from 50 Ways to Save the Ocean – The Teacher’s Guide

1: Go to the Beach 

 

For many of us, our sense of wonder over our blue-marble planet began with a trip to the beach. The beach still remains the number one outdoor recreational activity for all Americans, with some 68 million of us hitting the ocean sand every year.

Looking out over a vast and seemingly unknowable ocean, or looking through a face mask into a world of brightly colored fish and corals, can also begin a child’s transformation—the realization that each of us is something much larger than ourselves, something both mysterious and deeply attractive.

To keep this time special we need to take care of the beaches we visit, whether for a day, a weekend or a summer. And to take care of the beaches, we need to enlist the help of the younger generations.
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Coastal Clash

Source: KQED – Classroom Science
Project: Water Motion
Link: www.kqed.org/w/coastalclash/classroom-science.html

In this lesson: Students are given an opportunity to interact with the aspects of physical oceanography that affect development of our ocean fronts. There are four separate units, each designed to build upon each other, but each can be used individually as well.

These lesson plans focus on:

1. Energy must be provided to move water. Movement of water determines the ability of water to transport materials.

2. Sand Movement Cycle: Sources of sand movement along the shore and the removal of beaches into trenches

3. What happens when human activity interferes with the normal sand cycle?

4. Why does the beach pattern change as it does between summer and winter? How does an El Nino year affect the pattern?
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Currents: Bad for Divers, Good for Ocean

Source: NOAA – Ocean Explorer – Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Exploration
Project: Deep Sea Currents
Link: www.coralreef.noaa.gov/education/educators/resourcecd/lessonplans/resources/current_lp.pdf

In this lesson: Students will learn about deep sea currents. Students will be able to discuss the general effects of topography on current velocity. Students will be able to describe, compare, and contrast major forces that drive ocean currents. Students will be able to discuss how velocity affects the ability of a current to transport sand. Students will be able to explain why deep-sea precious corals are more frequently found in areas having strong currents.
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3: Dive Responsibly

Today, diving and snorkeling have become hugely popular activities, with some 5 to 10 million Americans scuba-certified and 2 million actively diving on a regular basis. Divers and snorkelers often become leading advocates for the protection and restoration of marine wilderness.

Ironically, through careless behaviors, lack of experience, or lack of awareness, underwater visitors can also damage the very wonders they go below the surface to enjoy.
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Dive In!

Source: NOAA’s Aquarius Inner Space Station
Project: Physics of Underwater Diving
Link: www.aquarius.uncw.edu/education/lessons/Aq%20Dive%20In.pdf

In this lesson: Students will learn how buoyancy, pressure and light affect underwater research. Students will be able to explain Archimedes’ Principle, and explain how this principle applies to scientists working underwater. Students will be able to identify the source of atmospheric and underwater pressure, and explain how these pressures vary with altitude and depth. Students will be able to identify two ways in which light is affected when it passes through water.
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Designing an Underwater Habitat for Humans

Source: NOAA’s Aquarius Reef Base – The World’s Only Undersea Research Station
Project: Engineering and Life Support
Link: www.aquarius.uncw.edu/education/lessons/habitat_design.pdf

In this lesson: Students will be able to identify the basic needs for human life support in a non-terrestrial environment. They will also be challenged to use critical thinking skills to make the optimum use of a limited space, which must provide a base for research and day-to-day life. Students must also identify and mitigate safety risks.
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8: Take Kids Surfing, or Have Them Take You

He’e nalu or “wave sliding” is how the old Hawaiians described the ancient Polynesian sport that later became known as surfing. Observers and participants from Captain Cook to Lord Byron, Jack London to the Beach Boys have noted the wonders of surfing. It is a totally renewable use of the sea but one, like so many, that we have to work to protect from the impacts of coastal development and pollution.

If you live in a coastal area, it is likely that some of your students are well acquainted with surfing and the ocean.
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Motion in the Ocean, What Causes Currents and Waves?

Source: NOAA Ocean Service Education
Project: What Causes Ocean Currents and Waves?
Link: www.oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/lessons/ocean_motion.html

In this lesson: Students will identify the primary causes for ocean currents and waves. They will explain how and why ocean currents vary with increasing latitude. Students will explain the cause of the Coriolis effect, and how this effect influences ocean currents. Students will calculate the magnitude of ocean currents, given data from drifter studies.
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9: Fish for Fun, Food, and the Future

Some 12 million Americans enjoy recreational saltwater fishing, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They range from urban fishers taking their kids out on municipal piers to catch crappie, bass and queenfish for dinner to the owners of powerful deep-sea fishing boats going after big blue-water gamefish such as marlin.

Recreational fishermen and women were among the first to promote conservation of ocean fish and their habitat. Unfortunately, recreational fishers do not always protect the environment and as more and more people are attracted to the sport, they have to continue educating themselves to protect both the fish and their homes waters.
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Net Results

Source: PBS.org
Project: Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture Series
Link: www. pbs.org/emptyoceans/educators/activities/net-results.html

In this lesson: Students will study and replicate a model of the factors affecting fisheries populations in the Chesapeake Bay (or any other bay). Through a game they will investigate how decisions by watermen, recreational fisher people, and lawmakers influence and are influenced by economics and the abundance or scarcity of fish and shellfish stocks.

Also available in .pdf format: www.pbs.org/emptyoceans/educators/activities/docs/Activity-Net-Results.pdf
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No Fishing?

Source: NOAA – Protecting Natural and Cultural Resources
Project: International Collaboration
Link: www.coralreef.noaa.gov/education/educators/resourcecd/lessonplans/resources/no_fishing_lp.pdf

In this lesson: Students will learn how marine protected areas are used in various countries to protect natural and cultural resources. Students will be able to identify Internet resources containing information on international Marine Protected Area projects. Students will be able to describe a process for evaluating the effectiveness of marine protected areas. Students will be able to explain the relationships between biophysical, socioeconomic, and governance issues in marine protected areas.
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Gone Fishin’

Source: My Science Box
Link: www.mysciencebox.org/fishing/lesson  (Lesson plan)
www.mysciencebox.org/fishing (Summary with downloads)

In this lesson: Students will become familiar with the tragedy of the commons – where a limited common resource is overused because each individual person thinks, “If I don’t use this resource first, then somebody else will.” Students in this activity act as fishermen and women who need to share an ocean of fish and take in a catch. Groups soon realize that if they don’t set fishing limits and monitor the fish population, soon there are no fish left in the ocean.
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To Fish or Not to Fish

Source: PBS – Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures
Project: Exploring the Decision Making Process for Marine Reserve Designations
Link: www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/educators/pdf/OceanAdv-ToFish.pdf

In this lesson: Students learn about marine policy. The role-playing game is modeled after a decision-making process that occurred at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary in Santa Barbara, California. In this activity, students will participate as members of the community to discuss resource management. Seven constituencies are represented: sanctuary managers, marine ecologists, squid fishers, lobster fishers, recreational fishing boat captains, recreational fishers and recreational divers.
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