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....
Curated OER
Ocean Commotion Activity - Dioramas
Groups make a model of an Ocean Commotion exhibit based on what they saw during the fieldtrip. These dioramas can be used as an informal assessment of student knowledge acquired at Ocean Commotion.
Curated OER
Whales and Fish: Creatures of the Deep
Practice comparing and contrasting details in informational text with a reading passage about whales. It explains the ways that fish and whales are similar, as well as the ways they are different, and specific characteristics of various...
NOAA
What Little Herc Saw
See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...
Curated OER
Ocean Animals Word Scramble
In this worksheet on ocean animals students will examine eight pictures and scrambled names of different ocean animals, then write the unscrambled name on a blank line.
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
Ocean Friends Nametags
Students complete a number of activities to complete a study of ocean animals. They identify the animals, make nametags using appropriate colors, the animal habitats, and make a book by putting the pages in numerical order.
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...
NOAA
Invertebrates
Crabs and lobsters ... yum! The 18th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on invertebrate marine life. After the lecture slideshow, learners conduct an activity to sample...
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...
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...
Curated OER
Ocean Life
Students explore the topics of ocean water salinity, ocean life zones, marine life classification, and ocean food chains. They observe demonstrations, conduct experiments, complete quizzes and handouts, and analyze key vocabulary.
Curated OER
The Census of Marine Life
Learners explain diversity and abundance in marine life. In this oceanic biology lesson, students collect information for various geographical areas to collect a census of marine life.
Curated OER
Marine Protected Areas
Students role play different stakeholders perspective on the debate about Channel Islands. In this marine science lesson, students identify different types of Marine Protected Areas. They research about their stakeholder's point of view...
Curated OER
Ocean Life
Third graders create an ocean fish environment. In this ocean life lesson, 3rd graders create an ocean environment from clay. Students paint their sculptures with realistic colors emphasizing contrast, texture, and patterns.
Curated OER
Types of Marine Debris
Students conduct an experiment. In this marine debris and environment protection lesson, students categorize trash into piles, predict whether these trash items will sink, float or be picked up and carried by the wind and then test...
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Ocean Acidification: Whats and Hows
Open this lesson by demonstrating the production of acidic carbon dioxide gas by activated yeast. Emerging ecologists then experiment with seashells to discover the effect of ocean acidification on shelled marine organisms. They measure...
Curated OER
The Ocean
Plant and animal life of the ocean is the focus of this science lesson. Young scientists sort a variety of seashells and explore why many sea animals have shells. They examine the shells, write journal entries highlighting the...
PreKinders
Ocean Word Cards
Dive into ocean vocabulary with a set of 29 picture word cards. Each card presents a picture of an animal or item from the ocean in vivid color, as well as its name.
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...
NOAA
Why is Hawaii's Ocean Important?
Studying the oceans? Focus on Hawaii's ocean with a resource packed with activity-based worksheets. Everything from products that come from the ocean to the abundance of plants and animals that call the ocean their home, Hawaii's ocean...
Curated OER
Marine Energy
In small groups, energy engineers research and make a topographic map of a marine natural resource. They report to the rest of the class pros and cons of extracting their assigned resource. The two activities may take up to four class...
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...
NOAA
Ocean Primary Production
A cold seep is an area on the ocean floor where hydrocarbons leak from the earth, creating entire unique biomes. Learners explore cold seeps, photosynthesis in the ocean, and its limitations due to loss of sunlight. They further explore...