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...
Space Awareness
Ocean Acidification
Learn the science behind ocean acidification and its effects on ocean wildlife. Young scientists conduct a laboratory investigation that monitors the acidity level of water. While burning a candle, learners capture the carbon dioxide in...
Curated OER
Observing a Stream Ecosystem
Students use their five senses to explore a river ecosystem. They experience how their senses provide them with additional information about the environment through the use of teacher made stream boxes.
Curated OER
Marine Ecosystems
Students identify producers and consumers and construct a food chain from four marine ecosystems. They describe the delicate balance among organisms in each environment. In groups, students discuss the human activities that upset the...
NOAA
Technology II
Ping, ping, ping. The last installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program explores technology use in marine studies, such as sonar. Activity involves simulating sonar techniques to identify a...
NOAA
Marine Policy
Save the oceans! The 22nd installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on laws and marine policy. Pupils take part in an activity investigating fisheries stock data.
Science Matters
That’s An Otter Story
Young scientists discover how sea otters' habitats have changed due to human impact. Through conversation, video observation, and story reading, scholars identify how human interactions change a specific ecosystem in both positive and...
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Life in an Ocean World
How does the shell color of crabs and the habitat they live in impact the predator-prey relationship? The fourth activity in a series of five is a game where participants try not to get eaten if they are a prey and try to eat if they are...
Curated OER
Ecosystem Interactions Web
Students pick an ecosystem (forest, desert, coral reef, open ocean, grassland, mountain, savanna, etc.) and design an interaction web for their chosen ecosystem. Each group shares their ecosystem's web of life with the class.
Curated OER
Ecosystem Organization
Young scholars examine the structure of ecosystems. In this ecology lesson, students listen to a lecture on relationships among organisms and biomes. Young scholars use the information to create ecosystem organization pyramids.
Curated OER
Oceanic Habitat Zones
Students explore ocean habitats. In this oceanic environment activity, students research various habitats in the ocean. Then, in a jigsaw format, students teach others in the class about the habitat they researched.
Curated OER
Friend, Foe, or . . .
As a result of this lesson, upper elementary ocean explorers will be able to describe several interrelationships: symbiosis, mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. They learn that the biological richness is increased near seamounts and...
Curated OER
Graphing Iron Data
Learners apply a data set to create a graph show how iron ore impacts an ecosystem. They explain how the iron effects the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton in coastal ecosystems using spreadsheet software.
Curated OER
Survival in the Open Ocean
Students examine how scientists conduct pelagic research and identify pelagic predators as they study the open-ocean ecosystem. They discuss and conduct small group research of this environment in order to produce a presentation.
NOAA
Stressed Out!
Are our oceans really suffering due to the choices humans make? The sixth and final installment in the volume of activities challenges research groups to tackle one of six major topics that impact ocean health. After getting to the...
Curated OER
Deep Blue Sea
Elementary schoolers identify the ocean floor in a geological sense. They create a presentation that highlights the key features of the ocean floor. This terrific lesson plan has excellent streaming video segments embedded in it, and the...
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...
Polar Trec
Down to the Deep Virtual Lab
At a depth of 3,000 m in the ocean, the pressure is 300 times that at sea level! In the activity, individuals predict what will happen to Styrofoam cups submerged 3,000 meters into the ocean. They then convert these units to soccer...
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Plankton to Penguins: Antarctic Food Web
A well-written lesson plan, second in a series of four, gets high schoolers exploring how the Antarctic food web is impacted by climate change and the associated melting of polar ice sheets. It begins with a PowerPoint presentation about...
Curated OER
Imagine a Kelp Forest
Students write a story based on their research of the kelp forest. In this ecosystem lesson, students view a video and research the kelp forest ecosystem. They write a short story imagining the discovery of a new species in the kelp forest.
Curated OER
Myth-try Cards Activity
Students read creation myths to learn various cultural explanations for natural phenomena. They select sharks and write myths to explain physical structures, behaviors or roles in ecosystems. They research the animals to provide...
Curated OER
Visual Vocabulary
Students interpret and name the vocabulary termed acted out by the mime. For this science/language arts/physical education lesson, students are given a set of vocabulary terms to discuss within their group. Next, students place all...
Curated OER
It Looks Like Champagne
Students determine some practical implications of the discovery of liquid carbon dioxide in deep-ocean ecosystems. They interpret phase diagrams and explain the meaning of "critical point" and "triple point."
Polar Trec
Bering Sea Fabulous Food Chain Game
In spring, the Bering Sea turns green due to phytoplankton, which live at the surface, experiencing a population explosion. Groups of scholars play a food chain game, writing down food chains as the game is played. After five to six...