NOAA
Journey to the Unknown
What's it like to be a deep-sea explorer? Tap into the imaginations of your fifth and sixth graders with a vivid activity, the second part of a six-part adventure. Learners close their eyes and submerge themselves in an expedition aboard...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Oceans
Flotsam by David Wiesner and The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Bruce Degen, begin a reading adventure pack focusing on oceans. With story listening and thoughtful discussion, scholars complete several...
NOAA
Marine Ecosystems
Be at the top of the food chain when it comes to understanding marine ecosystems. The 21st installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program investigates marine ecosystems, ocean zones, and food...
Curated OER
Animals of the Lost City
Begin with a demonstration of exothermic reactions and discussion of chemosynthesis. Your aspiring oceanographers research vent communities and then craft a mural of a vent community. This is a terrific method of introducing learners to...
Rainforest Alliance
Protecting the Critical Habitat of the Manatee and Loggerhead Turtle
Explore ocean habitats with a lesson plan 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 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
Ocean Zones
Students create a mural showing ocean zones and the diversity of ocean life. They use reference books to create a list of plants and animals that would live in each zone.
Curated OER
A Rainbow Under the Sea: How do Animals Survive in the Ocean?
Second graders read books, watch videos, complete worksheets and participate in class discussions about ocean animals. They, in groups, design PowerPoint presentations on selected marine animals.
Curated OER
Ocean Scenes and Coral Reefs
Students explore plants and animals that live at various ocean levels, including beaches and coral reefs. They demonstrate their comprehension of ocean layers and life with chalk drawings. Students draw details of plant and animal life,...
Curated OER
Oceans in Motion
This simple activity 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...
Curated OER
A Lesson in Biodiversity: Making Comparisons Between Defensive Mechanisms Utilized by Marine Organisms
If your upper elementary or middle school marine biology learners are going to visit an aquarium, then here is a field trip activity guide for you. It is written specifically for The Maritime Aquarium, but the idea can be adapted to any...
Curated OER
Who Would Win? Killer Whale vs. Great White Shark Storia Teaching Guide
Teacher guides are wonderful tools with tons of ideas that help you relate content in many different ways. Using the high-interest book, Who Would Win? Killer Whale vs. Great White Shark, learners hone their discussion and reading...
NOAA
The Methane Circus
Step right up! An engaging research-centered lesson, the third in a series of six, has young archaeologists study the amazing animals of the Cambrian explosion. Working in groups, they profile a breathtaking and odd creature and learn...
Curated OER
Goldfish Addition and Subtraction
Engage in a hands-on addition and subtraction activity that is a wonderful tie-in with ocean studies. As the teacher, you will make up equations using construction paper and goldfish crackers.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Build Your Wild Self
Get wild with an interactive web site that challenges scholars to create their wildest self. Future wild things begin as an average person—eyes, mouth, clothes—then morph into animal attributes—horns, tails, wings—and end in the desert,...
California Academy of Science
Coincidental Colonization
The Galápagos Islands are an amazing place of isolated adaptation, colonized by an interesting mix of plants and animals. The class plays a game to help them understand how these organisms came to live on the island through a combination...
It's About Time
The Changing Geography of Your Community
Lead your class in exploring their local communities as well as the general environment. As they determine continental distributions by investigating minerals, rocks, and fossils located in their local region, pupils construct a...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Review and Assessment: Causes and Effects of Climate Changes
The last activity in the series of five is a short one where individuals show what they've learned about the causes and effects of climate change. Working independently, they fill in a graphic organizer, then compare their notes with a...
Curated OER
What's in the Water?
Students examine how pollutants can affect ocean animals. In this pollution lesson, students read a story about the ocean floor, think about what would happen to the plants and animals if the ocean became dirty or polluted, and conduct...
Curated OER
You Are What You Eat: Plastics and Marine Life
Students study the different types of plastics and see which ones sink or remain buoyant. In this ocean environmental lesson students complete several handouts, and view a film on PBS.
Curated OER
Ocean Pollution
Students study their role in eliminating ocean pollution and helping keep the oceans clean. In this environmental issues lesson, students define pollution and brainstorm examples of ocean pollution. Students define biodegradable and...
Curated OER
Where Do They Live?
In this animal habitat worksheet, young scholars color a picture of 3 habitats. They then cut and color 12 animal pictures. Students paste the animals in the spaces, according to where they live.
Curated OER
Frozen Seas
Middle schoolers research animal life in the frozen seas. In this researched based lesson, students use the Internet to create a poster about an animal that lives in an Arctic or Antarctic environment. Middle schoolers will focus on the...
Curated OER
Ocean Life Zones
In this ocean zones worksheet, students determine the factors that influence life in the different zones. Students list and explain the major ocean life zones. This worksheet has 6 short answer questions.