This section links to sites with curriuclum units and large collections of lesson plans and/or classroom activities. For lesson plans and activities on a particular subject, be sure to check the appropriate ocean science topic page.

K-12

Gulf of Maine Research Institute - A collection of over 100 webpages of information and classroom activities covering: oceans, human impact, weather, satellite imagery, remote sensing, Antarctica, global climate change, lobsters, turtles, freshwater issues and more.

SEA K-12 Lesson Plans - From the people that brought you SEA Semester, here is a collection of 16 lesson plans covering marine biology, oceanography, nautical science, and marine ecology.

National Estuarine Research Reserve System Lesson Plans - A collection of curricula, lesson plans and activities developed by some of the National Estuarine Research Reserves to help introduce students to specific estuarine environments. Topics include eelgrass and mud flat habitats, mangroves, natural and cultural resources, water cycle, hydrology, and public policy. K-12.

Sustainable Seas Classroom Ideas - "This site is amazing! There is so much to do you'll have trouble getting through it in one sitting. I've had to keep going back into the site as I think of new topics that will come up in our curriculum this year. The lessons and graphics are great-and are printer friendly which makes it easier to copy for use in the classroom. It's really helpful to show students what "real" oceanographers and other scientists are up to. This is a really fun site!" Kimberly, Teacher Grades 9-12

National Geographic EdNet: Oceans for Life - Professional development and ocean science resource portal for teachers. Site includes lesson plans, communication tools, workshop and event announcements.

EPA's Environmental Education Center - Find curricula and activities on water (including oceans, rivers and watersheds), air, ecosystems, recycling, conservation, and human health. In addition, you can also link to education grants, awards, scholarships, workshops and community service projects.

Project WET - A collection of over 90 K-12 broad-based water resource activities for classroom teachers who attend training workshops provided by state Project WET Coordinators.

Discovery of Sound in the Sea - Sound can travel long distances and with great speed underwater. Oceanographers, submariners, whales, dolphins, seals, in short, all working or living in the ocean rely on sound to sense their surrounds, to communicate, and to navigate. This web site will introduce you to the science and uses of Sound in the Sea. It includes interactive lesson plans, student data and an audio gallery.

Aquarius: Sea Surface Salinity from Space - The Aquarius instrument will measure sea surface salinity from space. Site has background information about salinity, lesson plans, and data analysis activities. Data from the instrument will be online in 2009.

DiscoverySchool.com Lesson Plans Library - Stand alone lesson plans on a variety of topics including earth science, life science, physical science, weather and technology. Lesson plans include objectives, materials, procedures, adaptations, discussion questions, evaluation, extensions, and more. K-12.

CIESE Online Classroom Projects - From the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education, this website can enhance your curriuclum with links to collaborative online projects many of which focus on water and water quality, links to projects that use real-time data, and multidisciplinary projects.

NCNERR Lesson Plans - The North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve provides pre- and post-field trip activities, and stand alone lesson plans on estuaries for a variety of grade levels. Topics include marsh birds, fish, estuarine habitats, salinity & density, and watershed issues.

Ridge 2000 - Ridge 2000 is a major, long-term program of research into the life, physical, earth, and ocean science of mid-ocean ridges and related tectonic systems. This site includes activities, lessons and resources for your own classroom in addition to expedition information, professional development opportunities and career information.

Toxic and Harmful Algal Blooms Activities Page - These activities will help your students gain a better understanding of toxic and harmful algal blooms. Each module consists of background content material and related standards-based activities.

Striper Tracker - Follow striped bass with scientists. Site includes activities, background information, and lesson plans.

Water Source Books- Online curriculum guides for K-12 with over 324 activities related to wetlands, coastal waters, and water resources.

Elementary

Treasures@Sea - An elementary resource that explores the ocean through literature. Offers lesson plans, writing activites, art activities, and book activities. Grades K-6.

Under the Sea - A complete unit on marine biology for elementary students. Contains lessons, online activities, links, and an extensive list of books about marine life and habitats. Grades K-7.

Sea World - Excellent resource for information and teaching activities on marine life, designed primarily for elementary level. K-8.

Ocean Planet: Interdisciplinary Marine Science Activities - The Smithsonian developed this set of lesson plans as an extension of their "Ocean Planet" exhibit. Six different multidisciplinary lesson plans are included in the online booklet, along with good background information, and student worksheets that can be downloaded and printed. Grades 3-8.

New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium Lesson Plans - These very complete and teacher-friendly lesson plans target the New Jersey (Atlantic) coast, but most could be easily adapted to other regions. Topics covered: beach profiling; beach zonation; horseshoe crabs; hermit crabs; fish anatomy; mollusks; sea shells; estuaries; currents; seafloor mapping; water quality; water clarity; oxygen; pH; plankton; salinity; food web; marshes. Plans include: objectives; background information and links to content-related websites; diagrams; student data sheets.

Sea Chest - Open the Sea Chest to learn about life at sea - a life experienced not just by professional sailors but also by thousands and thousands of ordinary people who traveled the sea enroute to new beginnings in new lands. This multidisciplinary resource includes a glossary and activities for students. Grades 3-8.

Institute for Marine Remote Sensing Lesson Plans -Five lessons on this page cover the secchi disk, coral reef remote sensing, ocean color and sea surface temperature.

Respect the Beach Program - An interdisciplinary coastal education program from the Surfrider Foundation with oceanography and environmental protection lesson plans. Two units, Beachology and Watershed Works, are currently available online in PDF format with more units to come. Grades 3-10.

Bay BC's- Mulidisciplinary activity guide for grades K-3 offering background information and lesson ideas concerning the Chesapeake Bay.

NOAA Ocean Explorations - Follow ocean explorations in near real-time and access related lesson plans for grades 5-12, learn about ocean exploration technologies, observe remote marine flora and fauna in the multimedia gallery, review NOAA's 200-year history of ocean exploration, and discover additional NOAA resources in a virtual library.

National Marine Sanctuaries Teacher Programs - The National Marine Sanctuary Program aims to provide teachers with resources and training to support ocean literacy in America's classrooms. "Everything is here under one roof; lesson plans, exciting activities for students, possible research investigations, and background information for teachers. Grades 3-12." Mellie, Teacher grades 4&5

Turning the Tide on Trash- Three online units with definitions and activities related to marine debris for grades 3-6.

Middle School

NOAA Ocean Explorations - Follow ocean explorations in near real-time and access related lesson plans for grades 5-12, learn about ocean exploration technologies, observe remote marine flora and fauna in the multimedia gallery, review NOAA's 200-year history of ocean exploration, and discover additional NOAA resources in a virtual library.

National Marine Sanctuaries Teacher Programs - The National Marine Sanctuary Program aims to provide teachers with resources and training to support ocean literacy in America's classrooms. "Everything is here under one roof; lesson plans, exciting activities for students, possible research investigations, and background information for teachers. Grades 3-12." Mellie, Teacher grades 4&5

Science with OAR - Scientists and educators have joined forces to create this collection of teaching materials on El Niño, storms, the atmosphere, fisheries, the Great Lakes, and oceans. Each unit contains background information, data, applications, and additional activities. Middle school level.

Education and Research: Testing Hypotheses (EARTH) - "Get your students in "REAL TIME"...EARTH is a public education outreach website that provides lesson plans for teachers using near real time data from the ocean observatory. Unit lesson plan topics include ocean observatories, pelagic predators, classification, iron fertilization and coastal processes. Lesson plans are matrixed via skills or standards and contain wonderful backgound information including links to current oceanic news items." Chantelle, Graham High School, OH

Project Oceanography - A marine science distance learning program consisting of weekly live television broadcasts designed to enhance science education in middle schools.

C.O.O.L Classroom - "This is a great site that provides lessons that integrate real research data and classroom activities. There are a number of different sections including movies, printable worksheets, career cards and contests. Very informative, engaging and high interest!", Chantelle, Graham High School, Ohio

New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium Lesson Plans - These very complete and teacher-friendly lesson plans target the New Jersey (Atlantic) coast, but most could be easily adapted to other regions. Topics covered: beach profiling; beach zonation; horseshoe crabs; hermit crabs; fish anatomy; mollusks; sea shells; estuaries; currents; seafloor mapping; water quality; water clarity; oxygen; pH; plankton; salinity; food web; marshes. Plans include: objectives; background information and links to content-related websites; diagrams; student data sheets.

Game of Life - What does over-fishing mean? What are the effects of over-fishing on fish stocks? Through the game in this lesson, students will understand the effects of over-fishing on the sustainability of fish stocks and, thus, the ability to meet the human demand for seafood.

Sea Chest - Open the Sea Chest to learn about life at sea - a life experienced not just by professional sailors but also by thousands and thousands of ordinary people who traveled the sea enroute to new beginnings in new lands. This multidisciplinary resource includes a glossary and activities for students. Grades 3-8.

Institute for Marine Remote Sensing Lesson Plans -Five lessons on this page cover the secchi disk, coral reef remote sensing, ocean color and sea surface temperature.

When is Dinner Served? Predicting the Spring Phytoplankton Bloom in the Gulf of Maine - Student activity with background information regarding phytoplankton blooms. Students will obtain and analyze data on the variables that influence the spring phytoplankton bloom from buoy monitoring stations in the Gulf of Maine. Middle to high school level.

Marine Habitats: The Intertidal Zone -Site has lesson plans describing life in the intertidal zone. Supporting materials for the lesson plans include: video clips, powerpoint presentations, links, and and assessment guide.

Respect the Beach Program - An interdisciplinary coastal education program from the Surfrider Foundation with oceanography and environmental protection lesson plans. Two units, Beach Explorers and Studies In Sand, are currently available online in PDF format with more units to come. Grades 3-6.

MetEd - This site provides upper-level, in-depth content for a variety of meteorology topics and includes a multimedia database and multi-lingual modules. Lesson plans are available for middle and high school level.

On Again, Off Again-The Dead Zone - The primary purpose of this package is to provide activities that address the dead zone for middle and high school students. This activity uses data from scientific cruises in the Gulf of Mexico, but the concepts are applicable to areas outside of Louisiana. Grades 7-12.

Institute of Navigation: Navigation Education Materials - This site has modules including 10 lessons on a variety of navigation topics. The lessons are designed to be used by middle school teachers and each lesson includes motivations for the students, background and assessment material for the teacher and mentor, activity descriptions and worksheets, and additional tips and resources. Grades 6-8.

Marine Reserves: Where Do You Fit In? - The sea around Anacapa Island is one of the most biologically rich and economically important areas of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. In this simulation, you have been asked to represent a stakeholder to establish new marine reserve areas near Anacapa. Your mission is to protect, maintain, restore and enhance living marine resources through new management strategies that encompass an ecosystem perspective and promote collaboration between competing interests.

Turning the Tide on Trash- Three online units with definitions and activities related to marine debris for grades 3-6.

Secrets of the Ocean Realm - From PBS Online, contains information, teaching activities, quizzes, photography and more. Activities designed for grades 5-7 (with extensions for lower and higher grades).

Williams Lab Antarctic Teacher Resources - Companion website to a book by researcher TM Williams at UC Santa Cruz. Features several Antarctic-related activities. Activities include background information, materials list, full instructions, data sheets, and post-activity questions. While the activities can stand alone, the activities are meant to supplement the book (cost associated). Site also features information on the researchers, a list of related publications, a section just for kids, and links to additional resources.

Coral Literature, Education and Outreach Program (CLEO) - The CLEO Program offers educational modules that consist of three segments: background information of the science behind the instrument, a classroom experiment, and a teacher's section. Students plot and manipulate the data, and witness events live on the internet via a Coral Cam. Links to further reference and educational materials are also available. Module topics include coral spawning, coral bleaching, and the effects of carbon dioxide on coral reefs.

Empty Oceans - How does the human population affect the population of marine species? What can citizens do to sustain seafood populations? In this lesson, students will learn how pieces of the ocean food web, fish, are being removed faster than they can be replenished. Students will also learn how they can become informed consumers to promote sustainable seafood.

High School

Ocean World - Developed and maintained by the Jason Education Project at the Texas A&M University, this comprehensive site has educational information and activities on weather, Forams, coral reefs, satellites, El Niņo, ice ages, fisheries, waves, icebergs and currents. A wealth of student and educator resources is available. Teacher resources include a crash-course in oceanography, a section on using technology in the classroom, and five classroom activities.

Water on the Web - A curriculum development project for advanced high school and undergraduate students that uses real-time environmental date to teach about lake systems. Lesson plan topics include aquatic respiration, oxygen solubility, conductivity, data interpretation, diel temperature variation, pH, photosynthesis, fish stocking, heat budgets, water quality, water properties, storms and turbidity, and thermal stratification.

NOAA Ocean Explorations - Follow ocean explorations in near real-time and access related lesson plans for grades 5-12, learn about ocean exploration technologies, observe remote marine flora and fauna in the multimedia gallery, review NOAA's 200-year history of ocean exploration, and discover additional NOAA resources in a virtual library.

National Marine Sanctuaries Teacher Programs - The National Marine Sanctuary Program aims to provide teachers with resources and training to support ocean literacy in America's classrooms. "Everything is here under one roof; lesson plans, exciting activities for students, possible research investigations, and background information for teachers. Grades 3-12." Mellie, Teacher grades 4&5

Aquarius Lesson Plans - This site includes lesson plans that have links to Aquarius science projects and the physics of underwater diving. Topics covered include diving, buoyancy, coral reefs, nutrients, underwater vehicles, concentration gradients, marine invertebrates, and fish populations.The lesson plans were developed for Grades 9-12 and address topics in the Life Sciences, Physical Science, Earth Science, Biology, and Chemistry.

NOS Education Discovery Center - "What is Geodesy? How did that lionfish in our backyard waters? What causes tides? Go to this site and find the answers to these and many other questions that will help you better understand research being currently undertaken by marine scientists. The site is full of lessons, stories, and activities sure to keep your students' attention!" Ly, Smithtown High School, NY

Education and Research: Testing Hypotheses (EARTH) - "Get your students in "REAL TIME"...EARTH is a public education outreach website that provides lesson plans for teachers using near real time data from the ocean observatory. Unit lesson plan topics include ocean observatories, pelagic predators, classification, iron fertilization and coastal processes. Lesson plans are matrixed via skills or standards and contain wonderful backgound information including links to current oceanic news items." Chantelle, Graham High School, OH

SeaWIFS: Teacher Resources - SeaWIFS is a NASA project using space technology to study phytoplankton. This site contains: The Living Ocean Teacher's Guide, a guide for grades 9-10 that discusses satellites, ocean color, phytoplankton, the carbon cycle, and the greenhouse effect; Classic CZCS Scenes, a tutorial about ocean color using some of the more interesting CZCS images; and Monitoring the Earth from Space with SeaWiFS, an online presentation about ocean color.

C.O.O.L Classroom - "This is a great site that provides lessons that integrate real research data and classroom activities. There are a number of different sections including movies, printable worksheets, career cards and contests. Very informative, engaging and high interest!", Chantelle, Graham High School, Ohio

Institute for Marine Remote Sensing Lesson Plans -Five lessons on this page cover the secchi disk, coral reef remote sensing, ocean color and sea surface temperature.

University of Hawaii's Fluid Earth and Living Ocean Programs - The Fluid Earth and The Living Ocean are multidisciplinary marine science course curricula available for purchase. Designed for grades 9-12, you can teach each separately as a one-semester course, or combine them for a year-long course. The Fluid Earth focuses on physical, chemical and geological oceanography and The Living Ocean focuses on marine biology. A 10-day teacher institute is also available to help prepare teachers.

When is Dinner Served? Predicting the Spring Phytoplankton Bloom in the Gulf of Maine - Student activity with background information regarding phytoplankton blooms. Students will obtain and analyze data on the variables that influence the spring phytoplankton bloom from buoy monitoring stations in the Gulf of Maine. Middle to high school level.

Project Grows - Project GROWS allows students to learn molecular techniques while they examine genetic variation in salmon populations. Students can collect tissue, extract DNA, conduct PCR and RFLPs to generate DNA fingerprints for their salmon. Participating classes can enter their data into a database on this web site, and students around the world will be able to view and analyze these data.

MetEd - This site provides upper-level, in-depth content for a variety of meteorology topics and includes a multimedia database and multi-lingual modules. Lesson plans are available for middle and high school level.

On Again, Off Again-The Dead Zone - The primary purpose of this package is to provide activities that address the dead zone for middle and high school students. This activity uses data from scientific cruises in the Gulf of Mexico, but the concepts are applicable to areas outside of Louisiana. Grades 7-12.

Marine Habitats: The Intertidal Zone -Site has lesson plans describing life in the intertidal zone. Supporting materials for the lesson plans include: video clips, powerpoint presentations, links, and and assessment guide.

New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium Lesson Plans - These very complete and teacher-friendly lesson plans target the New Jersey (Atlantic) coast, but most could be easily adapted to other regions. Topics covered: beach profiling; beach zonation; horseshoe crabs; hermit crabs; fish anatomy; mollusks; sea shells; estuaries; currents; seafloor mapping; water quality; water clarity; oxygen; pH; plankton; salinity; food web; marshes. Plans include: objectives; background information and links to content-related websites; diagrams; student data sheets.

Coral Literature, Education and Outreach Program (CLEO) - The CLEO Program offers educational modules that consist of three segments: background information of the science behind the instrument, a classroom experiment, and a teacher's section. Students plot and manipulate the data, and witness events live on the internet via a Coral Cam. Links to further reference and educational materials are also available. Module topics include coral spawning, coral bleaching, and the effects of carbon dioxide on coral reefs.