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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Natural Disaster

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Describe how plate tectonics account for various land formations. Learners discuss different marine sanctuaries and create a poster about tectonic activity in these areas. They share their posters with the class.
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Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Coral Reef Habitat Match

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
Different animals live in different habitats, and each animal has specifically adaptive traits that make them tailor-made for their environments. This is true on land and in the ocean. Little ones examine how various marine animals have...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wildlife

For Teachers 5th - 7th
First, biology pupils research land and marine habitats along the route of skipper Rich Wilson's Great American II. Then, using colored paper clips scattered across a colored paper background, they play the predator-prey game to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Planet: Ocean Acidification - the Chemistry is Less than Basic!

For Teachers 7th - 10th
A video and laboratory investigation are highlights to this lesson on acidification of ocean water due to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. Using bromothymol blue (BTB) as an indicator, pupils analyze the amount of carbon dioxide...
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Lesson Plan
NOAA

Importance of Deep-Sea Ecosystems – Chemists with No Backbones

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
Marine invertebrates offer us many new options for developing pharmaceutical drugs, such as w-conotoxin MVIIA, which is extracted from the cone snail and is a potent painkiller. The instructional activity encourages scholars to research...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Saving Sturgeon

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Marine biology apprentices interpret data of sturgeon interaction with gill nets. They use the data to calculate the percentage of fish entangled in each twine size to discover if there is any correlation. This is a valuable exercise in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fish and zooplankton habitat through remote sensing

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars are exposed to the variety of ways in which scientist use remote sensing and it used in everyday life. They investigate about zooplankton and fish. Students list the two important groups of organisms in both aquatic and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bioluminescence 2009: Living Light on the Deep Sea Floor Expedition - Now You See Me, Now You Don't

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students examine bioluminescence and camouflage of deep sea creatures. For this deep sea creatures lesson, students investigate the visible and near-visible light spectrum. They work in small groups to complete a light, color, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chilean Sea Bass

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Introduce your mini-marine biologists to using databases. Tables of how many Chilean Sea Bass were caught and number of hours spent fishing are examined. Using the data, individuals calculate the "Catch per Unit of Effort" for each year....
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Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

Banishing Bycatch

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Bycatch is a sad reality for many sea turtles, dolphins, and sharks; it occurs when they get unintentionally caught in commercial fishing nets. The class plays a game using popcorn and crackers, each child will attempt to catch the...
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Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

Biomes of the World

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Incorporate knowledge about biomes and ecosystems in multiple ways while encouraging creativity. Emerging ecologists collaborate and perform research to complete a graphic organizer about various biomes of the world. They conclude the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Blue Crabs - The Blue Crab's Chesapeake Journey

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A plethora of information about the blue crabs of Chesapeake Bay will amaze and delight your marine biologists. They learn, through direct instruction, about the characteristics and life cycle of this fascinating arthropod. A highlight...
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PPT
Biology Junction

Cnidarians and Ctenophorans

For Students 9th - 12th
Cnidaria is a broad phylum of 11,000 different species from jellyfish to coral. Most Cnidarians are marine species with a few freshwater examples. A lesson presentation explains the important characteristics of different species of both...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sand Explorations

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students experiment with different samples of sand from Maui leeward and windward beaches. They create a sand map to suggest at least one contributing factor for the formation of each beach sample. They test the samples to determine...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fish Eyes - More than Meets the Eye

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Inform your class about the adaptations in fish eyes: cones, lens size, endothermy, and speed of vision. The adaptations are related to diving behavior. Junior marine scientists compare the adaptations of four different fish species to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sponge-Painted Ocean Mural

For Teachers K - 2nd
I love big mural projects. They bring a sense of ownership to the classroom, look great for parents, and can be a great way to complete a unit. Here are the steps and suggestions needed to create an ocean mural for your class. Learners...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Design a Reef!

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Using a miniature coral reef aquarium kit, young ecologists model this unique ecosystem. They research various coral reef organisms and their niches, and they culminate the project by working together to write a report. Use this activity...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's for Dinner?

For Teachers 7th - 10th
View a video presentation comparing chemosynthesis to photosynthesis. Review the findings of the 2004 Ring of Fire Expedition that studied biological communities around the hydrothermal vents of the Mariana Arc. In collaborative groups,...
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Lesson Plan
ARKive

Dinner at the Reef

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Fine dining can happen anywhere, even in the coral reefs. Budding environmentalists explore marine food chains, predator-prey relationships and the importance of a balanced ecosystem. These important concepts are facilitated through a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Planet: Fading Corals

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Show the six-minute video, "Changing Planet: Fading Corals," and then demonstrate how calcium carbonate forms a precipitate in the presence of carbon dioxide. Separate your scientists into small groups to gather information about coral...
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Lesson Plan
Ocean Explorer

Architects of the Coral Reef

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Coral Reefs are the focus of a life science lesson plan. Upper graders look at how coral reefs are formed, how the animals and plants reproduce, and the variety of ways that humans benefit from coral reefs around the world. Groups of...
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Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

The Cycles of Nature

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Encourage peer collaboration and assist with the creation of visual aids to identify carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles as your class learns more about nature. They discuss relative information, create a visual aid depicting the chosen...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Big Fleas Have Little Fleas

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A benthic habitat hosts a vast collection of organisms and its structure influences the biodiversity. Middle-school marine biology explorers will discuss how corals impact structure, and therefore diversity, on the ocean floor. They draw...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's go to the Video Tape!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Using actual data from a deep-sea video survey, high school marine biologists consider the biodiversity, compare species richness between two communities, and learn to calculate the diversity index. The lesson plan is all-inclusive,...