About the Alaska Waters Education Resources
High-quality, place-based lessons and activities that engage and inspire Alaskan youth and support informal and formal educators.
These resources:
- Promote hands-on science through developmentally appropriate activities and content.
- Incorporate best practices and available technologies into curricula and instruction to create effective and dynamic learning environments.
- Include resources for instructional strategies, assessment, and moving beyond the classroom.
- Investigate the local environment to connect science concepts to the real world.
- Reflect the richness and diversity of Alaska.
- Foster respect and appreciation for the environment in our future decision-makers.
- Establish and celebrate community connections.
- Align with state science content standards.
Alaska Waters is an educator resource that has evolved over time through Alaska Sea Grant education and outreach efforts. Its purpose is to provide informal and formal Alaskan educators with place-based lessons and activities to engage youth in science related to our oceans, coasts, and waterways. Originally created as complete grade level curriculums to support Alaska Seas and Rivers Week, the current site has been updated to include the original full curriculums and to act as a searchable database for any and all lessons and activities that connect Alaska’s youth to their watery surroundings.
The current site is searchable by lesson topic, location (classroom, large space, or outside), activity type, grade level, and technology needs.
Additionally, a searchable, filterable resource section is included to provide resources such as data, images, videos, and articles related to resilience, climate change adaptation, and mitigation of coastal hazards. Resources are available for topics including: changing weather patterns, coastal erosion, harmful algal blooms, marine debris, and ocean acidification.
If you’d like a PDF of any lessons, if you have any lessons or activities to add to this site, or if you have some content you’d like created and added please reach out to Leigh Lubin.
If you use these resources, please send a brief email letting us know! The resources remain free when we have documentation that it is being utilized.
Project History
Alaska Sea/River Week began with a grassroots effort by parents in Juneau in 1968 to celebrate the ocean’s bounty. The concept and related learning activities quickly spread to classrooms and communities across the state during the 1970s. The curriculum was expanded to include Alaska’s wetlands in the 1980s, and the Alaska Sea Grant Program produced the six-volume Alaska Sea/River Week curriculum. Each volume, from kindergarten through sixth grade, featured a different ocean and freshwater theme.
Governor Jay Hammond recognized the value and importance of the Sea/River Week curriculum by issuing an executive proclamation on February 4, 1982, establishing April 23–May 11 as “Alaska Sea Weeks,” and encouraging residents “to learn about and gain a greater appreciation of the wonder and beauty of the ocean.”
The National Science Teachers Association recognized the Alaska Sea/River Week program as one of its exemplary science programs in 1986. Alaska Sea Grant’s national award-winning Alaska Sea/River Week curriculum provided a critical link for teachers and students to learn about their local marine environment.
In May 2006, Alaska Sea Grant was successful in partnering with school districts and other Alaska science education providers to obtain a three-year grant from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development to begin the process of updating and expanding the Alaska Sea/River Week curriculum for grades K-8. Today, beyond creating the link to local resources, we believe it is crucial to provide students with opportunities to gain depth of knowledge in science content, inquiry skills and processes, and understanding of cultural and social perspectives, and also to make connections between newly attained knowledge and technology to their own community. The guides are designed to meet the demands of education in the 21st century, align with the newly adopted Alaska Science Content Standards and Grade Level Expectations, and incorporate Web-supported delivery systems. Project partners include Alaska Ocean Observing System, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, Alaska Science Consortium, Juneau School District, Lower Kuskokwim School District, and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District. The project was coordinated by Marla Brownlee.