This lesson guides student investigations into reasons for ocean
exploration. Other lessons in Volume I, Why Do We Explore guide additional investigations into key topics of Ocean Exploration,
Energy, Climate Change, Human Health, and Ocean Health.
To Boldly Go (Ocean Exploration) Read More »
The classroom activity package Winged Ambassadors – Ocean Literacy through the Eyes of Albatross is available free online courtesy of NOAA, Oikonos, and other partners. Albatrosses, charismatic and threatened seabirds, are ambassadors for a clean ocean because they traverse vast oceanic regions searching for floating food. Along their journeys, they ingest plastic trash and feed it to their chicks. These five lessons comprise new and modified activities, using inquiry-based science instruction, aligned to new standards for grades 6 – 8 with extensions for grades 9 – 12.
Winged Ambassadors: Ocean Literacy Lessons Read More »
Students will understand the importance of the diversity of life in the Atlantic Ocean. Students will discover facts about the different aquatic organisms and their existence in the marine ecosystem.
In their ocean habitat, clownfish use an exceptional sense of smell as a
mechanism to help determine which direction to swim, called “olfactory homing”. When given a choice between two water currents, one with the scent of an anemone and the other with the scent of the open ocean, clownfish will choose the anemone scent nearly every time! They can also tell the difference between the scent of a predator
and the scent of a friendly non-predator…like Dory…choosing the nonpredator nearly every time! However, recent research in Australia has shown that the olfactory homing ability of clownfish is severely disrupted by ocean acidification (through interference with neuron
function).
Help Nemo Find his Home! Read More »
In this 6-7 day investigation, students begin with an introduction to seamounts that are present in the Gulf of Alaska. They learn how seamounts were formed and look at a bathymetric map of a seamount. In Activity 3A, students explore sea floor mapping techniques as they participate in an activity to create a map of a sea feature they have molded out of clay. In Activity 3B, students watch a short animated presentation, “Who cares about Sea Floor Mapping?” then create a model of a seamount found in Alaska. They use pre-sonar techniques to collect data and create a graph of their seamount using Excel.
Mountains in the Sea Read More »
A drop in your hand: Water stewardship:
See the relative volume of water available that is clean, safe, and available to drink.
A Drop In Your Hand: Water Stewardship Read More »
Plate tectonics and lava lamps:
Use discovery and inquiry techniques to investigate a lava lamp and relate it to Earth’s internal processes that cause geological phenomena such as earthquakes, mountain building, and seafloor trenches.
Plate Tectonics and Lava Lamps Read More »
How marine mammals stay warm
Wear a “blubber glove” and plunge your hand into an ice water bath to investigate the insulative properties of blubber.
How Marine Mammals Stay Warm Read More »
Boat building challenge
Use aluminum foil to make boats and then test designs by seeing how many
pennies or paperclips they can hold.
Boat Build Challenge Read More »
Students will learn about the year long MOSAiC expedition in the Arctic, and design their own Arctic mission.
