Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Fun with Speedboats!
After reading about marine engineers and naval architects, it's all hands on deck to design and test a speed boat. This instructional activity is designed for the Next Generation Science Standards in engineering and can be a centerpiece...
University of Southern California
What Lives In The Ocean?
One of the most diverse environments on Earth is the ocean. Young scientists explore the living things found in the ocean during an exciting seven-lesson unit. Their study includes organisms from plankton to invertebrates and vertebrates...
Curated OER
The History of Life on Earth
Using meters as years, your class works together to map out the geologic time scale on a football field. Plenty of background information is included in this lesson plan as well as several resource links and a student worksheet. Your...
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 the...
Aquarium of the Pacific
Kelp Forest Habitat
What forest is in the ocean? The class watches a video that introduces the kelp forest and the parts of kelp. Learners dive into the ocean and see what different species live near the canopy, the midwater, and the bottom of the kelp...
Curated OER
Tides - The Ins and Outs of Tides
Get your junior oceanographers to generate tidal prediction graphs on an interactive website. They will feel like experts in the field, or shall we say, experts in the ocean! This is a brief, but worthwhile activity that could be used to...
SeaWorld
Design a Fish
Craft some neat refrigerator magnets while studying ocean animals with a lesson about the anatomy of a fish. After kids learn about the different parts and shapes of fish, they use modeling compound to design their own fish.
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...
Curated OER
Invisible Life
By setting up an aquarium in the classroom, learners are able to describe some macroscopic and microscopic organisms that are found inside. This well-designed, and educationally rich lesson requires pupils to use microscopes to view...
Rainforest Alliance
Who Takes Care of the Maya Forest Corridor?
Who keeps animals safe? Who keeps us safe? Discover the helpers that make learning and growing possible through a medley of activities that focus on habitats—ours and those in the rainforest. Scholars are asked to identify one helper who...
Polar Trec
Arctic Smorgasbord!
Two blooms of phytoplankton, instead of just one, now occur in the Arctic due to declining sea ice, which will have widespread effects on the marine life and climate. In small groups, participants build an Arctic food web with given...
Curated OER
Ozone Hole - Changes in the Stratosphere
Halting the depletion of the hole in the ozone layer has been one of humanity's happy recoveries from previous damage done to the environment. Meteorology masters muse the Montreal Protocol and examine data on changes in the ozone....
Curated OER
Exploring National Marine Sanctuaries
Learners research marine ecosystems by creating class presentations. In this oceanography lesson, students research the different locations of marine sanctuaries by identifying them on a transparency map in class. Learners create...
Curated OER
Marine Environmental Geology
Students take this course as an introduction to the aspects of marine geology and oceanography that affect the environment and marine resources. Topics include estuarine oceanography and sediments, eutrophication of coastal waters,...
Curated OER
How would an oil spill affect a Marine Sanctuary?
Students explore the concept of environmental stewardship. For this science lesson, students discover how scientists assess damages to the environment following oil spills. Students conduct a simulation of a public meeting in order to...
Curated OER
Invertebrate Vocabulary-- Marine Invertebrate Match
In this science worksheet, students study 12 vocabulary words which pertain to marine invertebrates. Students read the definitions which include pronunciation, part of speech and meaning of the name. Students then look at 16 organisms...
World Wildlife Federation
Food Chains and Food Webs
As part of a study of food chains and food webs, class members complete a series of worksheets that trace a marine chain from producers to consumers or decomposers. After studying a food chain example, young marine biologists make up...
Curated OER
Marine & Aquatic Habitats Activities - Terrestrial Forests vs. Kelp Forests
Students discuss concept and specificity of habitats, both marine and terrestrial, list similarities and differences in the habitats of a kelp forest and a terrestrial forest, compare types of organisms that occupy corresponding types of...
Curated OER
Importance of Marine Protected Areas: an Overfishing Simulation
Students simulate overfishing by conducting a guided experiment in the classroom. In this ecology lesson plan, students discuss the environmental consequences of overfishing. They research additional information about the issue and share...
Curated OER
Effects of Water Pollution on Aquatic Organisms
Learners investigate water pollution. They develop an understanding of the behavior of organisms, of the structure and properties of matter, and of natural and human induced hazards by conducting lab tests. They present their data...
Curated OER
Marine & Aquatic Habitats Activities - Creatures in the Coral
Young scholars describe unique adaptations of organisms that live in the coral reef habitat, read various books pertaining to coral reefs and ocean life, and construct a wheel demonstrating the relationships between certain coral reef...
Curated OER
Classifying Commercial Marine Species
Students investigate taxonomy. They explore some of the commercial marine species caught in Magdalena Bay and develop a classification system for presented animals.
Curated OER
Marine & Aquatic Habitats Activities - Tidal Pools
Students analyze the survival needs of different organisms and the conditions in a particular area that can affect these survival rates.
Curated OER
A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Young scholars write from an animal's perspective. In this writing lesson students explore the landscape of San Francisco prior to the arrival of the explorers. Young scholars research animals indigenous to the area.