In November 1999, a team of scientists, students, and film makers aboard WHOI's Atlantis. ventured to hydrothermal vent sites at 9 degrees North in the Eastern Pacific. Using the submersible Alvin, they documented how the biology and landscape of these deep sea oases had changed in the 10 years since their discovery. This expedition report contains daily logs, images, profiles of the scientists and ... Full description.

Describes Ice Age glaciers and immense floods of glacial meltwater that swept across the Pacific Northwest (18,000-12,000 years ago and earlier), affecting the landscape from Montana to Washington and Oregon, sculpting the Columbia River Basin, and creating glacial lakes to rival the today's Great Lakes. This non-profit institute promotes scientific education about the floods, their causes and impacts. ... Full description.

Excellent site documents an oceanographic expedition studying hydrothermal vent communities on the Pacific seafloor. Scientists from several disciplines take part, describing their research, the technology needed to conduct deep sea exploration, answering questions from classroom students. Interactive species profiles cover biology of vent marine life, with 3-D views, audio and video clips. Shipboard ... Full description.

This comprehensive booklet from North Carolina Sea Grant explains what sand dunes are and how they work, their zonation, plant species and ecology. Provides information on dune erosion, vegetation types, planting and management practices. Also covers beaches, waves and shoreline processes that affect dunes, as well as human interactions. Includes good line illustrations. Full description.

The LEO EnviroSci Inquiry Program offers a comparison of New Jersey and California coastlines. Images and captions describe shoreline types and processes, human uses and impacts for each site. Use for open-ended inquiries, guided inquiries, independent research or cooperative group learning. Full description.

On the Pacific Northwest an oceanic tectonic plate (Juan de Fuca) is being pulled and driven (subducted) beneath the North American continental plate. Earthquakes generated along that fault may produce local tsunamis. Local tsunamis are those generated by earthquakes near the coast. This site provides links to external webpages describing the physics behind a tsunami. Resources featured in the links ... Full description.

JOI Learning develops programs and materials based on scientific research expeditions to strengthen students' mathematics, science and analytical skills for a lifetime of learning. Teaching for Science, Learning for Life? plays on the ability of scientific ocean drilling to provide a multidisciplinary approach to earth science education. The site features classroom activities, free posters, special ... Full description.

The beach is a wonderful outdoor classroom, more than just a destination for summer vacation. This packet of activities includes classroom and field protocols for conducting survey transects, flora, fauna, and sediment identification, and beach profiling. Each activity is correlated with South Carolina Science Curriculum Standards for grades six through eight, and includes example graphs and blank ... Full description.

If one 10 year old girl could save a hundred lives during the 2004 tsunami, think about how many more lives could have been saved if the residents and tourists were more informed about tsunamis. NOAA has collected these educational resources on tsunamis for use in K-12 classrooms. These brochures, websites, hands-on activities, and visualizations can supplement an existing curricula. A tsunameter ... Full description.

Award-winning ideas from SEA Semester's educators. This collection of over 25 lesson plans covers topics in marine biology, coastal ecology, chemical and physical oceanography, seafloor geology and nautical science. Each plan includes target grades, keywords, introduction and background, advice on how to best integrate the activities into classroom curriculum, instructions and tips, materials list, ... Full description.