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.

Monitor National Marine Sanctuary offers a variety of free resources for educators. Resources include social studies activities, as well as science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) activities, lesson plans, and guides. Each section below is filled with STEM activities, lesson plans, and games. Explore the Civil War and USS Monitor, World War I, World War II, Shipwrecks and STEM, Wrecks as Reefs, the Outer Banks Maritime Heritage Trail, and more.

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.

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising, but what does this mean for the world's ocean? Using data from NOAA, students will explore relationships between carbon dioxide, ocean pH and aragonite saturation state. By examining these parameters using graphs and models, students can predict whether ocean conditions support the growth and survival of shell-building marine life, both now and in the future.

The Exploring our Fluid Earth modules comprise the essential elements of a year-long course in marine science at the middle and high school level. Modules focus on the physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, and technology of aquatic systems and on the researchers who study them. Each module comprises a series of related lessons that build conceptual understanding. The integration of disciplines provides multiple entry points to the curriculum materials, which teachers can approach from the perspective of their respective disciplines. The modules also provide a unique opportunity for subject area teachers (i.e. biology, chemistry, physics) to utilize portions of the curriculum in their teaching—to teach their course concepts in the context of the aquatic environment.

The Okeanos Explorer education materials collection was developed to encourage educators and students to become personally involved with the voyages and discoveries of the Okeanos Explorer – the only federal vessel dedicated to exploring our largely unknown ocean for the purpose of discovery and the advancement of knowledge about the deep ocean.

Created by teams of educators and marine scientists, ORSEA lessons are centered around marine-focused anchoring phenomena. Each multi-day learning unit supports data science education and ocean literacy, while also exposing students to a variety of marine-related careers. This project is funded by Oregon Sea Grant and the National Science Foundation through OSU's Regional Class Research Vessel Project.