NOAA Sea to Sky: Education resource database

Accurate education about climate and energy topics has never been more important, and it can be challenging to locate reliable, vetted educational materials to use in your classroom. CLEAN is here to help you find the resources that you need, without wondering about their scientific credibility or educational value. Search for resources by NGSS Performance Expectations (PE) and Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI), grade level, keyword or resource type, or use CLEAN to design your own unit.

An activity book for educators and students

Principles and concepts for estuaries 101: The big ideas and essential details students should learn about estuaries.

View interactive maps, numerical data, and graphs and figures collected by teachers and students participating in the GLOBE Program and long-term air temperature and precipitation observations from the Global Historical Climate Network (GHCN). While lessons for data collection and other activities are a part of the GLOBE website, specific lessons for manipulation of this data are not provided at this link.

View real-time images and data collected by Great Lakes buoy stations or explore the data collected by the stations over the past 15 years. This real-time Great Lakes observational data is collected over time by sensors on coastal buoys as part of NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory's Real-Time Coastal Observation Network (ReCON). Each of ReCON’s 16 buoy stations has a webcam, collects meteorological data, and provides sub-surface measurements of chemical, biological, and physical parameters (things like wave height, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, and water temperature).

Marine debris is a pervasive, global problem and one that is felt locally in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Through a NOAA Marine Debris Program prevention grant, the University of the Virgin Islands(link is external) adapted and revised marine debris lessons for USVI, including Oregon Marine Debris STEAMSS, Turning the Tide on Trash, and Talking Trash and Taking Action. The curriculum was co-created with the input of educators from USVI who participated in workshops and provided input following in-class use. The curriculum also includes 15 spotlights, which highlight USVI-specific marine debris research, local researchers, community-led prevention efforts, and natural disaster impacts from marine debris.

The activities in this collection are based on the principle that real-time environmental data is a valuable tool for providing students with opportunities for self-directed exploration of the natural world. Students engaging in these activities will gain a deeper understanding of carbon cycling, ocean acidification, and other phenomena related to climate change. These activities are designed with the three-dimensional approach to teaching in mind (e.g. NGSS-aligned), and also use a data literacy framework to help guide students through data orientation, interpretation, and synthesis.

The National Data Buoy Center provides real-time environmental observations collected from buoys around the world. View both recent and historical information on ocean and weather conditions, as well as any current tsunami activity. Graphs and tables of data are available for water column height at each buoy location.

Phenomenon-based learning is an educational approach that engages students in science. It starts with a “phenomenon,” or an attention-grabbing image or video clip that hooks students into the lesson. In these modules, we use datasets from NOAA’s Science On a Sphere® (SOS) to help explore and explain science phenomena. The modules are also aligned to NGSS.

Select the data preferred (vegetation data, habitat maps, weather, water, nutrient data, and more) to create a generated report.