An observer on the seashore may make the mistake of thinking that all ocean water is the same. But the ocean is actually composed of several layers of water with specific properties—temperature and salinity being the main drivers of layering. Students will see how these two properties affect layering in the ocean.

To help students understand that science is a part of their everyday lives, students will complete an activity where they create a collage of people doing science using magazines and drawing pictures. This lesson gives students a realistic idea of what science is and helps them understand that scientists are real people answering interesting questions. Watch interviews with scientists. 

Learn how scientists collect field data by being a scientist yourself! By studying a specific ecosystem, students learn how different scientists work together, what kinds of data scientists record, and experience the scientific process through observation and data collection.

In this activity, students graph and analyze data from sediments collected off the coast of Santa Barbara, California to determine whether this information can be used to study historical climate change. 

Students use foram “bio cards” to read and interpret authentic scientific data and build a graphic representation to unlock ancient history stored within sediment cores from the western equatorial Pacific. 

In this introductory activity, students analyze core sample data to identify sediment composition on the ocean floor. They use Google Earth to make their own qualitative observations that help them determine the types of sediments that make up the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. 

Students define terms pH and buffer. Students explain in general terms the carbonate buffer system of seawater. Students explain Le Chatelier’s Principle and predict how the carbonate buffer system of seawater will respond to a change in concentration of hydrogen ions.

Students explain how fundamental relationships between melting and boiling points, solubility, temperature and pressure can help to develop plausible explanations for observed chemical phenomena in the vicinity of subduction volcanoes.

Students will be able to compare and contrast the processes of photosynthesis and chemosynthesis; identify and describe sources of energy used by various organisms for chemosynthesis; predict what chemosynthetic reactions might be possible in selected extreme environments.

Students will learn about the natural and human threats to coral reefs including destructive fishing practices.