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.

Observe the movement of elephant seals, laysan albatross, northern bluefin tuna, and white sharks from the Tagging of Pacific Predators Project (TOPP) in a student-friendly interactive map. This site includes lesson plans and teacher’s guides for high school and undergraduate courses.

In this lesson, students will be learning about the importance of sound to marine mammals. They will explore how information can be gained from sound, familiarize themselves with the sounds made by various species of marine mammals, and discover how hard it is to communicate when there is a lot of anthropogenic (man-made) noise. They will see how humans have affected marine mammal acoustics and what they can do to make a difference.

This guide is designed for educators in both formal and informal education situations. It is a regional introduction to three main categories of marine debris: litter; derelict or abandoned boats; and lost or abandoned commercial and recreational fishing gear.

Marine Debris is a complex, real-world problem which can be addressed through the lenses of several different academic subjects. This curriculum integrates the subject areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math, and Social Studies (STEAMSS), and focuses on experiential hands-on lessons and activities for students in grades 4 through 12.

This curriculum introduces killer whale biology, research, and management through the story of Springer, the young killer whale who was found orphaned in the Puget Sound in 2002. NOAA, the community, and many other agencies in both the United States and Canada worked together to reunite Springer with her pod. Each of the seven lessons in the unit has a slide presentation on background information, hands-on activities, and stewardship information. The book "Springer's Journey" can also be incorporated for grades 2-3. Some of the activities in the younger grade band can also be adapted for preK-1 classes.

News headlines about the Southern Resident killer whales are often bleak. When students are flooded with media coverage of environmental destruction, they can experience chronic anxiety. So, how can we inspire young people to become environmental stewards when they are inheriting seemingly insurmountable problems — like saving a critically-endangered marine mammal from extinction? The unit contains nine fully planned activities that can be used as stand-alone activities or as a complete series. The activities can be scaled to different timelines and students’ interests. The unit provides many opportunities for students to create public products and share their learning beyond the classroom. The final activity provides scaffolding for a student-led stewardship project that embraces students’ talents and interests.

Turning the Tide on Trash is a learning guide on marine debris. This set of lesson plans and background information introduces educators, students and researchers to the topic of marine debris. The interdisciplinary education guide is designed to provide maximum flexibility in the classroom: it can be used as a stand-alone teaching tool or to supplement work in other subject areas. Appropriate for grades K-12.