Related: OLP#7: The ocean is largely unexplored.

LESSON PLANS AND ACTIVITIES

Click on a lesson plan or activity name to learn more about it

  • Corrosion to Corals

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    Students will be able to describe galvanic exchange and explain how this process produces electric currents. Given two dissimilar metals and information on their position in an Electromotive Series, students will be able to predict which of the metals will deteriorate if they are placed in a salt solution. Students will also be able to describe the effect of electric currents on the availability of metal ions, and how this might contribute to the growth of corals on shipwrecks.

    For more information:

    Grades: 6-8

  • Treasures in Jeopardy

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    Students will be able to compare and contrast deep-sea coral reefs with their shallow-water counterparts; explain at least three benefits associated with deep-sea coral reefs; describe human activities that threaten deep-sea coral reefs; and describe actions that should be taken to protect deep-sea coral reef resources.

    For more information:
    http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 6-8

  • Now You See Me, Now You Don’t

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    Students will be able to explain light in terms of electromagnetic waves and explain the relationship between color and wavelength; compare and contrast color related to wavelength with color perceived by biological vision systems; explain how color and light may be important to deep-sea organisms, even under conditions of near-total darkness; and predict the perceived color of objects when illuminated by light of certain wavelengths.

    For more information:
    http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 6-8

  • Let’s Make a Tubeworm

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    Students will be able to describe the process of chemosynthesis in general terms; to contrast chemosynthesis and photosynthesis; describe major features of cold seep communities; and list at least five organisms typical of these communities. Students will be able to define symbiosis; describe two examples of symbiosis in cold seep communities; describe the anatomy of vestimentiferans; and explain how tubeworms obtain their food. For more information http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 3-5, 6-8

  • The Methane Circus

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    Students will describe the overall events that occurred during the Cambrian Explosion; explain how methane hydrates may contribute to global warming; and describe the reasoning behind hypotheses that link methane hydrates with the Cambrian explosion.

    For more information:
    http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 6-8

  • Molecular Explorations

    / NOAA Ocean Service

    Students will be able to explain and carry out a simple process for separating DNA from tissue samples and complex mixtures. Students will also be able to explain the process of restriction enzyme analysis.

    For more information
    http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 9-12

  • Mapping the Ocean Floor

    Stefanie Frump / COSEE-Central Gulf of Mexico

    After an introduction in which students try to identify hidden objects by the sounds they make when shaken in a box, students use string to map a model ocean floor by taking depth readings to simulate sonar.

    Grades: 3-5

  • Exploring Explorations

    / NOAA Ocean Service

    Students will describe human benefits that have resulted from explorations of the Earth’s deep oceans.

    For more information:
    http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 6-8, 9-12

  • Why Do We Explore the Ocean?

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    Students will be able to discuss why scientists believe there are important undiscovered features and processes in Earth’s ocean; discuss at least three motives that historically have driven human exploration; explain why ocean exploration is relevant to climate change; and discuss at least three benefits that might result from ocean exploration. For more information http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

  • Learning Ocean Science Through Ocean Exploration

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    A curriculum for teachers of Grades 6-12 that takes lesson plans that were developed for NOAA Voyages of Discovery and the Ocean Explorer Web Site and presents them in a comprehensive scope and sequence through subject area categories that cut across individual expeditions.

    For more information: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 6-8, 9-12

  • Caution! Do Not Bleach

    / NOAA Ocean Service

    Students learn why coral reefs are important, and what possible explanations are for the phenomenon known as “coral bleaching.”

    For more information about NOAA Ocean Service, visit http://oceanservice.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 9-12

  • A Reef of Your Own

    / NOAA Ocean Service

    Students 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.

    Grades: 9-12

  • Keeping Watch on Coral Reefs

    / NOAA Ocean Service

    Students learn why coral reefs are important, and what can be done to protect them from major threats.

    For more information about NOAA Ocean Service, visit http://oceanservice.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 9-12

  • Who Has the Data?

    / NOAA Ocean Service

    Students learn what types of data scientists collect to monitor coral reefs, and how these data are used.

    For more information about NOAA Ocean Service, visit http://oceanservice.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 9-12

  • In Search of the Giant Squid

    / Smithsonian Institution

    In this series of lessons, worksheets and activities, students will get acquainted with the habits, biology, and range of the giant squid. Students will understand the challenges in finding a “relatively small” giant squid within a vast and deep habitat and will also learn about the ever-improving technological resources needed to find a live giant squid.

    Grades: 6-8