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.

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.

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 Marine Debris Prevention Best Practices Manual is a comprehensive guide to help establish lasting change on school campuses. It covers tips and tricks for engaging students in assessing school waste, bringing student leaders together into “Green Teams,” and supporting the entire school community with marine debris prevention. Learn creative ways to minimize waste in the classroom, in the cafeteria, in school gardens, and on the playground. These strategies are accompanied by case studies, standards-aligned lesson plans, videos, and other resources. 

Volcanoes may either never be active enough to break the surface of the ocean or be sufficiently active to break the surface and form an island. The island may also be so heavy that it eventually sinks and forms a seamount. Thousands of these seamounts have been discovered and studied worldwide to help provide evidence of past and current tectonic processes. In this investigation, students analyze Hawaiian and Alaskan seamount/island chain maps and data tables, plus a demonstration to develop an explanation to the phenomenon: How do seamounts and island chains form in the middle of the ocean?

A spherical projection is the best way to view Earth data, simply because Earth is a sphere! When you attempt to make a map of the world flat, certain locations become distorted, appearing bigger or smaller than they actually are. This hands-on activity allows you to explore the idea of Earth data and the difficulty associated with flat maps, and to enjoy the process of making a little globe. Several of Science On a Sphere’s most popular and important datasets are available for printing.

This website hosts a collection of lessons for 5th - 9th grades about the Adopt a Drifter Program, drifter buoys, and data collection. There are additional lessons for high school and undergraduate classes on buoys, data, ocean currents, and more.

Designed as a stand-alone teaching tool or to supplement lessons for educators in both formal and informal settings. Appropriate for students grades K-12, with a focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) objectives.

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.

This unit will introduce you to the basics of the carbon cycle. You will learn how the carbon cycle, climate and the abiotic and biotic components of the environment influence each other in many ways. You will learn how carbon moves throughout the different components of the carbon cycle and where carbon is stored in the Earth's system. Using case studies, NASA visualizations, current research, and interactives, you will explore how living things on land, in soils, and in our ocean regulate the carbon cycle. Because carbon, climate and the environment are tightly coupled, you will analyze the effect of carbon dioxide on the Earth's thermostat and our climate. Finally, you will seek possible solutions to a warming climate.