NOAA Sea to Sky: Education resource database

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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.
  • iPhone or iPad: Press and hold the link. Select “open in new tab” from the pop-up menu.
  • Android device: Press and hold the link. Select “open in new tab” from the pop-up menu

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.”

 

Audience

Adults
College+
Grade 9-12
Grade 6-8

Subject

Engineering and technology
Earth science

Resource type

Related story

Topic

Technology and engineering
Ocean and coasts
Oil spills

In the decade since the largest oil spill in American history, scientists have advanced lessons learned during the Deepwater Horizon response and assessment to prepare for future oil spill disasters.

Audience

Adults
College+
Grade 9-12
Grade 6-8

Subject

Earth science

Resource type

Career profile

Topic

Ocean and coasts
Oil spills

Emergency responder, Doug Helton, is used to people asking what he does between spills, and they are surprised to learn that thousands of oil and chemical spills occur every year in U.S. waters. Planning and responding to those keeps Doug plenty busy. Most of these spills are thankfully small and rarely make the news, but even small spills, such as a diesel spill from a fishing vessel sinking in a harbor, can be a threat to marine life and a process to clean up.

Audience

Adults
College+
Grade 9-12
Grade 6-8

Subject

Engineering and technology
Earth science

Resource type

Related story

Topic

Technology and engineering
Ocean and coasts
Oil spills

As we go back in time to the day of our country’s largest marine oil spill, the Deepwater Horizon in 2010, we learn what’s happened since then, and how we’re better prepared for future spills.

Audience

Adults
College+
Grade 9-12

Subject

Social studies
Life science

Resource type

Background information

Topic

Marine life
Fisheries and seafood

Special categories

Region
Alaska region
Cultural heritage

This textbook level eBook presents events, places, people, research, ships and technology that have shaped federal marine fisheries research in Alaska.

Audience

Adults
College+
Grade 9-12
Grade 6-8

Subject

Social studies
Earth science

Resource type

Background information

Topic

Weather and atmosphere
Weather observations

Weather observations, including temperature, moisture, pressure, and wind speed and direction, are the basis for the weather forecasts we rely on every day. NOAA’s National Weather Service has been observing the weather since the 19th century and continues to serve as the primary source of weather data, forecasts, and warnings for the United States.

Audience

Grade 6-8
Grade 9-12
College+
Adults

Subject

Earth science
Engineering and technology

Resource type

Related story

Topic

Climate
Climate data monitoring
Ocean and coasts
Ocean acidification
Technology and engineering
Buoys

NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in partnership with the Marine Research Institute in Iceland deployed the first high-latitude ocean acidification monitoring buoy in the Atlantic Ocean in early August. The moored buoy is the first of its kind to be deployed north of the Arctic circle in a region where very little is known about how carbon dioxide (CO2) is entering the ocean environment.

Audience

Adults
College+
Grade 9-12
Grade 6-8

Subject

Earth science
Physical science

Resource type

Background information

Topic

Ocean and coasts
Ocean acidification

An introduction to pH and how it relates to the ocean from the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.

Audience

Grade 9-12
College+
Adults

Subject

Earth science
Engineering and technology

Resource type

Background information

Topic

Space
Space weather
Technology and engineering
Satellites

Space Weather describes the conditions in space that affect Earth and its technological systems. Space Weather is a consequence of the behavior of the Sun, the nature of Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, and our location in the solar system.

Audience

Grade 9-12

Subject

Life science

Resource type

Activities, lessons, and units
Lesson plan

Topic

Marine life
Coral reef ecosystems
Conservation

NGSS DCI

LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Special categories

Instructional strategies
Hands-on
Models

Students will design a functional model of a coral reef ecosystem while answering the following focus question: What physiological, ecological, and behavioral strategies contribute to the success of reef-building corals?

Audience

Grade 6-8
Grade 9-12
College+
Adults

Subject

Earth science

Resource type

Related story

Topic

Climate
Climate change impacts
Climate data monitoring
Cryosphere

The most ambitious research expedition ever to target the central Arctic got underway as the German icebreaker R/V Polarstern pulled out of Tromso on September 20, 2019, destined for an ice floe where it will serve as a drifting base for hundreds of scientists during the next 13 months.