Educator Resource Database
Marine and coastal K-12 educators collaborated to create this database. It is designed to help teachers and informal community educators engage youth in community resiliency, climate change adaptation, and mitigation of coastal hazards.
Search and filter
- Next Generation Science Standards—NGSS alignments are available for most lesson plans and activities
- Grade level
- Topic—coastal hazard types and other topics
- Resource type—lesson plan, citizen science data collection protocol/data sheet, poster
Search the database
Note: As you search for and filter options, it takes a second or two for the table to refresh
“The Blob” Virtual Field Trip
Meet Yosty Storms and learn about the Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred in 1989, and the mystery of dying seabirds occurring in the Gulf of Alaska. Video length 1:42.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Changing Weather Patterns
Lesson Type(s): Video
2018 Top 10 ICC
An infographic factsheet about the top 10 items collected as marine debris during the ICC 2018 CoastWalk series. Items include food wrapped, plastic grocery bags, and plastic bottle caps.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Data Set
Adapting to Climate Change in Alaska
Alaskans from Unalakleet to Kenai to Ketchikan are witnessing changes to their environment due to climate change. Erosion, invasive species, forest fires, flooding, thawing permafrost, melting ice, insect outbreaks, and shifting animal habitats are many of the changes taking place. This video describes how communities are responding with planning and adaptation to these changes as they strive to maintain their lifestyles in the face of climate change. Order as DVD from Alaska Sea Grant Bookstore. $3.75 plus shipping.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Climate Change
Lesson Type(s): Video
Alaska Inuit Food Security Conceptual Framework
Inuit Circumpolar Council brochure that summarizes a report on the holistic, six-dimensional aspects of environmental health as the stability of 1) food availability, 2) Inuit Culture, 3) decision-making power and management of subsistence resources, 4) health & wellness, 5) food resources and 6) accessibility of food resources.
NGSS PE(s): HS=ESS3-4, MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Adaptations to Increase Food Security
Lesson Type(s): Teacher Background
Download
Alaska Ocean Acidification Network
Network of scientists, outreach specialists, and Alaska community members likely to be affected by ocean acidification. Includes videos of scientist interviews that provide models for career development. Additional links are provided to resources related to on-going research, potential impacts, and adaptation to ocean acidif ication and a “find an expert” database to locate and contact scientists involved in the research.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Ocean Acidification, Ocean Chemistry
Lesson Type(s): Teacher Background
Alaska Sea Grant Seas & Watersheds: Ocean and Beach Food Webs
In this unit from the Alaska Seas & Watersheds Curriculum, students investigate marine and intertidal food webs, then collect and observe plankton, and observe food web interactions during a beach field trip. After the field trip, students observe plankton using microscopes and do research to extend their learning about food chains and webs. They construct a model of a food web based on their research and evidence collected on the field trip.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s): 5-LS2-1, 5-PS3-1
Grade Band(s): 3-5, MS
Topic(s): Harmful Algal Blooms, Marine Invertebrates
Lesson Type(s): Activity, Lab
Alaska Seas & Watershed: Coastal Erosion (Problem Based Learning) Project
Coastal Erosion Project: Monitoring & Solving Community Problems Along Alaska Coasts. High School (Grades 9-10) Unit.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Coastal Erosion
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
Alaska Weather Spotter Program
Students can collect and analyze weather data using Alaska Weather Spotter protocols for Northern Alaska. National Weather Service.
NGSS PE(s): MS-ESS3-2, MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Weather
Lesson Type(s): Citizen Science, Data Sheet/Protocol, Presentation
Download
Alaska’s Coast is Vanishing, One Storm at a Time
2017 Scientific American article that describes how coastal erosion rates are increasing and efforts by scientists to monitor the amount of change.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s): MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Coastal Erosion
Lesson Type(s): Article, Teacher Background
Arctic Vessel Traffic in the Bering Strait
2014 article by the Pew Charitable Trusts identifying risks to Bering Strait resources and communities from increased ship traffic in the Bering Strait region due to changes in sea ice.
NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Marine Shipping
Lesson Type(s): Article
Download
Art Exhibition (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)
Lesson plan for an activity culminating exploration of marine debris and creation of art. This activity uses small-scale marine debris sculptures made
during the Ecosystem Effects Station Rotation lesson to create an interactive sculpture that people can walk through to experience the perspective
of animals trying to evade entanglement and find prey in a sea of plastic. Artists’ statements prepared by the students help to synthesize what they have learned and communicate it with the public.
NGSS PE(s): 5-ESS3-1
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Community Involvement, Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Download
Be a Beach Steward (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)
Brief activity to review proper beach stewardship with students. This will help them be will be prepared for field trip experiences and the ways in which their presence and activities on the beach could impact the beach habitat they are trying to study.
NGSS PE(s): K-ESS3-1, K-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Marine Invertebrates
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Download
Bigelow Laboratory: A Community In Crisis
Students participate in a community meeting based on the scenario of a fictional town impacted by a Harmful Algal Bloom.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s): Foundational
Grade Band(s): MS
Topic(s): Adaptations to Increase Food Security, Coastal Hazards, Harmful Algal Blooms
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Bigelow Laboratory: Building a Bloom
Students will devise their own experiments to test the effects of nutrients on algal growth.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Harmful Algal Blooms
Lesson Type(s): Lab
Bigelow Laboratory: Fitting Plankton Into the Food Web
In this lesson from Bigelow Laboratory, students learn about the basics of food webs and trophic levels. Then they compare more familiar terrestrial food webs with marine food webs, using cards with information about various marine organisms to create their own model of a food web.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s): 5-LS2-1, MS-LS2-2
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Harmful Algal Blooms
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Bigelow Laboratory: Help, It’s An HAB
Students research different responses to Harmful Algal Blooms, presenting the benefits and drawbacks of solutions designed to detect, prevent, or remediate HABs.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s): Foundational
Grade Band(s): MS
Topic(s): Adaptations to Increase Food Security, Coastal Hazards, Harmful Algal Blooms
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Bigelow Laboratory: Help, It’s An HAB
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) negatively impact organisms in a variety of ways that can range from cell and tissue damage to organism death. Although toxin production is one of the major mechanisms by which the blooms cause such severe damage, there are several other consequences of HABs.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s): Foundational
Grade Band(s): MS
Topic(s): Harmful Algal Blooms
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Bigelow Laboratory: Tracing the Toxins
The ways that toxins move through the food web are demonstrated through an active game, followed by critical reading of research on the impacts HAB toxins may have on other animals.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s): Foundational
Grade Band(s): MS
Topic(s): Harmful Algal Blooms
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Birds & Plastic Ingestion
Presentation slides on the impacts of marine debris on marine animals when they are ingested.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Presentation
Changing Landscapes, REACH Up curriculum for Bering Straits School District
This online curriculum includes middle school and high school coastal erosion units with student and teacher guides as well as units at lower grades to build understandings about how the Earth and landforms change as a result of the action of wind and water. Learning local indigenous and scientific vocabulary words and inclusion of traditional knowledge and long-term observations of change is emphasized. Middle school and high school lesson plans guide students through calculating shoreline erosion rates using aerial imagery and Landsat remote sensing images on GoogleEarth. These lesson plans could be adapted to be relevant to other regions. Aligned with Alaska state science standards (GLEs) and cultural standards.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s): 2-ESS1-1, 4-ESS2-1, MS-ESS2-2, MS-ESS3-2, MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Coastal Erosion
Lesson Type(s): Activity, Images & Visualizations
Chunks of Alaska Coast Fall into the Sea
An article detailing collapsing coastlines, and why the 20-foot cliffs at Drew Point are losing much of their mass to the ocean.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Coastal Erosion
Lesson Type(s): Article
Climate Change and Alaska Fisheries
2016 summary of research about the anticipated impacts of changing weather patterns and ocean conditions on Alaska salmon and marine fisheries, including “take home” messages and recommendations about what fisheries managers, individuals, and communities can do to adapt.
NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Climate Change, Marine Fishes, Salmon
Lesson Type(s): Article, Teacher Background
Download
Climate Change and Subsistence: What It Means and How Alaskans Can Adapt
Factsheet on the potential effects of a warmer global climate in terms of observable changes such as less ice cover, more wildfires, and thawiing permafrost. Subsistence target species are harder to find, and it is more difficult to travel in some parts of Alaska. Adaptation strategies are alsos discussed. Free download from the Alaska Sea Grant Bookstore.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Climate Change, Food Security
Lesson Type(s): Article, Teacher Background
Download
Coastal Erosion Monitoring Field Trip
A high school Unit Beach/Shoreline Erosion Monitoring project which involves surveying a beach profile.
NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Coastal Erosion
Lesson Type(s): Data Sheet/Protocol, Field Trip, Lesson Plan
Coastal Monitoring StoryMap
A StoryMap detailing how Barrow’s coastlines are increasingly eroding due to climate warming and the significant loss of Arctic sea ice.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Coastal Erosion
Lesson Type(s): Article, Images & Visualizations
Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST)
Rigorous citizen science project that trains coastal residents in their communities to conduct monthly beach surveys to collect data on beachcast birds, marine debris, and evidence of human use of the beach environment. The data is used by scientists to understand seabird population dyamics and large die-off events. Recommended at the high school level in partnership with local bird experts.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s): MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Harmful Algal Blooms, Making Observations, Oil Spills, Pollution, Seabirds
Lesson Type(s): Activity, Citizen Science, Data Set
Coastal Observers of Barrow Community Based Monitors (How To Video)
The Coastal Observers of Barrow have released a training video for measuring beach profiles and evaluating coastal hazards. The video was produced by youth monitors and their families. It is part of an effort to recruit more citizen scientists in the region and expand community-centered coastal monitoring efforts in response to increasing environmental hazards along the coasts. The video provides a resource for students to generate deeper understanding of coastal hazards, a guide to coastal monitoring, and a collection of action steps that can be taken to support coastal community resilience.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): All Ages
Topic(s): Coastal Erosion, Community Involvement, Erosion, Making Observations
Lesson Type(s): Video
CoastWalk 2018 Data
Data from the 2018 CoastWalk, that details all the different types of land based and marine based materials that were found washed up on the shores.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s):
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Data Set
CoastWalk Data By Plastic Type
This data describes some common plastic products collected during the 2012 CoastWalk in Kachemak Bay. Items collected during the clean up are divided into categories based upon typical uses of the item, rather than plastic type number. However, because certain types of plastic are used commonly for certain products, it is possible to make a guess as to the likely plastic type(s) for each category.
NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Data Set
CoastWatch Beach Survey (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)
Lesson plan for a field trip activity for beach monitoring focused on marine debris clean up and biodiversity surveys.
NGSS PE(s): MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris, Marine Invertebrates
Lesson Type(s): Activity, Field Trip
Download
CoastWatch: Albatross Bolus Investigation
A classroom activity where students will learn how plastics and other marine debris can become lodged in the stomachs of multiple species of Albatross.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: Art Exhibition
Students will connect their personal consumer choices with the effects of marine debris on the marine environment. They will understand that certain types of marine debris can entangle marine organisms, and that small pieces of debris are often ingested by animals. They will finalize a collaborative sculpture from marine debris representing the surface of the ocean choked with intertwined debris and dangling pieces of photo-degraded debris to help people understand and connect with issues of marine debris.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: Bioaccumulation Tag
Students will understand that ingestion and toxic pollution are two major effects of marine debris. They will be able to describe the process of bioaccumulation as it relates to plastics and toxic pollutants attached to plastic.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, K-2
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: Currents and Coriolis
Students will understand that density differences drive global and local patterns of wind and water currents. They will recognize how Coriolis effect influences wind and current patterns, and how this can create ocean gyres.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: Designing Debris Solutions
Students connect their own consumer and community choices to the four sources of marine debris and design solutions to the marine debris problem.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: Entanglement Challenge
A short activity for students to learn what animals are most likely to become entangled in marine debris, and why it can be very difficult for marine animals to escape once they are entangled.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Activity
CoastWatch: Feeding Frenzy
A short activity where students learn how marine debris can be transferred into the stomachs of seabirds and fishes.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Activity
CoastWatch: Fishing Line Tug of War
A game of tug of war, using a fishing line. This activity demonstrates to students how difficult it is for marine animals to break or break free from fishing line when they have become entangled.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Activity
CoastWatch: Gyre Dangle Sculptures
A creative activity where students create a marine debris gyre dangle sculpture. These are to be added to the “Top of the Ocean” mat.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Activity
CoastWatch: Marine Debris Intro
A CoastWatch Curriculum background information sheet detailing what marine debris is, a brief history of plastic, how marine debris is transported around the ocean, how it is monitored, and the effects of this polution.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Article
CoastWatch: Marine Debris Masks
Students will connect their personal consumer choices with the effects of marine debris on the marine environment. They will understand that plastics break into smaller pieces through photodegradation. They will create an aesthetically powerful personal mask from collected debris with the purpose of informing and connecting others to the issue of marine debris.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: Marine Debris Source Sorting Relay
Students will be able to recognize four major sources of marine debris and connect their own consumer and community choices to the four sources of marine debris.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: Midway Atoll Case Study
A fact sheet about Albatross plastic ingestion on Midway Atoll. The fact sheet discusses how these endangered birds are being heavily impacted on a remote atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Article
CoastWatch: Ocean Full of Debris Game
Students will recognize that container ship spills contribute to the problem of marine debris. They will connect their own consumer and community choices to this source of marine debris.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: Plastic Polymer Lab
Students will understand important characteristics about plastics and how these properties affect the fate of plastic as marine debris. They will connect their personal use of plastics with the problems of marine debris.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: Plastics in Society
Students will understand important characteristics about plastics and how these properties affect the fate of plastic as marine debris. They will connect their personal use of plastics with the problems of marine debris, and design ways to minimize the improper disposal of plastics.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: Predicting the Path of Marine Debris
Students will understand that air and water have different densities at different temperatures and that these density differences drive global and local patterns of air and water movement in wind and currents. They will recognize how Coriolis effect influences wind and current patterns, and how this can create ocean gyres. They will create a flow-chart of plastic movement to the ocean, detailing how physical factors power this movement and how people can stop it.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan
CoastWatch: RCAC Popcorn Spill
Students will estimate the environmental impact of a simulated oil spill, containership spill, or other pollution and will understand the impact of winds and currents on marine pollution.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Activity, Field Trip
CoastWatch: Science From Bath Toys Case Study
The of how bath toys floated around the world after a cargo ship was hit by a storm. The story was pieced together by Curtis Ebbesmeyer, Oceanographer and beachcomber, adapted from the Alaska Seas and Rivers Curriculum, Alaska Sea Grant.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Article
CoastWatch: Seas and Rivers- Human Coastal Connection
Students will understand how humans are connected to the ocean and other living things. They will appreciate their own connections to the ocean.
Link: Visit websiteNGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Lesson Plan