
Curated OER
Life in the Crystal Palace
Marine biologists research sea ice communities. Assign some groups to construct paper models of sea ice communities in winter, and some to construct models of them in summer. The lesson is simplistic, but the Internet resources provided...
Curated OER
What's in That Cake?
Cooperative groups research trip logs from deep-sea expeditions and explore characteristics of deepwater habitats. Using a cake as the ocean floor, they work together to decorate it as a model of such habitats. They also prepare a...
Curated OER
Marine Habitats of Galveston Island
Four lessons introduce elementary ecologists to salt marsh and sandy beach habitats. In the first lesson, they place shells and other materials in vinegar to determine if they contain calcium carbonate. In the second lesson, they read a...
Curated OER
Exploring National Marine Sanctuaries
Students research marine ecosystems by creating class presentations. In this oceanography lesson, students research the different locations of marine sanctuaries by identifying them on a transparency map in class. Students...
Curated OER
Oceans in Motion
This simple lesson introduces children to basic marine life as well as to show them the necessity of protecting aquatic environments. Some famous marine life animals are introduced via vocabulary words, then children cut out pictures of...
NOAA
Build Your Own Ocean Ecosystem
Hold the sea in the palm of your hand! Amateur oceanographers work together to create models of an ocean ecosystem in the sixth and final installment in a series. Raise awareness of global ocean health issues through guided research,...
Curated OER
Aquatic Ecosystems
Students study the diversity of marine life and their habitats. In this aquatic ecosystems lesson students complete a lab activity and experiment.
Scholastic
Study Jams! Aquatic Ecosystems
Mia's friends are fish-sitting while she is away on vacation. Zoe divulges to Sam that different animals need different habitats, and that there are both freshwater and saltwater ecosystems. Examples of the kinds of organisms found in...
Curated OER
Exploring Marine Ecosystems in the Caribbean and Maine
Students compare the marine habitats of Maine and the Caribbean using temperature, tides, ocean currents, latitude and longitude. In this marine ecosystems lesson, students analyze maps to complete graphic organizers that evaluate the...
NOAA
Deep-Sea Ecosystems – Life is Weird!
A pool of brine in the deep sea can be up to four times as salty as the surrounding sea water. The deep sea ecosystem relies on chemosynthesis and the organisms that live there are often strange to us. The lesson focuses on researching...
Curated OER
Marine & Aquatic Habitats Activities - Terrestrial Forests vs. Kelp Forests
Students discuss concept and specificity of habitats, both marine and terrestrial, list similarities and differences in the habitats of a kelp forest and a terrestrial forest, compare types of organisms that occupy corresponding types of...
American Museum of Natural History
Ocean Creature Feature
From coloring to hard protective shells, ocean creatures have adaptation features that help them survive. An eight-question online quiz highlights different ocean animals and their unique characteristics. The resource then offers pop-up...
Curated OER
Marine & Aquatic Habitats Activities - Marine Ecology
Students enact the life cycle of a sessile animal and quantify the possibility of survival under the conditions given. They then present to the class a new adaptation which will increase the animals chance of survival.
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.
Curated OER
Exploring the Beach
Students explore the beach. In this marine habitat lesson, students inspect sand grains, design beach profiles, classify marine life, and examine natural beach habitats. Students use spreadsheets to record data from their activities at a...
Curated OER
Aquatic Organisms and Their Habitats
Students investigate the presence of specific organisms in a freshwater habitat to determine the quality of that habitat. They conduct a field study and distinguish and classify organisms found during the field study.
Curated OER
Sea Connections
Young scholars, after locating different marine habitats on a globe, play a card game about ecosystems, food webs and organisms.
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...
Curated OER
environment: Fresh and Saltwater Habitats
Students compare and contrast fresh and salt water coastal environments. After describing how sea animals adapt to their habitats, they design a variety of sea creatures and explain how the adaptations aid in the animals' survival. ...
Curated OER
Fish Fashion 101
Young scholars explore fish anatomy. For this fish anatomy and adaptation lesson, students define and identify the location of fish body parts. Young scholars add these parts of a fish's anatomy to a life-sized fish costume worn by a...
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...