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.

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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.”

 

Audience

Grade 3-5
Grade 6-8
Grade 9-12
College+
Adults

Resource type

Video

Topic

Ocean and coasts
Marine life
Marine mammals
Sharks, rays, and skates
Aquatic food webs

Special categories

Other languages
Spanish

Collection name

Ocean Today
Ocean Today: Marine life

Even the top predator can become prey. Watch as an orca encounters a great white shark.

Audience

Adults
College+
Grade 9-12

Subject

Earth science

Resource type

Background information

Topic

Climate
Changing seasons

Special categories

Education at home
Instructional strategies

As the earth spins on its axis, producing night and day, it also moves about the sun in an elliptical (elongated circle) orbit that requires about 365 1/4 days to complete. The earth's spin axis is tilted with respect to its orbital plane. This is what causes the seasons.

Audience

Grade 9-12
Grade 6-8
Grade 3-5

Subject

Earth science

Resource type

Video
Background information
Multimedia

Topic

Weather and atmosphere
Weather systems and patterns
Weather observations

Collection name

SciJinks

Wind is a part of weather that we've all experienced at one time or another. And whether it’s a welcome breeze on a hot day, or a destructive gust during a storm, it all starts in the same way: differences in air pressure.

Audience

Grade 9-12
Grade 6-8

Subject

Earth science
Physical science

Resource type

Simulation
Module/unit
Background information
Activities, lessons, and units
Multimedia

Topic

Weather and atmosphere
Weather systems and patterns
Weather observations
Tornadoes
Hurricanes

Meteorology is an excellent topic to introduce middle and high school students to geoscience, physics, chemistry and applied mathematics. Satellite meteorology learning modules provide scientists and educators with exciting activities and hands-on tools for investigation, inquiry, analysis and stewardship. In this module, you will learn about thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and the key features for each type of wild weather using satellite images.

Audience

Adults
College+
Grade 9-12

Subject

Earth science

Resource type

Easy-to-use data product
Data product
Background information

Topic

Climate
Weather and atmosphere
Fires
Climate change impacts

From the National Integrated Drought Information System, the wildfire management page has interactive maps on fire and smoke forecasts, as well as background information on fires.

Audience

Adults
College+
Grade 9-12
Grade 6-8

Subject

Earth science

Resource type

Related story

Topic

Freshwater
Weather and atmosphere
Water cycle
Weather systems and patterns

A look at the historical probability that your Fourth of July picnic will be rained on.

Audience

Grade 9-12
College+
Adults

Subject

Earth science

Resource type

Data product
Advanced data product

Topic

Weather and atmosphere
Weather systems and patterns

This interactive map shows wind data for the United States (but not territories). The interactive map is fairly easy to navigate, but no additional information on how to read this map is available, so it may be a bit tricky for users not familiar with wind data.

Audience

Grade 6-8
Grade 9-12

Subject

Earth science
Life science

Resource type

Activities, lessons, and units
Lesson plan

Topic

Marine life
Seabirds
Ocean and coasts
Ocean pollution and marine debris

NGSS DCI

ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Special categories

Instructional strategies
Hands-on
Inquiry
Models

In this lesson, students will use professional photographs of boluses, donated by David Liittschwager, to perform a “virtual dissection” and analysis. They will compare the amounts of prey and non-prey items found in several boluses. They will consider the sources of these non-prey materials and create a model of a bolus, with which they can educate others.

Audience

Grade 6-8
Grade 9-12

Subject

Earth science
ELA (English Language Arts)
Math
Physical science

Resource type

Activities, lessons, and units
Lesson plan

Topic

Freshwater
Watersheds, flooding, and pollution
Marine life
Seabirds
Ocean and coasts
Ocean pollution and marine debris

NGSS DCI

ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
PS1: Matter and Its Interactions

Special categories

Instructional strategies
Outdoor education

In this lesson, students will go outdoors and examine the potential sources of marine debris on their own campuses. They will analyze what they find and create a campaign to educate other students about marine debris and our own behaviors.

Audience

Grade 9-12
Grade 6-8

Subject

Math
Earth science
Life science

Resource type

Module/unit
Lesson plan
Activities, lessons, and units

Topic

Ocean and coasts
Ocean pollution and marine debris

NGSS DCI

ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
ESS2: Earth’s Systems
LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Special categories

Informal
Education at home
Hands-on
Uses data
Instructional strategies

Albatrosses, charismatic and threatened seabirds, are ambassadors for a clean ocean because they traverse vast oceanic regions searching for floating food. Along their journeys, they ingest plastic trash and feed it to their chicks. These five lessons comprise new and modified activities, using inquiry-based science instruction, aligned to standards for grades 6 – 8 with extensions for grades 9 – 12.