Related: OLP#5: The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
LESSON PLANS AND ACTIVITIES
Click on a lesson plan or activity name to learn more about it
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Build Your Own Ecosystem
/ NOAA Ocean ExplorerStudents identify key functions that are present in healthy ocean ecosystems. Students will discuss how these functions are met by biotic and abiotic components in a model aquatic ecosystem.
For more information:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov -
1st Grade Moorea Coral Reef LTER Education Curriculum
/ Moorea Coral Reef LTER EducationThese multidisciplinary lessons and activities include “What do scientists do?”, “What is a coral reef?” and “Fish Feeding.” For more information and to download the lesson plans and activities, go to http://mcr.lternet.edu/education/.
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4th Grade Moorea Coral Reef LTER Education Curriculum
Moorea Coral Reef LTER Education / Moorea Coral Reef LTER EducationThese life science lessons and activities are about food chains and ecosystems and include “Food Chain Hide and Seek,” “Connected Ecosystems” and “In Hot Water.” For more information and to download the lesson plans and activities, go to http://mcr.lternet.edu/education/.
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7th Grade Moorea Coral Reef LTER Education Curriculum
/ Moorea Coral Reef LTER EducationThese life science lessons and activities are about coral reefs and evolution and include “What is Coral?”, “Coral Adaptations,” and several on symbiotic relationships. For more information and to download the lesson plans and activities, go to http://mcr.lternet.edu/education/.
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A Reef of Your Own
/ NOAA Ocean ServiceStudents learn what physiological, ecological, and behavioral strategies contribute to the success of reef-building corals.
For more information about NOAA Ocean Service, visit http://oceanservice.noaa.gov.
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A Tale of Deep Corals
/ NOAA Ocean ExplorerStudents describe and explain the two hypotheses for the frequent occurrence of deep-sea corals in the vicinity of hydrocarbon seeps. Students evaluate relevant experimental data and explain how this data may support or refute these hypotheses. Students define and contrast coincidence and causality, explain the relevance of these terms to hypotheses such as those related to deep-sea corals and hydrocarbon seeps.
For more information:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov. -
A Vacation to the Polar Regions
/ National Geographic XpeditionsStudents will learn about the characteristics of the Arctic and Antarctic by looking at a globe and pictures of the polar landscape/ animals. They will plan a vacation to one of these regions and draw pictures or write stories depicting themselves on the trip.
For more information: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/ -
Animals of the Fire Ice
/ NOAA Ocean ExplorerStudents define and describe methane hydrate ice worms and hydrate shrimp. Students infer how methane hydrate ice worms and hydrate shrimp obtain their food. Students infer how methane hydrate ice worms and hydrate shrimp may interact with other species in the biological communities of which they are part. Students build a methane hydrate molecule.
For more information:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov. -
Are Great White Sharks As Dangerous As We Think They Are?
/ National Geographic XpeditionsStudents discuss their existing thoughts on sharks and analyze a map of reported shark attacks. After viewing and discussing both a painting of a shark attack and an image of a researcher swimming with a bull shark, students do research to determine the real dangers posed by and to sharks.
For more information:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions -
Be a Scientist
/ Monterey Bay AquariumLearn how scientists collect field data by being a scientist yourself! By studying a specific ecosystem, students learn how different scientists work together, what kinds of data scientists record, and experience the scientific process through observation and data collection.
For more information: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/ -
In this activity, students will be able to identify major taxa that are dominant in deep benthic communities of the Arctic Ocean. Given distribution data for major taxa in different Arctic benthic communities, students will be able to identify patterns in the distribution of these taxa and infer plausible reasons for these patterns.
For more information:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov -
Benthic Drug Store
/ NOAA Ocean ExplorerStudents identify three chemicals that are pharmacologically active and are derived from marine invertebrates. Students describe disease-fighting action of these chemicals. Students infer why sessile marine invertebrates appear to be promising sources of new drugs.
For more information:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov. -
BioBlitz Organizational Guide
/ Connecticut State Museum of Natural History at UCONNLearn all about BioBlitz and how to organize one for your school. Includes a checklist and schedule.
For more information: http://www.cac.uconn.edu/mnhhome.html
http://web2.uconn.edu/mnh/bioblitz/ -
Biomes: Wild Arctic
/ Discovery EducationThis lesson investigates the plants and animals that live in the Arctic. Students will learn key terms, including food web, zooplankton, and sea ice. They will also devise food chains found in the Arctic, these will then be expanded to food webs, showing the connections among all Arctic life.
For more information: http://discoveryeducation.com/ -
Call to Arms
/ NOAA Ocean ExplorerStudents describe human arm motion, design/construct mechanical arm model that biomimics human arms. Students describe simple machine aspects of their mechanical arm models. Students define mechanical advantage and discuss the importance of its use in robotic arm design. Students will describe four common robotic arm designs that biomimic human arm motion.
For more information:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.
