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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.”
- Activities, lessons, and units (105)
- Arts and crafts (1)
- Background information (99)
- Career profile (50)
- Citizen science project (2)
- Collection (100)
- Coloring/activity book (15)
- Contest (1)
- Data product (56)
- Job seeker resource (6)
- Multimedia (370)
- NOAA Education resource collection (7)
- Poster/brochure (12)
- Related story (65)
- Climate (278)
- Freshwater (164)
- Marine life
(483)
- Adaptations (11)
- Aquatic food webs (58)
- Coral reef ecosystems (86)
- Conservation (31)
- Ecosystems (116)
- Endangered species (20)
- Entanglement (17)
- Fish (100)
- Fisheries and seafood (112)
- Invasive marine species (9)
- Invertebrates (91)
- Life in an estuary (36)
- Marine mammals (136)
- Plankton (15)
- Salmon (23)
- Sea turtles (64)
- Seabirds (31)
- Seaweed, algae, and aquatic plants (24)
- Sharks, rays, and skates (39)
- NOAA careers (28)
- (-)
Ocean and coasts
(667)
- 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 (86)
- 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 (293)
- Weather and atmosphere (328)
- ESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe (2)
- ESS2: Earth’s Systems (30)
- ESS3: Earth and Human Activity (36)
- ETS1: Engineering Design (20)
- LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes (10)
- LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics (27)
- LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits (1)
- LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity (15)
- PS1: Matter and Its Interactions (25)
- PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions (3)
- PS3: Energy (5)
- PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer (6)
- Adopt a Drifter Program (1)
- B-WET grantee (4)
- Bite-sized Science webinar series (1)
- CIRES/NOAA Science@Home webinar (1)
- CLEAN climate and energy education resource collection (1)
- Climate change in Alaska video series (1)
- Data in the Classroom (3)
- Deep Ocean Education Project Website (1)
- Deep ocean fact sheets (1)
- Deep-sea dialogues (2)
- Diving Deeper podcast (2)
- Do you NOAA? (1)
- EarthLabs (1)
- ELP grantee (2)
- Estuary Education website (1)
- Exploring our fluid Earth (1)
- Faces of the National Weather Service (1)
- Finding fish hotspots and mapping coral reefs (1)
- H.O.M.E.S. at Home webinars (1)
- JetStream: An online school for weather (1)
- Making Waves podcast (4)
- Marine Careers: A Sea Grant guide to ocean opportunities (1)
- Marine Debris at-home collection (1)
- Marine Debris Program posters (1)
- Marine Debris STEAMSS (4)
- Marine Debris Toolkit (1)
- Maritime Archaeology (1)
- MOSAiC: Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate videos (1)
- MOSAiC: Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate virtual reality tours (1)
- National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) (1)
- National Marine Ecosystem Status (1)
- National Marine Sanctuaries Webinar Series: Archived webinars (3)
- NOAA and the Octonauts podcast (1)
- NOAA Boulder Labs: Meet our team (1)
- NOAA Boulder Virtual 8th Grade Science Days (1)
- NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps (1)
- NOAA Digital Coast (2)
- NOAA Fisheries YouTube (1)
- NOAA Live! 4 Kids (1)
- NOAA Live! Alaska (1)
- NOAA Marine Debris Program (5)
- NOAA Ocean Podcast (1)
- NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer: Education materials collection (1)
- Ocean Acidification Communication Toolkit: Dungeness crab case study (1)
- Ocean Exploration careers (2)
- Ocean Exploration educational materials (8)
- Ocean Exploration facts (2)
- Ocean facts (3)
- Ocean Today (237)
- Octonauts Corner (1)
- Oregon Marine Scientist and Educator Alliance (ORSEA) (1)
- Pacific Tsunami Warning Center animations and short videos (1)
- Sanctuaries 360 virtual dives (1)
- Sanctuaries LIVE Interactions (1)
- Sanctuaries media gallery (1)
- Sanctuaries resource collection: Coral reef ecosystems (1)
- Sanctuaries resource collection: Ocean sound and impact of noise (3)
- Science On a Sphere catalog (6)
- SciJinks (3)
- Sea Grant podcasts (5)
- Sea-Earth-Atmosphere (SEA) resources (1)
- Signals of Spring ACES (Animals in Curriculum-based Ecosystem Studies) (1)
- Teacher at Sea (2)
- Underwater robot education theme (1)
- Women in science profiles (1)
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There is increasing concern that human-made noises may affect marine animals, especially whales. An international team of scientists and underwater sound experts conducted a study at a U.S. Navy listening range to study the impact.
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Hurricanes and severe storms bring high winds, rain, strong waves, and storm surges that can damage or destroy your home, boat, or other property, can put your family or business at risk, and have the potential to create a large amount of marine debris. This document runs through some basic steps to prepare for storms and prevent your property from becoming marine debris.
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The first tsunami vertical evacuation center in North America is at an elementary school in Greys Harbor County, WA. Watch to learn about tsunamis, and how the evacuation center could save hundreds of lives.
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Ella M. White Elementary fifth-grade students visited Thunder Bay River in the northeast Michigan watershed, where they used nets to trawl for plastics and were shocked to find microplastics in the water. After analyzing samples from the river, fifth-grader Tucker Bright said, “If there are this many microplastics in this little sample, just imagine how many there are in the Great Lakes!” To raise awareness about finding plastics in the river and finding solutions to this problem, these Alpena Public Schools students developed a film, “Plastics 101.”
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At Florida A&M University’s Environmental Sciences Institute, students now have the opportunity to join a program that gives them access to the biggest science lab in the world … the ocean.
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Trash seems to be everywhere … blowing in the streets, perching in trees above creeks, and washing ashore on our nation’s coasts. Maybe that’s because people in the U.S. generated 262 million tons of solid waste in 2015 with about 13% of that being plastics — that’s equivalent to nearly 21 million school buses.
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Long-term small-boat based studies in the main Hawaiian Islands have revealed amazing information on 11 resident species of whales and dolphins, as well as migratory and open-ocean species that visit the islands. Studies in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have been more limited due to logistics of vessel surveys. Comparisons of sightings and tagging data from the two areas suggest that there are resident populations of many species of dolphins and whales in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument that have yet to be recognized. Join research biologist Robin Baird of Cascadia Research Collective who will compare what is, and isn't, known about whales and dolphins throughout the Hawaiian archipelago.
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To collect data about ocean temperature and other measurements, fleet of underwater floats—called ARGO—have been deployed at more than 3,000 spots around the world. Using this data, scientists can create temperature maps and we can learn how much and how fast the ocean is warming.
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NGSS DCI
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The guide is designed to be a resource for activities and information that can fit into existing lesson plans or can be followed verbatim as its own set of lesson plans. Whether you have one hour, one day or one week, the information and activities in this guide will allow you to develop a personalized marine debris education program.
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In this lesson, students will learn about tectonic plate movement, types, and boundaries, and the relationship between tectonic plate movements and earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis.