This lesson introduces students to the breadth and wonder of the ocean. They will learn about the names and locations of the world’s oceans before looking at some of the major marine features. The lesson also sets up the students’ ocean voyage over the next six lessons, where they will explore the different parts of the ocean discovering the diversity and importance of the ocean as well as some of the issues it faces.
With plastics being ubiquitous in modern life, students examine what has made this material so popular. Students then learn what happens to litter when it enters the ocean. Finally, the lesson looks at how plastics affect turtles, and whether we have enough information to take drastic action on plastics, or whether we need to wait for more research to be conducted.
Nearing the end of their ocean voyage, students will investigate one of the issues facing the world’s ocean, plastic pollution. Students will begin by learning about the impact of litter on marine life. They will then explore the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and how they can be applied to the issue of marine plastic pollution. Students will then be guided to reuse common plastic waste to make a new useful object such as a bird-feeder or snack box.
For teachers wishing to bring a hands-on and creative element to the unit, this lesson provides the template for building a reef in your classroom and can act as the basis for future lessons. Rather than a traditional lesson, these resources describe two possible ways of making your own reef in the classroom: reef-in-a-box and a reef mural. Depending on the time, you have available, you can either use one or both of these approaches over the course of the unit.
In this lesson students learn about the impacts of ice in the Arctic melting by watching a series of demonstrations. The context of the lesson is the work of Dr Helen Findlay who was investigating the effect of environmental change on the Arctic ecosystem.
Throughout this lesson students explore underwater habitats and begin to understand the importance of the XL Catlin Seaview Survey. Students consider why exploration of this kind can be challenging for humans and learn dive signs so they can communicate on their virtual dive. During the virtual dive students use 360 virtual reality to explore this dynamic environment, identifying some of the species that live there. Students go on to classify these species and record the findings of their first dive.
In this lesson, students develop their understanding of how human actions can have a negative impact on the marine environment. The context of this lesson is investigating the amount of microplastics that students use every day in personal hygiene products.
This lesson introduces students to the marine habitat and encourages a discussion around what students already know about the ocean. Students use globes and maps to discover that we live on a blue planet. They then play a game of marine snap, matching animals to their features. Students then find out about some iconic marine creatures and make a fact sheet about their favourite.
This lesson starts off by establishing the story of the whole unit. The students will be using the information learned in the unit to design a submarine for exploring the ocean depths. The context of the lesson is a practical investigation to discover a suitable shape that can dive and rise at a speed safe enough for the scientists inside the submarine. Students develop their understanding of forces, surface area, and fair testing.
This activity is a fun way of learning about the different living things in the coral reef and how they are connected. This food web activity introduces young people to a range of animals that they may come across during a coral expedition. Appropriate for primary classes.