Swirling and churning, the waters of the North Atlantic play a vital role in Earth's climate! Discover the many factors that produce circulation using a multimedia lesson from PBS's Weather and Climate series for high schoolers. Scholars...

How much does the sun heat up a lake or ocean? Scholars use a cup and a strong lamp to investigate the heat transfer and thermal layers in the ocean to come up with the answer. They collect data and graph it in order to better understand...

Plumb the depths of the Submarine Ring of Fire and explore seismic waves with this lesson plan. Junior geologists simulate s-waves and p-waves, calculate their speeds, and then apply the data to discover the material that makes up inner...

Imagine an ecosystem without any light or oxygen, where living things convert carbon dioxide into food. This ecosystem is thriving and might just be the largest ecosystem on our planet, yet we know very little about it. The lesson...

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...

Now that you know the ocean has layers, let's name them. The seventh installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program covers terminology associated with ocean layers, such as thermocline and...

The San Andreas fault is one of the longest fault zones in the world. In a series of 20 lessons, the fourth lesson has pupils use a paper model to recreate various types of plate faults. Each is held in position then drawn...

Students examine the role of an oceanographer in trying to explore the ocean. Using wax paper, they divide it up to show the sunlight, twilight and midnight zones. To end the lesson, they identify the types of plants and animals that are...

How can organisms light up in water? Bioluminescence is light produced in a chemical reaction that can occur in an organism's body. First, learners determine what happens to light/color as you move into the deep ocean. In groups, they...

Students observe and discuss the advantages of camouflage, then try their hands at designing a well-camouflaged fish.

Is the ocean blue at all depths? Nope! Explore the science behind the light spectrum in deep, dark waters. The lesson recommends watching The Blue Planet: Open Ocean—The Deep, but it's not integral, or you can substitute another clip....

Students use pictures and make a mural to investigate how ocean animals are adapted to certain parts of their environment.

Oceans represent more than 80 percent of all habitats, yet we know less about them than most other habitats on the planet. The instructor introduces the epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathypelagic, twilight, and midnight zones in the ocean....

Learners construct a simulated model of the ocean floor in a shoe box. They determine that the floor of the ocean is composed of hills, plains, ridges, trenches, and sea mounts. They draw out a plan for their ocean floor which includes...

The fifth installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program defines dead zones and how they form. Pupils then examine data from the Gulf of Mexico to determine dead zone formation.

How is it possible for ocean water to have layers? The sixth installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program investigates factors that cause different water densities to occur. Experiments...

Learners describe major features of cold-seep communities and the process of chemosynthesis as it relates to organisms in each habitat.  In this deep-sea habitats lesson, students study the categorization of ocean habitats...

The Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area of low oxygen that kills marine life, costs the United States $82 million every year. Young scientists research anoxic ocean environments then come up with a hypothesis for the cause of the Gulf of...

Learners research the effects of living in a hurricane zone. In this hurricane zone instructional activity, students research the impact of natural disasters on humans and the environment, and write a press release describing the...

Seven pages of fascinating reading on marine debris preface the activities in this lesson plan. Four different activities are employed to simulate how the debris is distributed in the ocean and along beaches. Early ecology learners...

Students investigate marine life by researching aquatic organisms on the Internet. In this oceanography lesson plan, students monitor algae and animals of the ocean by identifying their population and habitat on data sheet ID cards....

Students build ocean floor structures, then map and model an unfamiliar ocean floor. They are introduced to bathymetry and sea floor features, and discover one of the most widely usd methods for studying the ocean.

Students explore hypoxic (low oxygen) conditions in the Gulf of Mexico.  For this ocean habitat lesson, students hypothesis, design and implement an experiment to explain the existence of the "Dead Zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.

Learners observe the advantages of camouflage. They design a well camouflaged fish of their own.