NOAA Sea to Sky: Education resource database

NOAA Boulder has a virtual video tour for kids and adults. Learn about all of the interesting research and projects being done by NOAA staff and affiliates in Boulder, Colorado!

The Washed Ashore Project uses community art created from marine debris with the help of thousands of volunteers to raise awareness about plastic pollution in order to spark changes in the consumer habits that have generated this global issue. With NOAA support, Washed Ashore has worked to create a curriculum based on the goals of our project. The lessons bring together art and science to help students understand the plastic pollution issue and communicate about it using the language of the arts.

When you're out boating, sailing, or even kayaking, you may be closer than you think to whales. So, here's what you need to know to respect their space and keep them safe in their home.

This activity package provides: 1. An overview of multibeam sonar. 2. Specific case studies with a variety of multibeam sonar 3D image files, and guides for student exploration. 3. Step-by-step usage tool guides for the Ocean Exploration Digital Atlas (a searchable, interactive expedition data map) and a free version of Fledermaus, a powerful interactive mapping data visualization software used by ocean explorers, so that students can have first-hand experience using these tools to explore multibeam sonar capabilities in 3D. 4. Specific expedition website links for more information and resources. 5. Resource links for further exploration.

This activity is designed to expose students to the larval forms of many animals found in the estuary. In order for students to determine which “water baby” they are, they must ask their classmates questions about their baby’s characteristics to help them guess who they are.

Tides and tide-like water level changes can greatly affect the nation's estuaries. Water normally moves into and out of estuaries through the estuary's "mouths," or areas that open out into the ocean or lake. High water levels keep the estuary mouths very open and wide, whereas low water levels may cause the mouths to become closed due to sediment and sand movements. Mouth closures prevent the exchange of water between the estuary and the ocean or lake. This can mean death from estuary plant and animal species if dissolved oxygen levels are affected. In this activity, students will examine the effects of tides on estuaries, and look at real data to understand the effect on dissolved oxygen levels before and after a mouth closure.

The Nisqually River Education Project’s (NREP) mission is to provide students service learning projects that link Washington State learning goals and standards with local environmental issues, inspiring stewardship of the Nisqually Watershed and the world. This interactive, online portal is meant to provide students the background information they need to know in order to understand water quality testing. The portal is also a repository for the data that will be collected. Look for the online field notebook that accompanies this portal.

Commonly defined as tornadoes over water, waterspouts can be both beautiful and dangerous.

Water is the most abundant and important substance on Earth. It is essential to life and is a major component of all living things. There are approximately 336,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons of water on the earth, existing in three states; solid, liquid and gas. The sources for this water storage are the ocean, icecaps & glaciers, ground water, fresh-water lakes, inland seas, soil moisture, atmosphere, and rivers. The students will discover the different water ratios in the earth's total water supply through a quick demonstration activity.

Explore water level data from coastal monitoring stations in the United States.