Related: Life Science

LESSON PLANS AND ACTIVITIES

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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Where Does it Live, and What Does it Eat?

    Susan Leach-Snyder / Currents, National Marine Educators Association

    Students research the habitat and food of organisms living in a mangrove estuary, illustrate where mangrove organisms live and diagram a mangrove estuary food web.

    Grades: 3-5, 6-8

  • What Was for Dinner

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    Students will be able to compare and contrast photosynthesis and chemosynthesis as sources of primary production for biological communities; give at least three examples of organisms that live near hydrothermal vent systems; and describe two sources of primary production observed in biological communities associated with volcanoes of the Marianas Arc.

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

    Grades: 6-8

  • WebQuest: Sensory Biology and the Plight of the Right Whales

    Drs. Jill C. Fegley and Sara M. Lindsay / University of Maine Lindsey Lab

    This lesson introduces high school students (grades 9-12) to the topic of sensory perception in the marine environment. The WebQuest introduces the role of acoustic cues in ocean ecology and challenges students to determine if acoustic warning devices are useful tools to prevent right whale fishing gear entanglements and ship strikes in the Gulf of Maine.

    Grades: 9-12

  • 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

  • This Old Tubeworm

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    Students will be able to explain the process of chemosynthesis; explain the relevance of chemosynthesis to biological communities in the vicinity of cold seeps; construct a graphic interpretation of age-specific growth, given data on incremental growth rates of different-sized individuals of the same species; and estimate the age of an individual of a specific size, given information on age-specific growth in individuals of the same species.

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

    Grades: 9-12

  • The Pros and Cons of Artificial Reefs

    / National Geographic Xpeditions

    Students make hypothetical lists of the pros and cons of artificial reefs and then revise them after reading an article and researching the topic.

    Grades: 9-12

  • 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

  • The Global Climate Game

    /

    This group game is designed to help students explore the various aspects of global climate and to learn how human activity may affect climate. Student groups will be responsible for making decisions about activities that may impact global climate. Students will be able to identify the various human impacts on the environment. Students will be able to explain how lifestyles may be altered to become more favorable to the environment. Students will examine the role of individual decisions and their impact on the natural environment.

    Grades: 6-8

  • The Best Hope for Northern Right Whales

    / National Geographic

    This lesson asks students to research current and proposed methods of assisting the recovery of northern right whale populations. Students will conduct Internet research to investigate the best strategies to help save right whales.

    Article “North Atlantic Right Whales on Path to Extinction” for lesson found at:
    http://www.cnn.com/NATURE/9903/18/right.whales.enn/.

    Grades: 9-12

  • Tale of a Whale

    / Smithsonian Institution and New England Aquarium

    Students exercise their observation skills to do some of the actual work of marine biologists who study the endangered North Atlantic right whale. They identify an individual whale by examining photographs taken at sea. They then examine a record of sighting of the whale in order to track its movements.

    Grades: 6-8

  • Symbiosis and Coral Anatomy

    / NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program

    Students read and then present to the class about different types of symbiosis. They are then introduced through a PowerPoint presentation to the coral-zooxanthellae relationship. For more information about the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, visit  http://coralreef.noaa.gov.

    Grades: 3-5, 6-8

  • Splash – Monitoring Humpback Whales

    / NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries Program/National Geographic

    Students learn the importance of monitoring endangered marine mammals like humpback whales and how monitoring can help marine conservation efforts.

    For more information:
    http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/education and
    http://www.ngsednet.org/community/index.cfm?community_id=128.

    Grades: 6-8

  • Sharks: Setting the Record Straight

    / National Geographic Xpeditions

    Students read, discuss, and compare news reports of shark attacks with data and then design a television special to educate the public about sharks.

    For more information:
    http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/.

    Grades: 9-12