Growing Up in the Ocean

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 activity explores the complex life cycles of marine invertebrates by learning about the life cycle of crab through observation, asking and answering questions as well as learning how to use microscopes. While learning about the life cycle, students are able to explore unique adaptations of marine invertebrates often seen in tidepools of Oregon.

Concepts to teach: Life stages, adaptations and survival

Goals: Students will explore and describe the life stages of crab and the similarities and differences between each body form.

Standards:
3.1L.1, 3.2L.1, 3.3S, 4.2L.1, 4.3S, 5.2L.1, 5.3S

Specific Objectives:

  1. Students will be able to define “larva” and “metamorphosis” and give 3 examples of marine larva found in Oregon’s ocean.
  2. Students will describe an adaptation of a young and adult crab and why that feature is suited to the habitat it lives in at that time as well as the function of that feature.
  3. Students will find and identify at least one similarity and one difference between the 3 different life stages of a crab.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • Growing up in the Ocean lesson plan from the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology
  • The Planet Plankton lesson from the NOAA Estuary Education website offers estuary-based middle school curriculum, but includes general lessons about the importance of plankton in marine invertebrate life cycles, including:
  • The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport offers has a variety of on-site lab classes, outreach programs, and classroom lesson plans for Grades 3-5, including:
    • Plankton Investigation (Gr 3 and 4)—Students discover the world of plankton by using scientific tools to collect microscopic life from the Yaquina Bay, examine the external structures of plankton, and complete the life cycle of a local mystery plankton.
  • The Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) has Plankton educational kits available in some areas in Oregon, including Lincoln County. Download complete lesson plans and resources, and/or check out a kit through the C-MORE website.

Assessment:

  • Worksheets included in the Growing up in the Ocean and The Great Plankton Race lesson plans.
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Habitat Restoration

Stewardship—Habitat Restoration

Summary: Students improve or restore an outdoor habitat to make it more suitable for wildlife.

Concepts to teach: Stewardship, action, sustainability, habitats

Goals: Students use their knowledge about animal habitat requirements to improve or restore a local outdoor space for wildlife.

Standards:
S3.2L.1, S3.4D.1
S4.2L.1, S4.4D.1, S4.4D.2
S5.2L.1, S5.4D.1, S5.4D.2

Specific Objectives:

  1. Describe the environmental characteristics that make local areas suitable for wildlife.
  2. Identify an outdoor site that could be improved or restored so that it will be more suitable for wildlife.
  3. Implement a restoration plan, and provide for its sustainability.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • The National Wildlife Federation assists schools in developing outdoor classrooms called Schoolyard Habitats, where educators and students learn how to attract and support local wildlife.
  • KidsGardening.org has several classroom projects ideas for school gardens that attract and sustain wildlife.
  • 4-H Wildlife Stewards promote science learning and environmental stewardship among youth. They create sustainable wildlife habitat sites on school grounds by inspiring, educating, and connecting communities, schools, and natural resource agencies and organizations.
  • Become a NOAA Ocean Guardian classroom by conducting a stewardship project in your local watershed. See examples of school-based conservation projects for ideas.
  • The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) website has a page of amphibian education resources, including
    • Toad Abode—Create suitable hiding places for toads and to enhance outdoor sites.
  • More restoration project ideas: Butterfly garden, bat house, water feature for birds, bushes for birds, invasive plant removal, etc.
  • Conduct invasive species surveys in the schoolyard or nearby lands. Devise and carry out a plan to remove or reduce the spread of invasive species to maintain suitable habitat for native species.

Assessment:

  • Students present a restoration plan to a school or district administrator, PTA funding group, or other governing body to obtain permission and funding for their project.
  • Students announce and explain characteristics of the finished project to the community through a letter to the local newspaper, video, etc.
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How Do Trees Affect Erosion?

Human Impacts—How Do Trees Affect Erosion?

Summary: Students explore the concept of erosion and how it impacts environments. They also discover how trees and other factors affect erosion.

Concepts to teach: Erosion, impervious surfaces, turbidity, models, scientific inquiry

Goals: Students use a model to discover how trees help prevent erosion and turbidity.

Standards:
S3.2P.1, S3.3S.1, S3.3S.2
S4.2E.1, S4.3S.1, S4.3S.2
S5.3S.1, S5.3S.2

Specific Objectives:

  1. Engage in scientific inquiry by conducting an experiment in the classroom.
  2. Define erosion and its effects on nearby land and water ecosystems.
  3. Determine under what circumstances erosion is likely to occur.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • How Do Trees Affect Erosion?
    • This lesson plan from soundsalmonsolutions.org in Washington outlines the classroom experiment and includes a worksheet and answer key.
    • Lincoln County teachers in the Oregon Coast Aquatic and Marine Science Partnership (OCAMP) used this experiment for a peer-to-peer teaching activity among 6th and 3rd graders. See their presentation that includes teaching objectives, techniques and student assessments.
  • Resources concerning the potential effects of changing turbidity, stream flow and temperature on aquatic species
  • Erosion Inquiry—Students conduct a simple experiment that explores the types of conditions under which erosion occurs in the school yard.

Assessment:

  • Use or develop formative assessment probes to gauge student understanding about the water cycle. The following probes from Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, vol. 1 could be applied or modified (to obtain Uncovering Student Ideas in Science publications or access sample chapters, visit the NSTA website):
    • Beach sand—the purpose of this probe is to elicit students’ ideas about weathering, erosion, deposition, and landforms. It may be used as is, or modified to better relate to a similar concept found in the schoolyard habitat (pebble size in streams, for example).
  • Probe: Rain on the Parking Lot—the purpose of this probe is to elicit students’ ideas about how rainwater interacts with impervious surfaces.
  • Worksheet included in the How Do Trees Affect Erosion? lesson plan.
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How Do Trees Affect Erosion?

Human Impacts—How Do Trees Affect Erosion?

Summary: Students explore the concept of erosion and how it impacts environments. They also discover how trees and other factors affect erosion.

Concepts to teach: Erosion, impervious surfaces, turbidity, models, scientific inquiry

Goals: Students use a model to discover how trees help prevent erosion and turbidity.

Standards:
S6.3S1, S6.3S2
S7.2E.4, S7.3S1, S7.3S2
S8.3S1, S8.3S2

Specific Objectives:

  1. Engage in scientific inquiry by conducting an experiment in the classroom.
  2. Define erosion and its effects on nearby land and water ecosystems.
  3. Determine under what circumstances erosion is likely to occur.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • How Do Trees Affect Erosion?
    • This lesson plan from soundsalmonsolutions.org in Washington outlines the classroom experiment and includes a worksheet and answer key.
    • Lincoln County teachers in the Oregon Coast Aquatic and Marine Science Partnership (OCAMP) used this experiment for a peer-to-peer teaching activity among 6th and 3rd graders. See their presentation that includes teaching objectives, techniques and student assessments.
  • Resources concerning the potential effects of changing turbidity, stream flow and temperature on aquatic species
  • Erosion Inquiry—Students conduct a simple experiment that explores the types of conditions under which erosion occurs in the school yard.

Assessment:

  • Use or develop formative assessment probes to gauge student understanding about the water cycle. The following probes from Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, vol. 1 could be applied or modified (to obtain Uncovering Student Ideas in Science publications or access sample chapters, visit the NSTA website):
    • Beach sand—the purpose of this probe is to elicit students’ ideas about weathering, erosion, deposition, and landforms. It may be used as is, or modified to better relate to a similar concept found in the schoolyard habitat (pebble size in streams, for example).
  • Probe: Rain on the Parking Lot—the purpose of this probe is to elicit students’ ideas about how rainwater interacts with impervious surfaces.
  • Worksheet included in the How Do Trees Affect Erosion? lesson plan.
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How do we know the world is warming?

Introduction—How do we know the world is warming?

Summary: What is climate change? How do we know it is happening? The resources in this topic guide provide an overview to the topic of climate change. Simple explanations and analogies are presented so that students can articulate a big picture view of the issue, with the recognition that these models have been developed based on evidence collected from complex scientific research throughout a number of disciplines. Subsequent sections of the OCEP Climate Change module explore some of these factors in greater depth.

Concepts to teach:

Crosscutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas Science Practices
Stability and Change ESS3.D – Global Climate Change Asking Questions, Analyzing and interpreting data, Engaging in argument from evidence

Goals:

  1. Global climate change is caused by human activities that add excess greenhouse gases into the atmosphere; namely the burning of fossil fuels.
  2. Scientists interpret patterns to construct explanations and come to evidence-based conclusions.
  3. Climate change affects the ocean.
  4. Climate change affects all of us, no matter where we live.

Standards: NGSS Performance Expectations

  • MS-ESS3-5. Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Specific Objectives:
Students will be able to:

  1. Define “global climate change”
  2. Explain how scientific data provide evidence of global climate change
  3. Describe relationships between the ocean and the global climate

Activity Links and Resources:

  • Ten Signs of a Warming World—This NOAA Climate Program Office webpage can be used to explore a variety of indicators that help scientists understand that the world is warming. Download a Power Point presentation to use in your classroom. Each topic slide is link to online data. Many of the examples show specific relationships to ocean systems.

  • The Very, Very Simple Climate Model—This lesson plan is from NESTA Windows to the Universe. Students use an online model to graphically visualize and predict the relationship between CO2 emissions and average global temperature.
    • Notes from CLEAN (Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network) about using the model
  • Reading: How we know what we know about our changing climate by L. Cherry and G. Braash – Described as “a non-scary book about Climate Change Science and Solutions for grades 4 -8”, this book introduces readers to more than 40 climate scientists and their research, and offers practical suggestions that empower students to become citizen scientists and contribute toward solutions.
    • Review of this book from NSTA Recommends

Assessment:

  • Choose a graph from the Warming World Interactive power point and describe what the data show.
  • How do the data serve as an indicator of climate change?
  • Describe three ways the ocean is affected by global climate change.
  • Explain “global climate change” in terms a layperson can understand, using one or more of the following: 1) oral presentation, in less than one minute, 2) one written paragraph, or 3) an infographic
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How do we know the world is warming?

Introduction—How do we know the world is warming?

Summary: What is climate change? How do we know it is happening? The resources in this topic guide provide an overview to the topic of climate change. Simple explanations and analogies are presented so that students can articulate a big picture view of the issue, with the recognition that these models have been developed based on evidence collected from complex scientific research throughout a number of disciplines. Subsequent sections of the OCEP Climate Change module explore some of these factors in greater depth.

Concepts to teach:

Crosscutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas Science Practices
Stability and Change ESS3.D – Global Climate Change Asking Questions, Analyzing and interpreting data, Engaging in argument from evidence

Goals:

  1. Global climate change is caused by human activities that add excess greenhouse gases into the atmosphere; namely the burning of fossil fuels.
  2. Scientists interpret patterns to construct explanations and come to evidence-based conclusions.
  3. Climate change affects the ocean.
  4. Climate change affects all of us, no matter where we live.

Standards: NGSS Performance Expectations

  • MS-ESS3-5. Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Specific Objectives:
Students will be able to:

  1. Define “global climate change”
  2. Explain how scientific data provide evidence of global climate change
  3. Describe relationships between the ocean and the global climate

Activity Links and Resources:

  • Ten Signs of a Warming World—This NOAA Climate Program Office webpage can be used to explore a variety of indicators that help scientists understand that the world is warming. Download a Power Point presentation to use in your classroom. Each topic slide is link to online data. Many of the examples show specific relationships to ocean systems.

  • The Very, Very Simple Climate Model—This lesson plan is from NESTA Windows to the Universe. Students use an online model to graphically visualize and predict the relationship between CO2 emissions and average global temperature.
    • Notes from CLEAN (Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network) about using the model
  • Reading: How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate by L. Cherry and G. Braash – Described as “a non-scary book about Climate Change Science and Solutions for grades 4 -8”, this book introduces readers to more than 40 climate scientists and their research, and offers practical suggestions that empower students to become citizen scientists and contribute toward solutions.
    • Review of this book from NSTA Recommends

Assessment:

  • Interpret a graph from the Warming World Interactive power point and describe how the data serve as an indicator of climate change. What are the limits of the data? What other information would be helpful to have?
  • Pick a scientist from the How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate book and read about his/her research. Relate the researcher’s activities to one or more of the eight NGSS Science and Engineering Practices [link]
  • Describe three ways the ocean is affected by global climate change.
  • Explain “global climate change” in terms a layperson can understand, using one or more of the following: 1) oral presentation, in less than one minute, 2) one written paragraph, or 3) an infographic
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How do we know the world is warming?

Introduction—How do we know the world is warming?

Summary: What is climate change? How do we know it is happening? The resources in this topic guide provide an overview to the topic of climate change. Simple explanations and analogies are presented so that students can articulate a big picture view of the issue, with the recognition that these models have been developed based on evidence collected from complex scientific research throughout a number of disciplines. Subsequent sections of the OCEP Climate Change module explore some of these factors in greater depth.

Concepts to teach:

Crosscutting Concepts

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Science Practices

Stability and Change

ESS3.D – Global Climate Change

Asking Questions, Analyzing and interpreting data, Engaging in argument from evidence

Goals:

    1. Global climate change is caused by human activities that add excess greenhouse gases into the atmosphere; namely the burning of fossil fuels.
    1. Scientists interpret patterns to construct explanations and come to evidence-based conclusions.
    1. Climate change affects the ocean.
  1. Climate change affects all of us, no matter where we live.

Standards: NGSS Performance Expectations

  • HS-ESS3-5. Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.

Specific Objectives:

Students will be able to:

    1. Define “global climate change”
    1. Explain how scientific data provide evidence of global climate change
  1. Describe relationships between the ocean and the global climate

Activity Links and Resources:

    • Ten Signs of a Warming World—This NOAA Climate Program Office webpage can be used to explore a variety of indicators that help scientists understand that the world is warming. Download a Power Point presentation to use in your classroom. Each topic slide is link to online data. Many of the examples show specific relationships to ocean systems.

    • The Teacher-Friendly Guide to Climate Change – This book from the Paleontological Research Institution includes both the basics of climate change science and perspectives on teaching a subject that has become socially and politically polarized.  Great for high school Earth science and environmental science teachers 
    • The Very, Very Simple Climate Model—This lesson plan is from NESTA Windows to the Universe. Students use an online model to graphically visualize and predict the relationship between CO2 emissions and average global temperature.
      • Notes from CLEAN (Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network) about using the model

Assessment:

    • Interpret a graph from the Warming World Interactive power point and describe how the data serve as an indicator of climate change. What are the limits of the data? What other information would be helpful to have?
    • Describe three ways the ocean is affected by global climate change.
  • Explain “global climate change” in terms a layperson can understand, using one or more of the following: 1) oral presentation, in less than one minute, 2) one written paragraph, or 3) an infographic
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How Many Fish?

Human Impacts—How Many Fish?

Summary: How many fish do humans harvest, and can we harvest as many as we can and still expect fish populations to remain stable over time? Through hands-on modeling activities, students explore issues of population ecology and stock management issues in the Pacific Northwest. All of the activities presented here lead to stewardship activities that are listed in the Finding a Balance topic guide.

Concepts to teach: Renewable and non-renewable resources, population ecology, fisheries management, sustainability

Goals: The ocean’s resources are vast but not unlimited. With the help of scientific research and modeling, fisheries managers make rules about fishing so that the industry will remain (or become) sustainable.

Standards:
S3.1L.1, S3.3S.1
S4.1L.1, S4.3S.1
S5.1L.1, S5.3S.1

SS.03.EC.01
SS.05.EC.01, SS.05.GE.07

Specific Objectives:

  1. Recognize that fish populations remain stable when life history characteristics, ecological relationships, and harvesting practices are in balance.
  2. Explain how technology changes success in fishing.
  3. Demonstrate how fisheries managers use scientific research, models, and math to determine how many fish can be harvested.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • From the Alaska Fisheries Science Center:
    • Population Estimation– This narrated learning module introduces the concept of population estimation and then provides five examples using different species to describe the various methods AFSC scientists use to estimate population sizes.
    • Fish Fetch – This activity helps students understand how to estimate population size from samples.
  • Use the NOAA Fisheries: Office of Science and Technology website to download actual data on fish caught from year to year. The site allows you to sort for a specific species such as “salmon, sockeye” and for a location, “Oregon.” Use the data for graphing, finding mean and median, comparing, and other math exercises.
  • NOAA Fisheries Northwest Regional Office School Curricula highlight how scientific evidence and stakeholder input help NOAA Fisheries policy makers and manager to decide on regulations and other actions to conserve and manage the resources for which the agency is responsible.
    • Sustainable Halibut Fisheries
      • Lesson 1—Halibut life history, anatomy and adaptations
      • Lesson 2—Sustainability, technology changes
      • Lesson 3—Data collection and analysis, Halibut Derby activity
    •  Saving Salmon
      • Lesson 1—Salmon Needs and Historical Perspective
      • Lesson 2—Geography, Habitat and Government
  • One Fish, Two Fish—Designed by OIMB Graduate students, this lesson encourages students to find a balance in their fishing practices.
  • Fishing for the Future—This lesson plan from Alaska Sea Grant’s “Alaska Seas and Rivers Curriculum” simulates fishery activity using increasingly sophisticated technology.

Assessment:

  • Assessment worksheets and other tools are included in the NOAA Fisheries curricula.
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How Many Fish?

Human Impacts—How Many Fish?

Summary: How many fish do humans harvest, and can we harvest as many as we can and still expect fish populations to remain stable over time? Through hands-on modeling activities, students explore issues of population ecology and stock management issues in the Pacific Northwest. All of the activities presented here lead to stewardship activities that are listed in the Finding a Balance topic guide.

Concepts to teach: Renewable and non-renewable resources, population ecology, fisheries management, sustainability

Goals: The ocean’s resources are vast but not unlimited. With the help of scientific research and modeling, fisheries managers make rules about fishing so that the industry will remain (or become) sustainable.

Standards:
S6.2L.2, S6.3S.1
S7.2E.1, S7.3S.1
S8.3S.1

Specific Objectives:

  1. Recognize that fish populations remain stable when life history characteristics, ecological relationships, and harvesting practices are in balance.
  2. Explain how technology changes success in fishing.
  3. Demonstrate how fisheries managers use scientific research, models, and math to determine how many fish can be harvested.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • Use the NOAA Fisheries: Office of Science and Technology website to download actual data on fish caught from year to year. The site allows you to sort for a specific species such as “salmon, sockeye” and for a location, “Oregon.” Use the data for graphing, finding mean and median, comparing, and other math exercises.
  • NOAA Fisheries Northwest Regional Office School Curricula highlight how scientific evidence and stakeholder input help NOAA Fisheries policy makers and manager to decide on regulations and other actions to conserve and manage the resources for which the agency is responsible.
    • Sustainable Halibut Fisheries
      • Lesson 1—Halibut life history, anatomy and adaptations
      • Lesson 2—Sustainability, technology changes
      • Lesson 3—Data collection and analysis, Halibut Derby activity
  • One Fish, Two Fish—Designed by OIMB Graduate students, this lesson encourages students to find a balance in their fishing practices.
  • Empty Oceans—This lesson plan from National Marine Sanctuaries focuses on how humans affect seafood species populations.

Assessment:

  • Assessment worksheets and other tools are included in the NOAA Fisheries curricula.
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How Many Fish?

Human Impacts—How Many Fish?

Summary: How many fish do humans harvest, and can we harvest as many as we can and still expect fish populations to remain stable over time? Through hands-on modeling activities, students explore issues of population ecology and stock management issues in the Pacific Northwest. All of the activities presented here lead to stewardship activities that are listed in the Finding a Balance topic guide.

Concepts to teach: Renewable and non-renewable resources, population ecology, fisheries management, sustainability

Goals: The ocean’s resources are vast but not unlimited. With the help of scientific research and modeling, fisheries managers make rules about fishing so that the industry will remain (or become) sustainable.

Standards:
H.3S.1, H.3S.2, H.3S.3

Specific Objectives:

  1. Recognize that fish populations remain stable when life history characteristics, ecological relationships, and harvesting practices are in balance.
  2. Explain how technology changes success in fishing.
  3. Demonstrate how fisheries managers use scientific research, models, and math to determine how many fish can be harvested.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • From the Alaska Fisheries Science Center:
    • Population Estimation—This narrated learning module introduces the concept of population estimation and then provides five examples using different species to describe the various methods AFSC scientists use to estimate population sizes.
    • Fish Fetch—This activity helps students understand how to estimate population size from samples.
  • Use the NOAA Fisheries: Office of Science and Technology website to download actual data on fish caught from year to year. The site allows you to sort for a specific species such as “salmon, sockeye” and for a location, “Oregon.” Use the data for graphing, finding mean and median, comparing, and other math exercises.
  • NOAA Fisheries Northwest Regional Office School Curricula highlight how scientific evidence and stakeholder input help NOAA Fisheries policy makers and manager to decide on regulations and other actions to conserve and manage the resources for which the agency is responsible.
  • Population Dynamics – Selena Hepell, Associate Professor in Fisheries and Wildlife at OSU, developed these lesson plan for undergraduates.
    • Population Estimates—Students conduct a mark-recapture experiment, estimate population size using two different mark-recapture techniques (in both a closed and open system), and learn how to construct a histogram of population estimation data.
      Lab Printable | Answer Sheet
    • Trends—Learn some Excel basics, create graphs of population size through time, fit a trend line to the data, and determine if the trend is significant.
      Lab Printable | Answer Sheet
    • Logistic Model—In this lab, students explore the logistic equation, its behavior under stochastic conditions, and some basic harvest simulations. Includes Answer Sheet.
      Lab Printable | Answer Sheet
    • Potential Biological Removal (PBR) for Whales—Students calculate limits to the allowable human-caused mortality of cetaceans and pinnipeds. Lab Printable
  • Impacts of Invasive Species on marine species populations
    • Olympia Oyster—This library-research lesson from Ocean and Coastal Interdisciplinary Science (OACIS) focuses on the effect a non-native Pacific Oyster has on populations of Olympia Oyster in the Puget Sound region.

Assessment:

  • Assessment worksheets and other tools are included in the NOAA Fisheries curricula.
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