NOAA Sea to Sky: Education resource database

Data in the Classroom has structured, student-directed lesson plans that use historical and real-time NOAA data. The five modules address research questions and include stepped levels of engagement with complex inquiry investigations with real-time and past data.

Discover America’s underwater ocean parks as we “Get Into Your Sanctuary!" The archive of this live interaction will connect you with information on what national marine sanctuaries are and bring you below the surface to virtually interact with the sea life that call sanctuaries home. Join us at any time as we explore the NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary System from wherever you live.

An infographic outlining the most common types of plastic marine debris, how they enter the marine environments, and their impacts.

This artistic graphic depicts rain and wind moving debris into waterways.

Indiana campaign focusing on the critical importance of protecting coastal resources has captivated thousands of state residents with vibrant, information-dense illustrations that are unveiled roughly every two years. The Indiana Lake Michigan Coastal Program helms the poster campaign, with funding assistance from NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, and from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency via the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. You can request free copies of these posters from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

This collection of six separate lessons includes tutorial videos for each themed lesson, except ecological field modeling.

1. Density dynamics: Experiment by creating four model bodies of water and observe how they compare. 
2. Ecological field monitoring: Get into the field and investigate the ecosystems in your local community using field equipment.
3. Glaciers: Investigate how topography came to be through glacial activity 33,000 years ago. Use geologic and physical tests to uncover the evidence left behind by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Track and hunt down the path laid by ice giants of the past.  
4. Marine debris & microplastics: Discover how marine debris impacts the environment as you experiment with buoyancy and design a model ocean with circular currents.
5. Watersheds: Explore how we impact our water systems and the watersheds that sustain our population. Create a model coastal community and observe how pollutants travel within a watershed
6. Weather & climate: Explore the differences between weather and climate, look at real-time NOAA weather and climate data, experiment with sea level rise, and create coastal resiliency models.

This resource collection from NOAA Education explores watersheds, flooding, and pollution. The water in your watershed quenches thirst, grows food, washes clothes, and powers industry. However, too much water can cause raging floods and flush pollutants and soil into rivers and streams. How do we interact with the water in our watershed?

This resource collection from NOAA Education explores the water cycle. The water cycle is often taught as a simple circular cycle of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Although this can be a useful model, the reality is much more complicated. The paths and influences of water through Earth’s ecosystems are extremely complex and not completely understood. 

This resource collection from NOAA Education explores the Great Lakes system offsite link, which includes five large lakes, one small lake, four connecting channels, and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The large lakes are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. They hold about 90% of the freshwater in the United States and approximately 20% of the world's freshwater supply. Forty million residents of the United States and Canada depend on this system for clean drinking water.

Learn all about the water vapor in our air!