The NOAA Ocean Exploration program strives to engage broad audiences to enhance America's environmental literacy through the excitement of ocean discovery. Increasing this literacy requires high-quality, effective collaborations between ocean explorers and America's teachers. NOAA is forming such collaborations to reach out in new ways to the public to improve the literacy of learners with respect ... Full description.

This is the education section of a larger site about the Aquarius underwater habitat in the Florida Keys. It includes classroom activities exploring concepts of buoyancy, pressure and light; a series of classroom activities exploring the biology of corals; and an on-line book about coral reef biology. Full description.

This national watershed education program is designed to involve young people in local environmental service projects. Visitors can download easy to follow Action Guides that show how to organize and carry out effective action-oriented water projects for youth groups or classes by learning about local watershed issues, investigating what needs to be done, enlisting the help of experts, and planning ... Full description.

This lesson plan will help students to understand that the way a community disposes of its wastewater may negatively affect local aquatic habitats, that it is possible to find wastewater-disposal methods that do not pollute, and that both governments and citizens can take action to ensure that waste water will be disposed of in a way that is not destructive. As part of the lesson, students will discuss ... Full description.

This site explores the plant and animal communities that exist within an estuary. Specifically, it examines the planktonic, pelagic, benthic and intertidal communities, and focuses on organisms that are characteristic of the community, how scientists investigate these organisms, and why such organisms are important to the biological community of estuaries. Additionally, the site provides specific ... Full description.

This feature is from an article in National Geographic Magazine about a 2000 expedition into Canada's Foxe Basin to research the Atlantic Walrus. It includes field notes, photos, and audio/video clips. Full description.

This on-line project is part of the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) program, which has developed internet activities for the elementary, middle, and high school level student. This project involves comparing the water quality of local rivers, streams, lakes or ponds with other fresh water sources around the world. The focus is to assess the quality of water based on physical ... Full description.

Students can view these television programs about a variety of ocean science topics right in their classroom. They are presented by real scientists and feature a call-in question and answer session to end the lesson. Teacher packets containing information pertaining to program topics, activities to do with students, pages for students' individual use, and vocabulary and reference lists, are available ... Full description.

These curriculum materials are from The Water Sourcebook series, a popular set of hands-on water environment activities. The activities, arranged by grade level, range from construction of a big book about water in the life of a fish for younger students to the exploration of the physics of artesian flow for older learners. Topics include the water cycle, conservation, consumption, contamination, ... Full description.

This live, interactive electronic field trip to a North Carolina estuary is conducted on two dates each year. Previous field trips are stored for non-interactive access. Teachers can access resources on such topics as estuarine and coastal monitoring, management, cultural traditions, invasive species, and habitat restoration. The lesson plans include grade level and standards applicable for technology, ... Full description.