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Welcome to our searchable database of education resources created by NOAA and our partners. If you have issues or feedback, please let us know by filling out our feedback form offsite link or sending us an email at education@noaa.gov.
Tips for using the database
Searching for terms that contain more than one word.
Use quotation marks around multiple-word phrases you want to search. For example, searching “climate change” will return resources about “climate change.” If you don’t include quotation marks, it will return resources that include either the word “climate” or “change.”
Opening resources in a new tab.
Follow the instructions below for the device you are using.
- PC: Hold down the control (ctrl) key while clicking the link. Or, right-click the link and select “open in new tab.”
- Mac: Hold down the command key while clicking the link.
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Expanding categories.
Each category has a plus sign (+) to expand the available filters within the category. Some categories have subcategories. Look for the plus sign (+) to see more filterable items.
Making the most of the filterable categories.
There are several categories you can use to filter through the resources.
- “Audience” filters by grade level, including postsecondary education, and also has a filter option for adult learners.
- “Subject” filters by the general subject area, such as Arts, Earth science, Math, and more.
- “Resource Type” filters allow you to look for resources ranging from activities, lessons, and units to videos or background information.
- “Topic” filters are more specific than subject. They include filters such as climate, freshwater, and weather and atmosphere.
- “NGSS DCI” filters by Next Generation Science Standards Disciplinary Core Ideas. Only activities, lessons, and units (and no other resource types) have NGSS DCI associated with them. Not all activities, lessons, and units have this alignment.
- “Special categories” offers additional filters for specific types of resources and topics, such as printables, resources available in other languages, and safety/preparedness.
Exploring activities, lessons, and units.
Activities, lessons, and units are bundled together under resource type. You can expand to filter for only one type. Activity/demonstration refers to straightforward activities with little or no classroom strategy or pedagogy. Lesson refers to structured activities that are intended for a classroom audience. Module/unit refers to a collection of lessons that can build upon each other over multiple class periods or times of instruction; some people might call this a curriculum.
Understanding instructional strategies.
Within special categories, there is an expandable filter called “instructional strategies.” This includes special filters that are applicable for some lessons, activities, and units, including things like “outdoor education” and “uses data.”
- Activities, lessons, and units (95)
- Arts and crafts (5)
- Background information (64)
- Career profile (41)
- Citizen science project (5)
- Collection (93)
- Coloring/activity book (24)
- Contest (2)
- Data product (23)
- Job seeker resource (5)
- Multimedia (255)
- NOAA Education resource collection (8)
- Poster/brochure (10)
- Related story (47)
- Climate (275)
- Freshwater (164)
- (-)
Marine life
(481)
- Adaptations (11)
- Aquatic food webs (58)
- Coral reef ecosystems (85)
- Conservation (31)
- Ecosystems (116)
- Endangered species (20)
- Entanglement (17)
- Fish (99)
- Fisheries and seafood (111)
- Invasive marine species (9)
- Invertebrates (90)
- Life in an estuary (36)
- Marine mammals (135)
- Plankton (15)
- Salmon (23)
- Sea turtles (64)
- Seabirds (31)
- Seaweed, algae, and aquatic plants (24)
- Sharks, rays, and skates (39)
- NOAA careers (29)
- Ocean and coasts
(665)
- Earth processes (16)
- Harmful algal blooms (19)
- Maritime archaeology and history (35)
- Ocean acidification (66)
- Ocean chemistry (16)
- Ocean currents (95)
- Ocean exploration (81)
- Ocean floor features (84)
- Ocean pollution and marine debris (176)
- Ocean sounds (15)
- Oil spills (58)
- Rip currents (22)
- Sea level rise (41)
- Tides (59)
- Tsunamis (56)
- Space (50)
- Technology and engineering (288)
- Weather and atmosphere (327)
- ESS2: Earth’s Systems (13)
- ESS3: Earth and Human Activity (28)
- ETS1: Engineering Design (12)
- LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes (15)
- LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics (48)
- LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits (3)
- LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity (19)
- PS1: Matter and Its Interactions (13)
- PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions (2)
- PS3: Energy (7)
- PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer (2)
- Aquaculture education webinar series (1)
- At Home with Galveston Bay (1)
- B-WET grantee (5)
- Bite-sized Science webinar series (1)
- Celebrating veterans serving in habitat conservation (1)
- Climate change in Alaska video series (1)
- Data in the Classroom (3)
- Deep Ocean Education Project Website (1)
- Deep-sea dialogues (4)
- Diving Deeper podcast (1)
- ELP grantee (2)
- Estuary Education website (2)
- Exploring our fluid Earth (1)
- Finding fish hotspots and mapping coral reefs (1)
- FishWatch sustainable seafood database (1)
- FishWatch sustainable seafood video gallery (1)
- Florida Seafood at Your Fingertips (1)
- Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (1)
- Fun facts about sea life (1)
- Making Waves podcast (1)
- Marine Careers: A Sea Grant guide to ocean opportunities (1)
- Marine Debris Program posters (1)
- Marine Debris STEAMSS (1)
- Microworlds (1)
- National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) (1)
- National Marine Ecosystem Status (1)
- National marine sanctuaries coloring pages and puzzles (2)
- National Marine Sanctuaries Webinar Series: Archived webinars (7)
- NOAA and the Octonauts podcast (1)
- NOAA Boulder Labs: Meet our team (1)
- NOAA Fisheries YouTube (1)
- NOAA Fisheries: Find a species (1)
- NOAA Live! 4 Kids (1)
- NOAA Marine Debris Program (3)
- NOAA Ocean Podcast (1)
- NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer: Education materials collection (1)
- Ocean Exploration careers (1)
- Ocean Exploration educational materials (3)
- Ocean Exploration facts (1)
- Ocean facts (1)
- Ocean Today (150)
- Octonauts Corner (1)
- Oregon Marine Scientist and Educator Alliance (ORSEA) (1)
- Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay modules (1)
- Raindrop to Sea video series (1)
- Salmon Heroes (1)
- Sanctuaries 360 virtual dives (6)
- Sanctuaries LIVE Interactions (1)
- Sanctuaries media gallery (1)
- Sanctuaries resource collection: Coral reef ecosystems (1)
- Sanctuaries resource collection: Ocean sound and impact of noise (4)
- Sanctuaries resource collection: Whales (1)
- Science On a Sphere catalog (1)
- Sea Grant podcasts (2)
- Sea-Earth-Atmosphere (SEA) resources (1)
- Signals of Spring ACES (Animals in Curriculum-based Ecosystem Studies) (1)
- Sustainable fisheries video gallery (1)
- Sustainable seafood video galley (1)
- Teacher at Sea (9)
- Women in science profiles (1)
Audience
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NGSS DCI
Special categories
Three themed modules — Ocean Food Webs, Observations and Models, and Predators and Prey — contain 21 interactive investigations. These educational modules help high school students learn how scientist use models, or data rich representations of systems, to better understand and predict changes in environmental processes in the ocean, the weather, and climate. In these investigations, students use scientific data and models — the same ones NOAA scientists use — to explore human-caused changes in ocean ecosystems and the impacts these changes have on the animals in those ecosystems. The modules also include resources for educators, including student worksheets, NGSS alignment, and presentation graphics.
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NGSS DCI
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.
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NGSS DCI
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Collection name
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.
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NGSS DCI
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The Deep Ocean Education Project is a collaboration among NOAA Ocean Exploration, Ocean Exploration Trust, and Schmidt Ocean Institute featuring high-quality ocean exploration and science education materials from the three organizations. The Deep Ocean Education Project website – launched in 2021 – is built around themes that are easily searchable, address key ocean-related phenomena, and encourage and support three-dimensional approaches to teaching and learning for K-12 education. The objective is to provide a one-stop resource hub for public, educators, and students looking for deep-sea educational materials. The website also includes information on how to connect with research vessels, including a list of upcoming events and opportunities, and live feeds of expeditions.
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Watch. Explore. Discover. View the beauty and mystery of the ocean realm captured on video around the globe. Videos are organized into collections to help educators.
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Special categories
This is an activity book for K-3 students to learn about the ocean, to understand their connection to the environment, and to take positive steps to conserve our ocean world.
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NGSS DCI
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Students examine actual data from a NOAA sea scallop survey in 2012, organize it, and make inferences about what type of story the data might tell.
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This webcast was for everyone who loves the ocean and is curious about what lives in its depths. We showed you incredible footage of underwater creatures and habitats. We also demonstrated some hands-on activities you can do at home to help you learn more about this amazing environment and the creatures that live in it!
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The jellyfish often encountered in the Chesapeake Bay in the summer is the sea nettle (Chrysaora chesapeakei). Knowing where and when to expect this biotic nuisance may help to alleviate an unpleasant encounter. These maps are experimental and depict the probability of encountering sea nettles (not their abundance or density) in the Chesapeake Bay area. The density of sea nettles that you may encounter is not reflected here because it can vary greatly from year to year at a given location and would be a much less reliable prediction.
Audience
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NGSS DCI
Special categories
Through role-playing, teamwork, and a little fate, this activity provides students with an opportunity to get an "insider's" view of what it takes to be an active stakeholder in a commercial fishery. Whether a boat owner, dockside buyer, processing plant owner, distributor, or retail seafood store operator, each student will get a deeper sense of the complex factors that determine the viability of a commercial fishery. Students will learn to understand the real costs that contribute to eventual market value, as well as experience some of the unanticipated gains or losses that can occur at any stage along the way.