Educators' Corner

How does an ecosystem recover from a major one-time insult such as an oil spill? As you will learn from this Discovery Story, the answer is not simple. It isn't easy to determine whether a particular area of shoreline has recovered from oil during a spill, or how to expect it to look when it has.

Students explore the natural history of sharks and recognize that humans are an interconnected part of sharks’ ecosystems.

The Adventures of Zack and Molly is a new, four-part video series about an unlikely duo exploring the deep ocean produced by ECOGIG in collaboration with Sherman's Lagoon creator and filmmaker Jim Toomey.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

The Learning Guide provides discussion points, connections to Next Generation Science Standards, hands-on activities, and further resources. Spanish version available here. 

Students engage in a simulation to see how whales can have trouble avoiding ships. They then explore different ways to decrease ship strikes.

Students use a variety of materials to construct various models of plankton to gain an understanding of neutral buoyancy.

Much like rising and setting sun has an impact on life on Earth, the cycle of the moon can change plant and animals behavior. In this lesson plan, students will discuss how the lunar cycle affects living organisms and how this might occur. They will also design experiments that could figure out whether the lunar cycle affects a specific behavior.

The veined rapa whelk is an invader in Chesapeake waters. These predatory snails eat ecologically and economically important shellfish that are native to the bay. In this lesson, students will learn about invasive species and predict where the invasive rapa whelk will live within the bay. A discussion of invasive species impacts on native ecosystems will follow. 

For most of us, the term “marine organism” brings to mind images of fishes, coral reefs, marine mammals, or other animals that are easy to see with the naked eye. Yet, 98% of the biomass in Earth’s ocean and most of its biological activity is provided by marine microbes— organisms that are exceedingly small, less than a few thousandths of a millimeter. Scientists conducted a global survey of marine microbes species in 2014 called Ocean Sampling Day. This lesson plan includes a marine microbe activity and a simulation of the activities conducted in the 2014 survey.

Students will gain an understanding of how water density and salinity affect ocean currents in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico by modeling a layered ocean.

Students will create a class mural depicting coral reefs and act out life on a coral reef through a short skit. This artistic approach to studying the coral reef habitat will engage many types of learners.