VA SEA Lesson Plans

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Below are classroom-tested science lesson plans created for VA SEA by science graduate students. To view or download the full lesson plan, click on the lesson plan's title.



2024 Lesson Plans
Lesson Title/Thumbnail Grades Subject(s) Author Download Files

Chesapeake Bay Life Cycles

Use reading and comprehension to explore animal and plant life cycles and simulate a blue crab population.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

    4th Life Science, Biology, Oceanography

Alexandria Marquardt (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Handouts

Do Invasive Hogs Alter Species Relationships in Salt Marshes?

Build a salt marsh relationship web and determine the impacts of invasive hogs.

Click here for video summary (YouTube)

7th Life Science

 Hallie Fischman (University of Florida)

 Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Handout

Deeper and Deeper: An Introduction to Seafloor Geology

Identifying seafloor features and reading bathymetric profiles.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

4th Earth Science, Oceanography

 Amy Nicholson (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

 

Fish Detectives: Identifying Fishes Using a Dichotomous Key
Understanding how a dichotomous key can be utilized to explore how to identify and a group of fishes based on their physical characteristics.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

4th Life Science, Biology, Oceanography

 Kaitlyn Cisz (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Handouts

 

Food Webs – Here, There, and Everywhere!

Examining how food webs depict the flow of energy and relationships between organisms in the marine environment.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

4th Life Science, Biology, Oceanography

 Ellie Gellerson (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Handouts

A Manager’s Dilemma: Defending Salt Marshes

Investigate features of salt marshes and the effectiveness of salt marsh restorations with sea-level rise, using an online model that simulates a salt marsh’s development over time.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

11-12

AP/IB Earth, Environmental, Oceanography

*Google-Based Classrooms Only*

Mary Bryan Barskdale (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Handouts

Excel Files

Phytoplankton Biogeography: Where Is My Home?

Conceptualizing the basics of biogeography through the generation, visualization, and interpretation of a phytoplankton dataset.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Life Science, Biology, Environmental, Oceanography

 Lilly Blume (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Handouts

Plants, Animals, and Others, Oh My!

Investigating the difference between biotic and abiotic ocean life.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

1st Life Science

 Amy Nicholson (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Reef Restoration Reconnaissance

Gauge the success or failure of restored oyster reefs by collecting and interpreting ecological data from oyster samples and aerial images.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Life Science

Emory Wellman (University of Florida)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Handouts

Sea Turtle Patrol

Collecting and graphing data on nesting sea turtles.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

4th Life Science, Environmental, Oceanography

 Anna Poslednik (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Survival Challenge: Can Marine Animals Adapt to Climate Change?

Create adaptations that will help a marine animal survive in their new climate-change impacted environments.

   6-8 Life Science, Biology, Environmental, Oceanography

 Kyra Fitz (Rutgers)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Handouts

Trash Talk: How to Tackle Plastic Pollution

Students will carry out a cleanup of their school campus, collecting and graphing data about the trash they find then complete an action project by planning and implementing a behavior change campaign to reduce plastic waste at their school.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Earth Science, Environmental, Oceanography

 Mara  Walters (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

 

We’re All Connected

Students will learn about community and ecosystem structure, trophic levels, species diversity, and food webs by participating in a mock-research activity to investigate the impact of human activity.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

11-12 AP/IB Earth, Environmental, Oceanography

 Amanda C. Salmoiraghi (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

 

 



2023 Lesson Plans
Lesson Title/Thumbnail Grades Subject(s) Author Download Files

Bye Bye, Bycatch!

Use critical thinking skills to better understand how conservation engineering can improve sustainable fisheries. Teams of students get a kit of common classroom items from which they engineer their own bycatch reduction device to capture the most amount of target species (beads) with the least amount of bycatch (marbles).

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

7th Life Science, Biology Derek Jackson (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

The Case of the Missing Penguins

Gather and graph Adelie penguin data in the Western Antarctic Peninsula to examine population patterns and their potential drivers. Students will count and graph three decades of penguin pair numbers and compare to krill abundance and sea ice coverage to see what may be impacting Adelie penguin population.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

7th Life Science, Biology Claudia Moncada (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Cereal Killer: Diagnosing Oyster Disease Using PCR

Framed around an oyster murder at a shellfish farm, students investigate what’s killing oysters by comparing DNEA from dying oysters to that of murder suspects (MSX, Dermo and Bonamia).

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology, Oceanography Anna Poslednik (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Engaging Communities in Climate Change
This role-playing lesson plan introduces students to three phases of community engagement to identify adaptation strategies for a coastal city at risk for flooding. 
Click here for a video summary YouTube

9-12 AP/IB Environmental Science, Earth Science

Yao Wang (SUNY-ESF) & Qiong Wang (VTech) 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Appendix E (zipped cad file)

Appendix H (zipped file)

Powerpoint

Going Fishing in the Classroom!

Simulate overfishing in a classroom setting. This lesson introduces students to basic fisheries management terms and concepts and encourages them to think critically about how to manage natural resources through a hands-on fishing game.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

4th Life Science, Ecology

Will Shoup (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts 

Hematodinium: A Blue Crab Parasite

Use monthly survey data to measure percentage of infection, or “prevalence” of Hematodinium in adult and juvenile blue crabs and determine how prevalence changes through seasons.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology

Xuqing Chen (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Mapping a Terrapin Town

Explore diamondback terrapin habitat requirements, conservation, and how land use planning can affect their population. Through five rounds of this Tetris-inspired boardgame, students follow a terrapin population through nesting, predation, poaching, habitat loss and more and come up with management recommendations for Terrapin Town.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

6-8 Life Science, Environmental Science Anna Caputo (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Game Board

Powerpoint

The Mystery Oyster: What’s in the Bag?

Did you know that the shape of an oyster determines where in the market it ends up? In this hands-on lesson, students will use measurements and graphing to examine and assess how different husbandry strategies and business decisions can impact the shape of the Eastern Oyster.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

6-8

Life Science/Biology

Julia Grenn (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Watching Seagrass Breathe

Investigate how seagrasses act as primary producers in the ocean, why we care about them and how scientists measure their rates of primary respiration. Students work in teams as marine scientists to watch graphically simulated sea grass incubation experiments, counting oxygen bubbles produced and calculate the primary production. They then use primary production rates to estimate overall seagrass primary production for the Chesapeake Bay.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology, Oceanography Aly Hall (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Bubble Videos

Powerpoint

Worksheet

Where Land Meets the Sea

In this interactive geology lesson, groups of students will use graphic “core logs” to make observations about sediment types, interpret graphic data into sediment descriptions, and apply those interpretations to determine how coastlines change over time.

Click here for a video summary (Coming Soon!)

9-12 Earth Science, Environmental Science Kayla Cahoon (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Who’s That Phytoplankton?

Harmful algal bloom diagnosis. In this lesson, students will assess biotic and abiotic factors of a phytoplankton bloom by analyzing aerial photographs and will work together to hypothesize the cause, collect cell counts, and design their own phytoplankton species.

Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology, Oceanography Savannah Mapes (VIMS)

 Lesson Plan

Images

Powerpoint

2022 Lesson Plans
Lesson Title/Thumbnail Grades Subject(s) Author Download Files

Find the Bullseye: Targeting Conservation in the Candy Darter
Determining a species’ risk of extinction using available data and spreading awareness for conservation of an endemic species.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

6-8 Life Science, Biology Jem Baldisimo (ODU)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

From the Subsurface to the Sky: Tracking Groundwater with Drones
Determining the inputs of nitrogen to coastal waters from drone based radiometric temperature data.  
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Earth Science, Physical Science Stephanie Wilson (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Gelatinous Zooplankton in Biological Systems; Case Study: Salpa thompsoni in the Western Antarctic Peninsula
Teach about the importance of gelatinous zooplankton and examine their role in food webs, the biological pump, and the carbon cycle.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

6-8 Life Science Maya Thomas (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

How Resilient Is It? The Resilience Quotient Zoning Ordinance
The Resilience Quotient (RQ) system uses zoning ordinance to address coastal resilience development issues in the city of Norfolk, Virginia. This lesson plan goes through key resilience concepts and its strategies that can promote flood risk reduction, stormwater management, and energy resilience. The activity provides several scenarios to help students understand, simulate, visualize, discuss, and practice how the Resilience Quotient works for coastal developments in the city.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Environmental Science, Earth Science, Oceanography

Qiong Wang (VTech) & Yao Wang (SUNY-ESF)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Appendix G (zipped file)

Appendix H (zipped file)

Powerpoint

Killer from the Deep!
Explore the deep-sea environment and biological adaptations to living in the deep sea through murder mystery investigation and graphing activities.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

6-12 Life Science, Ecology Tor Mowatt-Larssen (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts (updated)

The Seagrass is Greener on the Other Side 
Students will collect data about animals in a seagrass meadow, learn how seagrass density affects species abundance and diversity, and calculate a biodiversity index.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology Lauren Alvaro (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Searching for Sea Scallops: The Role of Science in Fisheries Management
Students will collect data on populations of sea scallops and then use those data to provide recommendations for sustainably managing the fishery in the next fishing year.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

6-8 Life Science, Biology Kaitlyn Clark (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Selectively Breeding Hard Clams
Use knowledge of hard clam genotypes and inheritance patterns to cross parents and predict offspring phenotypes.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12

Biology, AP Biology

Leslie Speight Youtsey (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Shark Sanctuaries: Habitat and Climate Change
Utilize data collected from scientific surveys to explore the abiotic niche of multiple coastal shark species, and evaluate suitable habitats under differing climate change conditions.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology Kaitlyn O'Brien (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Shifting Sands: Coastal Dunes in Motion
Students will use “before & after” dune profile graphics to determine how the dune has changed and hypothesize why this change occurred.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

5+ General Science, Geology, Environmental Science Liz Davis (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

 
2021 Lesson Plans
Lesson Title/Thumbnail Grades Subject(s) Author Download Files

Antimicrobial Sensitivity Testing: The Search for Antibiotics 
Examining agar plates, students determining the effectiveness of antibiotics for fish pathogens.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology Aman Kohli (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Case of the Stressed-out Larva: A Study of Climate Change Effects on Oyster Cellular Physiology 
Using a jigsaw puzzle approach, students will piece together the results of three molecular measures to understand how warming and acidified waters affect the health of oyster larvae.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Advanced Biology, Chemistry, Oceanography Annie Schatz (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Dial C for Collaboration: Finding Unknowns with Your Fellow Scientists 
In the sciences, collaboration is key. This exercise allows students to explore scientific collaboration and how to use "knowns" to measure an unknown using a linear equatio.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Oceanography Brianna Stanley (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Etiology in Action: Identifying Aquaculture Disease Threats through Data Analysis 
How do scientists identify emerging disease threats? In this lesson, students will examine fish health, aquatic disease ecology, and aquaculture practices to answer this question.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology, Environmental Science, Oceanography Malina Loeher (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Fish Census: Monitoring Finfish Populations in Chesapeake Bay 
In this activity, students will utilize data collected from a scientific survey to explore where different fishes live in a coastal estuary, and how their populations change over time.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

6-12 Life Science, Biology, Oceanography Rachel Dixon (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Growing Up Is Hard: Vertical Accretion in Salt Marshes  
In this exercise, students will use graphing to examine the importance of natural environmental feedbacks on marsh survival.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology, Environmental Science, Oceanography Alex Smith (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

High to Low: Exploring Estuarine Gradients  
In this lesson, student scientists will examine nutrients, suspended sediment, and phytoplankton level then plot their results to track estuarine gradients.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology, Earth Science, Oceanography Cristin Wright (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Estuary Sampling (PPT)

Marsh Migration Mania!
In this lesson, students investigate sea-level rise and migration of saltmarsh invertebrates in a "ghost forest." 
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

6-12 Life Science Emily Goetz (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Migrating to Motherhood: The Story of Female Blue  Crabs in Their Ecosystem
This lesson guides students through an investigation of the migratory patterns of blue crabs, their life stages, ecosystem use by life stage, harvest, and human impacts to their population.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

6-12 Life Science Alex Schneider (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Sunny-Side-Up: Temperature & Lobster Egg Development  
This lesson allows students to use math and science to characterize the effects of temperature on lobster egg development. Students will measure features of lobster eggs at different time points and plot how they change across development. This development will be compared between lobsters from different environments, and students will be asked to draw conclusions about how these differences may relate to lobster performance and climate change.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

6-12 Life Science, Biology, Environmental Science Abigail Sisti (VIMS)

 

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Watercolors: Relating Properties of Light to Organic Matter and Ecosystem Production 
Using properties of light, students will determine the source and composition of dissolved organic matter in estuaries influenced by different land types its subsequent relationship with ecosystem production.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube)

9-12 Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Oceanography Derek Detweiler (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

 
2020 Lesson Plans 
Lesson Title / Thumbnail Grades Subject(s) Author Download
Files

The Code in the Water: An Investigation into Harmful and Non-harmful Algal Blooms
Algal blooms can be detected using the DNA extracted from water samples. This activity allows students to identify algae and understand the causes of algal blooms.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).

9-12

Biology / Environmental Science / Oceanography

Sam Fortin (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Dichotomous Keys: An Essential Tool for Fish Detectives
How do scientists identify an unknown fish? In this activity, students will utilize a dichotomous key to identify unknown fishes from the Chesapeake Bay and will then characterize their trophic levels based on feeding preferences and adaptations. Students will gain an understanding of organism classification, trophic level interactions, and how fishes may play different trophic roles throughout their lives.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).

6-8

Life science / Biology

 

Jackson Martinez (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

DNA Detectives: Protecting Endangered Species
For this lesson, students will be U.S. Fish and Wildlife Biologists. They will be tasked with figuring out which endangered or threatened species they have by identifying a genetic sequence unique to their species. The students will then have to research why their species in endangered or threatened and write a formal report of their findings to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).

9-12 Biology / Environmental Science / Oceanography Samantha Askin (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Feeding Time: How Nutrients Drive Phytoplankton Growth
This lesson plan helps students make the connection between the amount of nutrients present in an ecosystem and the resulting growth of phytoplankton in our coastal waters. This lesson takes this concept a step deeper, by exploring how the proportions of nitrogen and phosphorus in the environment create the ideal conditions for phytoplankton growth. Students will explore the concept of limiting factors and will work on both their graphing skills and their ability to compare ratios.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).

9-12 Biology / Environmental Science / Oceanography Brianna Stanley (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint w/ Data

Powerpoint w/out Data

Student Handouts (PDF)
Isotopes in the Estuary: Conception and Application of Stable and Radioactive Carbon
In this interactive estuary-focused activity, students will examine stable and radioactive isotope data which provide information about the source and age of environmental samples such as plant and soil matter. Students will calculate average isotope ratios from five reference land types (forest, wetland, agriculture, industry, aquatic) and an unknown site within an estuary. Students will graph their calculated ratios and determine the land type that most impacts their estuary based on reference-to-unknown comparisons.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).
9-12 Chemistry / Environmental Science / Oceanography Derek Detweiler
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Old MacDonald Had an Aquaculture Farm
With this activity, students will learn the importance of aquaculture and how it can be used to manage a resource.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).

6-8 VA 6th Grade Science Shantelle Landry (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Tiny Killers
What different methods and new technologies are used to monitor harmful algae and the toxins that they produce? Students will learn about how harmful algae threaten human health through the processes of bioaccumulation and biomagnification. In small groups, they will design a harmful algae monitoring program based on mock harmful algae data, and then they will test their monitoring program and discover some of the challenges and limitations of any monitoring plan that attempts to measure variable, natural events.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).

9-12 Biology / Environmental Science / Oceanography Sarah Pease (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Trees of the Seas
What are harmful algal blooms and why do they occur? In this lesson plan, students will run their own experiments to investigate how eutrophication can cause harmful algal blooms and investigate strategies for preventing them. 
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).

6-8

Life science / Biology

Michelle Woods (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Wave Fever: The Climate Induced Range Expansion of the Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crab
In 2014, scientists found that the Atlantic marsh fiddler crab had extended its northern limit by ~90 miles to New Hampshire, which is in the Gulf of Maine. Range expanding species can alter salt marsh characteristics such as biodiversity and food webs. In this lesson, students will combine sea surface temperature data from a federal database and fiddler burrow densities from field photos to determine the relationship between ocean warming and range expansions.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).

9-12 Biology / Environmental Science / Oceanography Kayla Martinez-Soto (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Images (Google Drive)

Image Answer Key (PPT)

What's In the Muck? Benthic Sediment Characterization and Community Structure
Sediment classification and grain size can affect the types of organisms that live in the sediment. Some organisms prefer sandier sediment, while others love the fine-grained mud. In this activity, students will classify sediment samples by grain size and plot their findings on a ternary plot. The students will then further investigate which benthic organisms live in the different sediments and which may be more resilient to a change in sediment classification.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).

9-12 Biology / Environmental Science / Oceanography Cristin Wright (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Zoop Soup (and Poop!)
Microscopic poops with a global impact! Students learn about the ecological and global importance of zooplankton and their fecal pellets in the ocean carbon cycle. Students are guided through the scientific method while participating in an activity that simulates real sediment trap fecal pellet research. Students hypothesize where a sediment trap was set based on the "fecal pellets" contained in their sample, identify source species using a dichotomous key, count and weigh biomass of pellets, and graph and share results with classmates.
Click here for a video summary (YouTube).

6-12

Life science / Biology / Environmental Science / Oceanography

Kristen Sharpe (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

2019 Lesson Plans 
Lesson Title / Thumbnail Grades Subject(s) Author Download
Files

Expedition Sediments: Mud's Journey through the Watershed
Expedition Sediments is a game-in-a-lesson that allows students to explore the movement of sediments through watersheds by moving around the classroom. This lesson explores how grains of estuarine mud and sand move throughout estuaries and coastal regions, with a focus on processes surrounding a highly populated estuary such as the Chesapeake Bay. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to explain how sediments are transported through an estuary, graph sediment residence times in different locations, and compare the timescales of different sediment transport processes.

9-12

Earth Science / Environmental Science

Jessie Turner (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Whose Fish?
This activity invites students to assume the role of various stakeholders in fisheries management and actively discuss the influence of economics, ecology and human interactions in decision-making. Students will demonstrate their argument for/against a certain regulation by participating as a specific stakeholder (i.e. commercial fisher, recreational fisher, scientists/researcher, environmental group, management agency, and citizen). Students will recognize that stakeholders tend to advocate based on their individual needs, often making it difficult for proposed policies to satisfy the needs of all stakeholders and achieve sustainability goals.

9-12

Life science / Biology

Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science

Shelby White (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

 

Prismatic Little Plankton
This is a hands-on interdisciplinary activity that incorporates the fun of biology into physics! Students participate in chromatography experiments to investigate the properties of plant pigments found in various fruits and vegetables, representing pigments commonly found in various species of marine phytoplankton. The students then apply what they've learned to create and analyze a chromatogram of a mystery "algal" sample to determine which species of phytoplankton are in the sample based on the pigments present. This activity simulates phytoplankton community analysis research done using High Performance Liquid Chromatography at VIMS.

9-12

Life science / Biology

Physical Science / Chemistry

Marine / Ocean Science

Kristen Sharpe (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

 

Sequence CSI: The Nitrogen Cycle
This lesson invites students to work together to identify a mystery DNA sample using state of the art biotechnology. After identifying the organism, they can work with another group of students to hypothesize about how the different organisms are related to one another. Students will learn that the samples are connected through the nitrogen cycle! This gives students an introduction to scientific molecular techniques and environmental nitrogen cycling.

9-12

Life science / Biology

Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science

Stephanie Wilson (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

 

Trawling through the Five Gyres: A Microplastic Research Study
This activity challenges students to help researchers understand what types of plastics are polluting the oceans! Teachers will prepare samples of microplastics that were collected in each of the 5 ocean gyres, mimicking plastic concentrations actually found in the oceans! Working as a group, students will count the items of plastic and graph their results. They will share their results with the class to compare their gyre to the other four gyres. Finally, students will understand the link between ocean microplastic pollution, and our use of single-use plastics. This activity can be completed in 45 minutes in the class. An additional challenge activity is included, that can be used as a 30-45 minute in-class activity or homework assignment.
6

VA 6th Grade Science

Life Science / Biology

Earth Science

Marine / Ocean Science

Meredith Seeley
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Wolffish: A Tale of Missing Teeth
This lesson plan asks students to make observations based on photographs of real specimens from a natural history collection. Students collect data to make graphs, which allow them to compare trends for how different variables impact the ecology of Atlantic Wolffish.

6-8

Life science / Biology

Marine / Ocean Science

Kate Bemis (VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

 Powerpoint

2018 Lesson Plans
Lesson Title / Thumbnail Grades Subject(s) Author Download
Files
Counting Blue Crabs in the Bay!
This lesson plan invites students and teachers to ponder the question: How many blue crabs are in the Chesapeake Bay, and where do we find them? Through hands-on activities and the use of real data, students will discover the excitement and grapple with the challenges faced by marine scientists as they try to quantify the use of different habitats by marine animals and estimate the size of marine animal populations.
6-8 Life Science / Biology

Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science
Bruce Pfirrmann
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Dissecting Data
This lesson plan encourages students to become scientific investigators to determine which fish species are important predators of juvenile blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay. Students will have the opportunity to practice using triple-beam balances and draw conclusions based on their data.
6-8 Life Science / Biology Amanda Bromilow
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Student Handouts (PDF)

Marine Parasites and Fish: How to Sample and Analyze
This lesson plan provides a hands-on way for students to investigate the impacts of an invasive parasitic nematode which has been targeting the American eel. Students will first “infect” pipe cleaner eels with parasitic nematodes (beads), which will then be used to simulate real-life research efforts through collecting multiple random samples of “eels” and counting the amount of parasites. They will then use this data to calculate prevalence, mean intensity, and mean abundance.
6-8 Life Science / Biology

Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science
Zoemma Warshafsky
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Microscopic Hitchhiking: Taking a Trip with Microbes and Plankton
This lesson plan develops concepts on food webs and ecological relationships, giving special attention to microorganisms and Chesapeake Bay species and dynamics. Students will conduct investigations, generate their own data and find out more about species they constantly see!
6-8 Life Science / Biology

Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science
Lucia Safi
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts (PDF)

The Mystery of Ocean Acidification
This lesson plan invites middle-school students to solve a mystery: what is ocean acidification and how is it affecting marine life in the Antarctic? To solve the mystery, students will participate in an ocean acidification scavenger hunt, and propose hypotheses and arrive at their own conclusions with interpretation of real-time data from the Antarctic.
6-8

Life Science / Biology

Environmental Science

Physical Science / Chemistry

Marine / Ocean Science

Tricia Thibodeau
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Plastic as a Habitat for Bacteria and Human Pathogens
This lesson plan invites 7th grade life science students to investigate marine plastic pollution as a habitat for bacteria and human pathogens. Students will examine the hazards of marine plastic pollution and learn about current science. They will have the opportunity to use data to create graphs and discuss patterns.
6-8 Life Science / Biology Amanda Laverty
(ODU)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts (PDF)

Images (PDF)

Graph (Excel)

Sea Turtle CSI: A Graphing Activity
This lesson plan invites seventh grade students to take on the role of detective to determine the time of death of the stranded turtle that washed up on shore. Students will make observations and use evidence-based reasoning to turn qualitative data into quantitative data
6-8 Life Science / Biology

Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science
Bianca Santos
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts (PDF)

Seagrass Survivor
This role-play and decision-making game allows students to simulate predator-prey interactions between fish and blue crabs in a seagrass bed. Students will then make inferences about the influence of habitat and body size on juvenile blue crab survival.
6-8 Life Science / Biology

Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science
Amanda Bromilow
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Student Handouts (PDF)

Sexual Dimorphism in Shrimp
Best suited for advanced high school students, this lesson offers an example of how a biologist uses morphometrics to test hypotheses about sexual selection and evolution in snapping shrimp. Students use software (ImageJ) to measure carapace and claws of two shrimp species with contrasting lifestyles. Students can take measurements themselves using ImageJ, and then analyze using Excel.
9-12 AP/IB Life Science / Biology Solomon Chak
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts (PDF)

Teacher Handout (PDF)

Images (Google Drive)

S. yano spreadsheet (Excel)

S. regalis spreadsheet w/ T-test (Excel)

Stakeholders of the Chesapeake: Curse of the Eastern Oyster
How do we decide how to manage oysters and who has a stake in that management decision? Students are placed in the role of a stakeholder group who cares about what happens to the Eastern oyster and asked to rank management priorities from the perspective of their group and others. Through viewing oyster management through a single perspective, students can begin to understand that balancing stakeholder’s views in setting policy and management is challenging.
6-8 Life Science / Biology

Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science
Taylor Goelz
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts (PDF)

Can’t Catch My Breath! A Study of Metabolism in Fish
This lesson plan invites high school students to ask questions and formulate hypothesis regarding the drivers behind observed differences in metabolism in different fishes. Students will practice calculating metabolic rate, making biologically relevant inferences about the lifestyles of different fishes based on their findings, and formulate questions that would guide future studies.
9-12 Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science

Life Science / Biology
Gail Schwieterman
(VIMS)
Lesson Plan (PDF)
The Watershed Game: Land Use & Water Quality
This lesson plan is a hands-on activity that allows students to explore how water and nutrients are transported from a watershed with three different land cover types and eventually ends up in a nearby stream.
9-12 Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science

Life Science / Biology
Shanna Williamson
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts (PDF)

Wonderful Wetlands: Why do we need them and what can they do for us?
This lesson plan introduces students to a variety of different types of wetlands and how they function in the coastal environment. Students will work through activities that illustrate the economic importance of wetlands and the services wetlands provide, as well as building conceptual models of wetlands to illustrate these points.
9-12

Environmental Science

Marine / Ocean Science

Life Science / Biology

Amanda Knobloch
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts (PDF)

Earthquakes, Glaciers, and Sediments, Oh My!
This lesson plan is developed for 9th-grade earth science classrooms, but can be scaled up or down. Students will explore how marine sediments serve as a history book for geologic activity. They will collect mock cores and developing conclusions about earth history.
9-12

Earth Science

Environmental Science

Life Science / Biology

Elisabeth Clyne
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Keeping Up with Sea-Level Rise: Salt Marsh Accretion
This lesson uses a hands-on demonstration to give students an understanding of how this critical ecosystem can keep pace with sea-level rise. Students will have the opportunity to make and test hypotheses about how different animals can affect salt marsh resilience, after learning about simple ecological interactions.
9-12 Earth Science

Marine / Ocean Science
Bethany Williams
(VIMS)

Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts (PDF)

How Green Is It? Learning Light and Electromagnetic Spectrum Properties By Measuring Algae
This lesson plan allows students to apply knowledge of light absorption and reflectance to reveal information about an invasive species in the environment. Students will incorporate art and quantitative analysis to form and test a hypothesis through plotting provided data, interpreting graphs, and answering discussion questions that require deeper thinking.
9-12 Physical Science / Chemistry

Environmental Science

Life Science
Alice Besterman
(UVA)
Lesson Plan (PDF)

Powerpoint

Student Handouts (PDF)

Questions? Contact:

Sarah Nuss
mcguire@vims.edu
804-684-7878