World Ocean Curriculum - Ocean Science

STEAM education resources are designed for learners in schools, at home, or in their community and include national-standard aligned activities, facilitation guides, engineering design challenges, and creative projects. Designed by educators, these resources are free for explorers at every age and stage. Searchable by grade level and theme.

Teachers and students can learn how TOPEX/POSEIDON maps ocean surface topography and how oceanographers use ocean topography to monitor ocean currents and compute the ocean's heat budget. Many of the resources at this web site can be incorporated into secondary science curricula. The Educational Resources section contains an online tutorial which presents ideas on how to incorporate the TOPEX/Poseidon data into the classroom. This tutorial can be used effectively as a stand alone tutorial for secondary students in a networked computer lab. Many sections of the tutorial contain images which can be used by teachers as presentation materials to explain oceanographic science processes and concepts.

From PBS Online, contains information, teaching activities, quizzes, photography and more. Activities designed for grades 5-7 (with extensions for lower and higher grades).

The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) consists of research into the history of the ocean basins and the nature of the crust beneath the ocean floor. This web site can be used in an upper level secondary education science classroom to learn about oceanographic science processes. Students can learn about laboratory equipment and the types of research which are conducted on board the research vessels. Science teachers can also use the resources at this web site for mapping activities with their students.

The Ocean Literacy Framework is comprised of two consensus documents: Ocean Literacy: The Essential Principles of Ocean Sciences K-12 (also known as the Ocean Literacy Principles); and Ocean Literacy Scope and Sequence for Grades K-12 (also known as the Scope & Sequence).

Started by graduate students at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, the goal of OceanBites is to make cutting edge research accessible to all. Contributors meet this goal by explaining recent oceanographic research in a way that non-experts can understand. OceanBites also highlights classic, seminal research papers, and features op-eds about current research and what it's like to be a grad student in oceanography.

NOAA's National Ocean Service is an innovative resource designed to introduce high school students to the breadth of scientific research, technology, and activities conducted by NOAA in the areas of oceans, coasts, charting and navigation. Within the NOS Discovery Center, students and teachers will find Discovery Kits, Discovery Stories, and the Discovery Classroom, theme-based units of study with downloadable lesson plans that connect to real-time data being collected in the field. NOS is a great example of how to incorporate data into lessons and use real science in a technology-adapted classroom.

Bring engaging and important ocean learning to the classroom. These resources will help students learn about ocean life, human interactions with the ocean, the ocean’s physical geography: the information necessary to formulate their own opinions on ocean-related environmental issues.

In-depth, kit-based curriculum units delivering science content correlated to the NGSS.  The curriculum provides opportunities for students to engage in investigations and make evidence-based explanations. They are designed in accordance with the latest research on learning. Classroom-tested by teachers across the United States in a wide variety of settings. For science education K–12.

A collection of information and classroom activities covering: oceans, human impact, weather, satellite imagery, remote sensing, Antarctica, global climate change, lobsters, turtles, freshwater issues, and more.

Find curricula and activities on water (including oceans, rivers and watersheds), air, ecosystems, recycling, conservation, and human health. In addition, you will also find links to education grants, awards, scholarships, workshops and community service projects.