Related: Marine Biology

LESSON PLANS AND ACTIVITIES

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

  • 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

  • Shark!

    / Sea World Education

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

    For more information:
    http://seaworld.org

    Grades: 3-5, 6-8

  • Prince William's Oily Mess - A Tale of Recovery

    / NOAA Ocean Service Education

    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 oiling during a spill, or how to expect it to look when it has.

    This lesson includes links to many other oil related lesson plans. For more about NOAA Ocean Service Education, see here: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/welcome.html

    Grades: 6-8, 9-12

  • Net Results

    / WETA/PBS Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture Series

    Students will study and replicate a model of the factors affecting fisheries populations in the Chesapeake Bay (or any other bay). Through a game they will investigate how decisions by watermen, recreational fisherpeople, and lawmakers influence and are influenced by economics and the abundance or scarcity of fish and shellfish stocks.

    For more information: http://www.pbs.org/emptyoceans/educators/activities.html.

    Grades: 9-12

  • Light at the Bottom of the Deep Dark Ocean

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    Students will be able to list the various adaptations that enable deep-sea fishes to survive; explain how biolouminescence helps deep-sea fish respond to food predator and reproductive pressures in their environments; explore how the structure of an appendage helps determine and utilize its function; describe how deepwater organisms respond to their dark environment.

    For more information: http://oceanexplorer.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

  • 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

  • How do Humpback Whales Feed?

    / National Geographic

    The activity covers background, migration, and feeding behaviors of humpback whales. It also includes a simulation of bubble net feeding and a drawing exercise.

    Grades: 3-5

  • Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Activity Book

    / NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program/State of Hawaii

    This book is filled with activities about the humpback whales of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback National Marine Sanctuary, with information about whale identification, migration, behavior, and information on cetaceans in general.

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

    Grades: 3-5

  • Coral Reef Symbiosis

    / Moorea Coral Reef LTER Education

    This lesson introduces the idea of interrelationships among organisms and how these could help them persist in a coral reef ecosystem. Students will learn about symbiotic relationships, with mutualism among coral and zooxanthellae as the model organisms in this first lesson. Topics include the transfer of energy and matter through the processes of photosynthesis and respiration. These concepts are approached through the marine environment, rather than the terrestrial environment, which allows most students to take a step out of their comfort zone.

    Grades: 6-8

  • Benthic Drug Store

    / NOAA Ocean Explorer

    Students 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.

    Grades: 3-5