What’s the ocean got to do with climate?
Can't make the live broadcast? No problem! The lesson will be available on catch-up, and your class can still submit questions in advance for our experts to address.
Join thousands of students around the world as your class takes part in COP30’s Virtual Ocean Pavilion, connecting directly to the UN climate talks in Brazil. Together with an expert scientist, we’ll uncover the hidden relationship between the ocean and climate change — and why it’s impossible to understand one without the other.
The journey begins by revisiting the carbon cycle — this time with the ocean firmly in the picture — before exploring where carbon is stored across the Earth system and how these stores have shifted. Along the way, students will discover the paradox of the ocean as both victim and solution: warming waters and acidification threaten life, yet blue carbon habitats and deep marine sediments reveal the ocean’s extraordinary power to help.
The lesson closes with a call to action — to study, protect, and restore our blue ally — and the reminder that science is what guides and focuses those efforts.
Upcoming broadcast
- 45 mins
- Ages 12+ / KS3+
This live lesson will be Broadcast via YouTube Live
Preparation
This is a standalone lesson as part of the Virtual Ocean Pavilion at COP30 Amazonia. No specific preparation is needed but teachers may wish to view some of the resources from the Convex Seascape Survey.
If you have never joined a live lesson before, visit the support centre, where you can find a range of technical and educational information.
Questions generated by your class can be submitted via the interaction app that will appear on this lesson page once you have booked the lesson.
Lesson steps
1. Welcome from COP30’s Virtual Ocean Pavilion (3 minutes)
We begin live from the Virtual Ocean Pavilion at COP30 in Brazil, the ocean’s own stage at the world’s biggest climate meeting. Students discover why the ocean deserves a voice at COP and meet our guest scientist from the Convex Seascape Survey, who will guide the lesson. A quick poll asks: Why do you think the ocean matters for climate? This sets the scene for the journey ahead.
2. The Ocean and the Carbon Cycle (6 minutes)
Students revisit the carbon cycle, but this time the ocean takes centre stage. Together we explore how the ocean absorbs and moves carbon dioxide, from plankton drawing it down at the surface to long-term storage in deep-sea sediments. A live vote challenges students to decide where they think the ocean plays its biggest role: absorbing, storing, or cycling carbon. We then see how human activities have thrown this delicate balance off course.
3. Where is all the carbon? (6 minutes)
How much carbon is in the air, the ocean, or in living things? Using an interactive diagram, students estimate where carbon is actually stored across the Earth system: rocks, the ocean, soils, atmosphere, and life. The big reveal is often surprising. The ocean holds by far the largest active store. We discuss how these stores have shifted since the Industrial Revolution, with rising carbon dioxide levels reshaping the balance of the planet.
4. Why does this matter for the ocean? (6 minutes)
Students explore how the build-up of carbon dioxide is transforming the ocean. Warming seas are causing coral bleaching, altering currents, and raising sea levels, while acidification makes it harder for shellfish, corals, and plankton to build their shells. A quick poll asks: Which of these ocean changes do you think most affects people and livelihoods? Together we connect the science to its human impact.
5. How can the ocean help? (6 minutes)
The ocean is both victim and ally in the climate story. We examine how marine sediments and blue carbon habitats such as mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrass meadows capture and store carbon dioxide while protecting coastlines and supporting life. Students discuss what should come first: studying, protecting, or restoring the ocean. The scientist shows how science helps to link all three, focusing global action where it matters most.
6. Wrap-up (3 minutes)
We close by recapping the lesson’s journey: how the ocean shapes the carbon cycle, how climate change affects it, and how it can be part of the solution. The call to action is simple and powerful: study, protect, restore, because protecting the ocean means protecting us all.
7. Q&A (10–15 minutes)
A live global Q&A gives students the chance to speak directly with our ocean expert, asking about the science they have explored, careers in ocean and climate research, and how young people can help shape a more sustainable future.
Brought to you by
In partnership with
Teach the goals
What’s the ocean got to do with climate?
Can't make the live broadcast? No problem! The lesson will be available on catch-up, and your class can still submit questions in advance for our experts to address.
Join thousands of students around the world as your class takes part in COP30’s Virtual Ocean Pavilion, connecting directly to the UN climate talks in Brazil. Together with an expert scientist, we’ll uncover the hidden relationship between the ocean and climate change — and why it’s impossible to understand one without the other.
The journey begins by revisiting the carbon cycle — this time with the ocean firmly in the picture — before exploring where carbon is stored across the Earth system and how these stores have shifted. Along the way, students will discover the paradox of the ocean as both victim and solution: warming waters and acidification threaten life, yet blue carbon habitats and deep marine sediments reveal the ocean’s extraordinary power to help.
The lesson closes with a call to action — to study, protect, and restore our blue ally — and the reminder that science is what guides and focuses those efforts.
Upcoming broadcast
- 45 mins
- Ages 12+ / KS3+
This live lesson will be Broadcast via YouTube Live
Preparation
This is a standalone lesson as part of the Virtual Ocean Pavilion at COP30 Amazonia. No specific preparation is needed but teachers may wish to view some of the resources from the Convex Seascape Survey.
If you have never joined a live lesson before, visit the support centre, where you can find a range of technical and educational information.
Questions generated by your class can be submitted via the interaction app that will appear on this lesson page once you have booked the lesson.
Lesson steps
1. Welcome from COP30’s Virtual Ocean Pavilion (3 minutes)
We begin live from the Virtual Ocean Pavilion at COP30 in Brazil, the ocean’s own stage at the world’s biggest climate meeting. Students discover why the ocean deserves a voice at COP and meet our guest scientist from the Convex Seascape Survey, who will guide the lesson. A quick poll asks: Why do you think the ocean matters for climate? This sets the scene for the journey ahead.
2. The Ocean and the Carbon Cycle (6 minutes)
Students revisit the carbon cycle, but this time the ocean takes centre stage. Together we explore how the ocean absorbs and moves carbon dioxide, from plankton drawing it down at the surface to long-term storage in deep-sea sediments. A live vote challenges students to decide where they think the ocean plays its biggest role: absorbing, storing, or cycling carbon. We then see how human activities have thrown this delicate balance off course.
3. Where is all the carbon? (6 minutes)
How much carbon is in the air, the ocean, or in living things? Using an interactive diagram, students estimate where carbon is actually stored across the Earth system: rocks, the ocean, soils, atmosphere, and life. The big reveal is often surprising. The ocean holds by far the largest active store. We discuss how these stores have shifted since the Industrial Revolution, with rising carbon dioxide levels reshaping the balance of the planet.
4. Why does this matter for the ocean? (6 minutes)
Students explore how the build-up of carbon dioxide is transforming the ocean. Warming seas are causing coral bleaching, altering currents, and raising sea levels, while acidification makes it harder for shellfish, corals, and plankton to build their shells. A quick poll asks: Which of these ocean changes do you think most affects people and livelihoods? Together we connect the science to its human impact.
5. How can the ocean help? (6 minutes)
The ocean is both victim and ally in the climate story. We examine how marine sediments and blue carbon habitats such as mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrass meadows capture and store carbon dioxide while protecting coastlines and supporting life. Students discuss what should come first: studying, protecting, or restoring the ocean. The scientist shows how science helps to link all three, focusing global action where it matters most.
6. Wrap-up (3 minutes)
We close by recapping the lesson’s journey: how the ocean shapes the carbon cycle, how climate change affects it, and how it can be part of the solution. The call to action is simple and powerful: study, protect, restore, because protecting the ocean means protecting us all.
7. Q&A (10–15 minutes)
A live global Q&A gives students the chance to speak directly with our ocean expert, asking about the science they have explored, careers in ocean and climate research, and how young people can help shape a more sustainable future.
Brought to you by
In partnership with
Teach the goals