Around Our School
Children take a walk around or near the schoolyard and begin to observe, wonder, and ask questions about aquatic life.
Ocean Impacts
In this investigation, students will work in small groups to research a current issue related to human interaction with the ocean, using Internet and library resources. They will communicate the facts about their issue on a poster, participate in a poster viewing session, and ask questions about the information presented on the other posters created by members of their class.
Fishing for the Future
In this activity, students discuss how methods of fishing have changed, then play a game to explore the idea of sustainable fishing practice. They simulate fishery activity using increasingly sophisticated technology, in different ocean areas. As students progress through the fishing seasons, they will likely overfish their part of the ocean and will have to migrate to other places in the ocean to meet their basic needs.
How Do Scientists Learn about Ecosystems?
In this 3-4 day investigation, students revisit the sea otter mystery story and discuss what scientists did to study sea otters in the Aleutians. They simulate the observation, identification, sampling, and counting methods used by scientists in two different activities, then reflect, discuss, and pose questions about scientific data collection.
Fish Finders
In this investigation, students explore the needs of salmon at each stage of their life cycle, and then go into the field to investigate a local aquatic habitat and its potential as salmon habitat. They observe the physical characteristics of a local area and determine whether they think it is sufficient to sustain salmon.
NEW! Fish Finders investigation aligned with the NGSS.” and link to the NGSS-aligned Fish Finders.