Friends of the Sea

Overview

Students discuss stewardship actions and develop an action plan that they will carry out as a class. They host a “Friends of the Sea” party to involve the school and community in their stewardship efforts and to share the results of their investigations.
Activity Type
Project
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Class Time
200+ minutes
Level
Grade 5
Location
Classroom

Focus Questions

  • How can we be stewards of the ocean?

Enduring Understandings

  • Connections between humans and the ocean are important.
  • Everyone is responsible for caring for the ocean.
  • Science is a way to help us study the many connections in our world.

Engage

30 Minutes
Review the issues that students researched in the Ocean Impacts activity and their answers to the fourth research question, “What action can we take to help solve the problem?” Review the analysis of their local field investigation. Brainstorm ideas for a stewardship action project that the class can carry out.

Explore

60+ minutes, depending on project
Choose a stewardship project to do as a class. It might be:

  • A public information campaign to include fliers, posters, news articles, and/or radio spots.
  • A letter and/or petition to elected officials requesting a change in policies or regulations that affect the health of the ocean, with signatures collected from the community.
  • A community-wide cleanup campaign that might include a cleanup day, placement of trash cans in strategic places, etc.
  • Plans for collection of materials that can be recycled.
  • Plastic bag reduction efforts such as distribution of cloth shopping bags, re-use of plastic bags.
  • Another project that is important to the class or the community.

Set a date for a school/community event to be hosted by your class for a “Friends of the Sea” party during which you will share your research and involve the school and community in your stewardship project.

Make a plan for getting the project accomplished.

  • List the tasks that will need to be completed and sketch out a timeline.
  • Develop committees for supplies, communications, art, decorations, food, or whatever else is needed.
  • Carry out the plan.

Explain

60-120 minutes
Host the Friends of the Sea party and share the research posters and papers from Ocean Impacts activity. Student groups can be situated at stations with their posters to explain their findings and answer questions.

Explain the stewardship project to the attendees with a presentation, flyers, a poster, sign-up sheets, distribution of bags, and/or other means.

Eat seafood, play games, and celebrate the sea!

Elaborate

30 minutes
After the stewardship project has been completed, have students reflect on the process in their science notebooks, and then debrief as a class.

Some possible writing and discussion questions might be:

  • What went well?
  • What could have worked better and why?
  • Were there difficulties you faced in trying to change peoples’ habits?
  • How did you handle disagreements or differences of opinion?
  • How would you expand and extend the project?
  • How did the use of scientific data help your project?

Evaluate

20 Minutes
Return to the KWL chart created at the beginning of the unit, and discuss what students have learned. Ask them to write a paragraph or two about each of the “Enduring Understandings” in their science notebooks, demonstrating the important things they have learned from the unit.

Curricular Connections

Language Arts. Students will have an opportunity to practice public speaking and persuasive communication.

Mathematics. Students may use their mathematics skills to calculate and estimate supplies, costs, food quantities, or other aspects of their project.

Art. Students can design fliers, decorations, etc.

Social Studies. This investigation provides opportunities for citizenship and for learning about public policy.

Ideas for adapting to different local environment or context:
Use food and resources from local aquatic environment and theme.

Teacher Needs

Teacher Prep

  • Read through all of the lesson materials and background information.
  • Consider possible stewardship projects
  • Make arrangements for Friends of the Sea Celebration
  • Collect the materials needed

Materials List

  • Posters and papers from Ocean Impacts
  • Graphs or displays from Human Impact Survey
  • Art supplies, decorations, food for celebration as needed
  • Supplies for stewardship project as needed

Student Needs

Prior Knowledge

Students will need to have completed Ocean Impacts and Human Impact Survey activities to do this activity.

Vocabulary

Conservation, Contribution, Preservation, Stewardship

Related Lessons

Human Related, Oceans/Coast, Watersheds/Rivers

Standards

Science GLEs Addressed

  • 3rd grade: SE1.1, SE2.1, SE3.1
  • 4th grade: SE1.1, SE2.1, SE3.1
  • 5th grade: SE1.1, SE2.1, SE3.1

Other GLEs Addressed

Reading, Writing, Math

Ocean Literacy Principles

  • The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
  • The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected.