Place—Mapping the Connection Summary: This focus area begins with the recognition that the ability to read and understand maps is essential to place-based learning, and can help students construct ideas about the relationship between where they live and the ocean. Students practice reading different kinds of maps, and they use maps to find out how […]
Coastal Habitats & Species—Growing Up in the Ocean Summary: Most students are aware that plants and animals come in all shapes and sizes and many undergo metamorphosis during their life cycle. Marine invertebrates like sea stars, crabs and sea urchins have microscopic pelagic larval stages that are very different from their familiar adult forms. This […]
Introduction—Tidepool Inquiry Summary: These field activities introduce students of all ages to the intertidal habitats of rocky shores while safely exploring tidepools. Using guided inquiry and structured group investigation, students will observe species living in this diverse habitat to make hypothesis about adaptations and interactions that are occurring in the community. Concepts to teach: Rocky […]
Introduction—Beach Explorers Summary: This topic guide features three beach activities from the Surfrider Foundation. The first two activities introduce students to the vastness of Earth’s oceans by way of exploring global geography and calculating percentages. Students share in small groups about what they know and enjoy about visiting beaches and shorelines near the ocean, lakes […]
Coastal Ecology—Web of Life Summary: In this activity students will discover how the plants and animals of the estuary are connected to each other. Concepts to teach: Interactions and change, balance, food chains, community interactions, interconnectedness. Goals: Students will understand the interdependence of all living things in an estuarine ecosystem because of their shared food […]
Coastal Ecology—Surveying the Shoreline Summary: Wrack, the debris cast ashore, wash up along many tidally influence shores in Oregon and are often a main nutrient source for communities living along a shoreline habitat. The source of the wrack varies depending on the location, but time and again evidence of the watershed to ocean connection is […]
Coastal Ecology—Tidal Flat Exploration Summary: “A structured experience for students to investigate the life of the tidal flats of the estuary and explore the relationship between sediments, elevation, and the life beneath surface.” Concepts to teach: Marine and Coastal Ecosystems, Habitats, Estuaries, English, Math Goals: Students will be able to identify who lives in a […]
Coastal Ecology—Salt Marsh Mania Summary: In this activity, students will explore the range of diversity of salt marsh plants. As an introduction, students will learn how to draw and describe key characteristics of familiar plant samples in the classroom. In the field, students will work to observe salt marsh diversity through a variety of sampling […]
Coastal Habitats & Species—The Brant Project Summary: Studying and monitoring shorebirds exposes students to a host of natural history and ecological principles that play a role in some of the longest migration found on earth. The Brant Monitoring Project has been developed for classrooms along the Pacific Flyway to participate in an on-going international monitoring […]
Coastal Habitats & Species—Estuary in a Bottle Summary: This lesson is a fun, hands-on activity to give students and introductory activity to better understand how salty ocean water and fresh water interact and mix in an estuary. Concepts to teach: Tidal cycles, interconnectedness, estuaries Goals: Students will be able to describe physical features of fresh, […]