NOAA Sea to Sky: Education resource database

This guide includes eight elementary-level lessons, inspired by topics from the IMAX film Ocean Odyssey. Watching the film is not required for these lessons, but may enhance students’ learning experience of the topics presented in the activities. Educators can view a special extended preview offsite link of the film. Understanding the ocean and its ecosystems is essential to comprehending and protecting this planet. We must all be stewards for a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable ocean. The activities in this guide will help lead you and your students to learn more about our ocean planet, its myriad of wonders beneath the waves, and work to maintain healthy ecosystems that are resilient in the face of change.

Learn what scientists have discovered in ten years of studying the endangered Southern Resident killer whales. See the science behind recovering this charismatic creature, from collecting their poop to tracking them using satellites.

A rapidly changing climate brings challenges to our underwater parks in ways we have never seen before. Climate-related impacts, like changing weather patterns and storm events, warming seas, ocean acidification, and sea level rise, are becoming more prevalent around the globe. Changes in climate will affect national marine sanctuaries and the overall health of the ocean, which is vital to our quality of life and, ultimately, our survival.

University of Southern California (USC) Sea Grant's Education Specialist, Maria Madrigal's book, STEAM Powered Series: Marine Biology offsite link, focuses on her specialty in marine science education and highlights her Hispanic heritage. The book follows Cora and her friend, Bonnie the butterfly, as they discover the different ways scientists study what is underwater. This book focuses on topics that are accessible and local to Los Angeles students and highlighted themes common to USC Sea Grant's work: Cora and Bonnie explore kelp forests, plankton and harmful algal blooms, grunion fish, and tidepool monitoring, while venturing out to free and accessible areas that children can enjoy, such as docks, the beach, and aquariums. The book is also available in Spanish offsite link.

Enjoy this short coloring book from the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve. 

Explore this collections of lessons, activities, videos, coloring pages, and field guides from the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve on life in that estuary.

Birds are a vital part of marine ecosystems and valuable indicators of ecosystem health. The protected areas of the National Marine Sanctuary System serve as pit stops for many species of migratory bird, offering rest and food along their travels. Explore bird resources in this collection.

Follow along with the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer as its crew study deep sea ecosystems and animals. During live stream periods, you can listen along as scientists comment on what they are seeing and identify animals and deep sea features in real time. 

Kelp forests are an important ecosystem that support a variety of species and grow predominantly along the Eastern Pacific Coast, from Alaska and Canada to the waters of Baja, California. Kelp forests can be found in four of our national marine sanctuaries along the West Coast of the United States. This collection has compiled wide-ranging resources from lesson plans, webinars, web stories, virtual reality videos, and more. You are invited to learn more about the importance of Kelp Forest Ecosystems, NOAA’s efforts to manage and conserve them, the species that call these forests home, and the threats kelp face.

The ocean absorbs the extra carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels, like coal, oil, and natural gas, and that changes the chemistry of the ocean. We call this “ocean acidification.” The change in chemistry is reducing the amount of calcium carbonate in the ocean. Just as humans need calcium to build their bones, sea creatures need calcium carbonate to build strong skeletons and shells. Ocean acidification changes the chemistry of the ocean and causes “osteoporosis of the sea,” which prevents animals at the bottom of the food chain from building and maintaining the protective shells they need to survive.