Curated OER
The Sound of Calm
Students examine the relationships that exist between ocean currents, wind and climate. Using those relationships, they discuss how they affect the oceans. They create their own music to represent the sounds of the ocean and share them...
Curated OER
Dino Detectives
As students examine maps of Utah, 4th graders search for clues about what prehistoric life was like in Utah.
Curated OER
Exploring Fish Anatomy and Commercial Fishing Gear
Students investigate commercial fishing by exploring the technical methods. In this environmental lesson, students identify the fish that are most commonly consumed by humans and trace their path from ocean to plate. Students...
Curated OER
Iona Wastewater Treatment Plant Field Trip
Students go on a field trip to the Iona Wastewater Treatment Plant and learn about sewage, waste, and pollution. For this treatment plant lesson plan, students also complete collection samples of quadrats.
Curated OER
Just Jelly
Students identify common gelatinous zooplankton in the Canada Basin and their ecological role. They compare and contrast feeding strategies of at least three different types of gelatinous zooplankton.
Curated OER
Skates
Students gain understanding of structure, characteristics, and basic needs of living things and their role in world, identify parts of skate, observe details of skate's body and skate egg case, and identify unique characteristics of skates.
Curated OER
AUSTRALIA
Students examine the different types of barrier reefs and how they are formed. In this barrier reef lesson students complete several activities on coral reefs.
Curated OER
Oceanography Class Quilt
Students create and observe a collage of oceanography topics that be placed on quilt tiles in a culmination art project to represent information learned.
Smithsonian Institution
Reflections of the Sea
Students, after listening to a selection of Gulliver's Travels, complete a worksheet about basic terms associated with boats, ships, and sailing. They create flag after researching semaphore flagging systems.
Ocean Explorer
Looking for Clues
Upper graders become "shipwreck detectives" by studying the debris field from a shipwreck in the Aegean Sea which took place in the 700s. A website is accessed that gives specific information about the debris field, and pairs of...
Curated OER
Ecosystems and Remote Sensing
Students obtain remote sensing data to compare and contrast global biomass data with global temperature data.
Curated OER
Surface Air Temperature Trends of the Caribbean
Students use real satellite data to determine the changes in near-surface air temperature at different times of the year over the Caribbean Sea. They discover how Earth's tilt causes seasonal differences in incoming solar energy. They...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 3
How far have California's Channel islands moved? What was the rate of this movement? Class members first examine data that shows the age of the Hawaiian island chain and the average speed of the Pacific Plate. They then watch West...
Curated OER
Phytoplankton in the Gulf of Maine
Students use satellite data to see the correlation between sea temperature and sunlight in the Gulf of Maine. In this phytoplankton lesson students use Excel to analyze data.
Curated OER
Light Stick Chemistry
In groups of three with the lights off and the shades drawn, investigators place inactivated light sticks, in three beakers: one filled with ice water, another with lukewarm water, and the other with room temperature water. They wait...
California Academy of Science
Fish Forms
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, you can add art to any lesson plan! While little learners are discovering why fish have specific body parts such as, scales, fins, and gills, they start making three-dimensional fish forms....
Curated OER
Sea Water Mixing and Sinking
Middle schoolers investigate the role of temperature and salinity in determining seawater density. They use a Temperature-Salinity Diagram to examine the effects of mixing on density.
Curated OER
El Niño ~ The Return of El Niño
El Niño sure creates a stir when it comes around! Why not stir up your earth science class with this data analysis activity that examines the temperature and precipitation over the 2002-2003 water year. A tracking chart is provided...
Curated OER
Winter Wonderland - Winter Olympics and the Water Cycle
After a concise introduction to the water cycle, junior meteorologists access NOAA's average snowfall data. They choose a city to examine in terms of precipitation. Then they look at historical snowfall data and use it to predict snow...
Florida International University
The Good, the Bad and the Nasty Tasting
Examine the benefits of chemical defense mechanisms. Organisms in oceans use chemicals to ward off predators. Duplicate this adaptation using a hands-on experiment in which you ward off your predators (your pupils) with some...
Curated OER
Faking It
Middle school earth scientists describe the behavior of the Coriolis force. They compare and contrast conditions under which the Coriolis force has a significant impact with conditions under which it has very little. They model the...
Curated OER
Liquid Rainbow
Students develop their own techniques for drawing a small sample of solutions into a straw. They hypothesize ways to increase the density of water, and discuss how salt-free rainwater tends to float on top of salty seawater.
Curated OER
Fish and Zooplankton Through Remote Sensing
Ecology aces examine sea surface temperature maps and relate temperatures to concentration in fish and zooplankton populations. Take your class to a computer lab and provide experience with actual remote sensing data. Some of the links...
Florida International University
Design Your Own
Apply scientific principles to designing an experiment to study organisms living on the coral reef in our oceans. Through reading, individuals learn about the coral reef ecosystem and important factors that affect its function....