El NiñoTheme Page

Tsunamis Theme Page

Whale Theme Page

This "Theme Page" has links to two types of resources related to the study of earthquakes. Students and teachers will find curricular resources (information, content...) to help them learn about this topic. In addition, there are also links to instructional materials (lesson plans) which will help teachers provide instruction in this theme. Please read our disclaimer.

Aquatic Network

Check out their "subjects" pages for an extensive meta-list of links to aquatic resources, organized under the subjects of aquaculture, conservation and education, fisheries, limnology, marine science and oceanography, maritime heritage, ocean engineering, and seafood.

Ask an Expert: Ocean or Ocean Animals (Ask Jake the Sea Dog)

This service is offered by WhaleTimes. For other oceanographic "ask an expert" resources, use the links to "Neptune's Web" or "Sea World Busch Gardens" further down this page.

British Columbia Creature Page

Part of "dive BC's" website, this link has good photographs with basic descriptive text of a range of organisms such as Octupus, Invertabrates, Mammels, Fish, Crabs and an artificial reef project

Celebrate the Year of the Ocean

Education World has put together this list of 18 suggested classroom activities which teachers can use within math, geography, science, and language arts subjects.

Core Knowledge Lesson Plans

• Oceans A one-two week teaching unit on oceans for primary and pre-primary students.

Elementary Lesson Plans Resources on Oceans, Whales and Sea Life

A meta-list of links to teaching resources on these topics.

Encarta Lesson Collection:Science

Click on "Oceanography" for several lessons for students in grades 3-9.

Evergreen Project: Marine Ecosystems

• Coral Reefs Learn where coral reefs are located, the threats to them, coral reefs in Belize, and coral reef animals.
  
• Oceans Topics include: Ocean Zonation, Ocean Light Zones, Ocean Data, Ocean Forests, Patterns in the Ocean, The Atlantic & Pacific, Oceans, How the Ocean Refreshes Itself, Food From the Sea, and Dolphin Safe Tuna?
  
• Shorelines Learn more about the intertidal zone - shorelines, estuaries, mudflats, salt marsh animals and plants, and more.

Exploring the Mysteries of the Oceans

Intermediate students use Internet resources to "explore interesting topics related to the ocean such as its geography, role in folklore, endangered species, marine biology, and an event in its past."

FINS: Fish Information Service

FINS is an archive of information about aquariums (freshwater, marine, tropical and temperate). Categories of information include: Information for Aquarists; Pictures, Movies and other Images; Directories; Other Information Sources; Miscellaneous; and, Related Topics at Other Sites.

Fisheries and Oceans, Canada (Pacific Region)

An extensive web site (see site map) with resources on many oceanographic topics from Abalone to Tsunamis. This federal government web site also provides access to governmental documents, including the Canada - British Columbia Agreement on the Management of Pacific Salmon Fishery Issues.

Fundamentals of Physical Geography

Although this online textbook from Michael Pidwirny, Okanagan University College, is intended for postsecondary students studying introductory physical geography, much of it may be applicable for high school students as well. Contents include over two hundred pages of information, more than three hundred 2-D and animated graphics, an interactive glossary of terms, a study guide, links to other Internet resources, and a search engine. See the Table of Contents to directly access the Hydrology section with several chapters on oceanography topics.

National Science Foundation (Ocean Science)

This site will link you to a large number of specialized information web sites dedicated to ocean sciences including careers, researching and some fun stuff.

Habitats: Oceans and Deserts

Seven lessons on oceans for grades 2/3 students.

International Year of the Ocean: Kid's and Teacher's Resources

This United Nations' International Year of the Ocean (IYO) site has information about marine habitats, ocean creatures, projects, student activities, and links to other related sites.

Lessons from the Sea II

Lessons at this site include: Create a mangrove tree (Grades K-8); Naked Egg (Grades K-8); Press seaweed (Grades K-12); Build a hydrometer (Grades 5-12); and Compare freshwater and saltwater (Grades 5-12).

Neptune's Web

This US Navy site has information for students as well as teachers. The above link is to their home page with access, for example to their "Student Sea of Knowledge" containing triva, an oceanographic encyclopedia, an ask an expert function, and information about careers in oceanography. There are also resources for teachers - we've made a direct link below to their collection of lesson plans.

• Oceanography Lesson Plans A variety of lesson plans for the study of oceanographic topics within creative art, mathematics, language arts, phsyical education, and social studies.

Ocean Color Viewed from Space

A teacher resource site that provides background information and suggested student activities for studying life in the oceans.

Oceanography from the Space Shuttle

A pictorial survey of oceanic phenomena visible to the naked eye from space.

Ocean Planet

As part of an exhibit on the "Ocean Planet", the Smithsonian Institute has collected a large number of links to educational materials that educators could use in teaching a unit about the ocean. Included are: teacher materials (e.g., lesson plans, teacher guides, articles); fact sheets (e.g., threats to the health of oceans, endangered species); family activities; children's books; film guides, theater scripts and CD-ROMS.

Oceans

This link is to two instructional units that are part of the "Science With OAR" web site developed by the University of South Alabama. One unit is on ocean temperatures and the other on ocean currents. Both consist of explanatory sections, student activity assignments, and links to other sites where students can collect the data to answer the questions.

Oceans and Undersea Life

This collaborative thematic unit for K-5 students has suggestions for how students' study of the oceans and seas of the world, the animal life that swims in them, and the countries that border them can be integrated within many subject areas.

Oceans: A Study via Remote Sensing

This NJNIE curriculum module provides information on how oceanagraphic data are collected from ships and buoys located around the world and posted on the Internet. There are three lesson plans in which students use the information from buoys and ships to work through a range of scientific activities.

Oceans Fieldtrip

This is the starting point for a virtual field trip on oceans from Tramline. Experts in the subject have selected a number of web sites on oceans and arranged them in a sequence to tell a story for students to follow. Students can move from one web stop in the field trip to the next with ample opportunity to explore within the individual web site as they wish. However, since their web browser page has been split into an inner part (showing that stop in the field trip) and an outer part (giving navigational tools to go through the entire field trip), they can always return to their "tram" and go to the next stop. To be effective, teachers would have to ensure that student browsing through the field trip sites was purposeful. Teacher guides can be printed.

Ocean Voyagers Lesson Plans

About a dozen multidisciplinary unit plans for middle school teachers which use oceanographic science as a theme for integrating all principal subjects.

Ocean World

Ocean World has instructional modules on the following topics and the interrelationship with the ocean: Weather, El Nino, Fisheries, Icebergs, Ice Ages, Waves, and Currents. Included in the modules are links to other, relevant sites. Ocean World also has an extensive list of classroom activities, an Oceans Atlas, and an Ask an Expert link.

Questions about Careers in Oceanograpy

Answers to: What is an oceanographer? Where does one study oceanography? Who hires oceanographers? Who supports oceanographers? Where does one obtain information?

Reef Relief

This site contains informative educational material that will encourage students to think about the complexity of coral reefs and their surrounding environment, the threats reefs are facing, and the possible solutions to these threats. There's lots of photos of different coral species and reef types.

Sea World Busch Gardens

There are a number of resources at this site that teachers and students may find useful. For example, there's information on animals as well as careers in marine mammal science or zoological parks. Perhaps the most useful however will be the "Teacher's Curriculum Guides" which integrate science, mathematics, geography, art and language in units on how people interact with the ocean environment and how we can best take care of our ocean resources.

Secrets of the Ocean World

From PBS, this site has information for intermediate/junior high students on a number of sea dwellers. Teachers will be especially interested in the section "In the School" with its set of suggested activities to go along with the modules.

TrackStar

TrackStar is an online interface which allows instructors to create lessons for students by sequencing existing instructional content in various web sites within a lesson. Students explore one topic at a particular location within one web site then move on to the next topic at another web site. The list of topics remains visible throughout the lesson so that students can remain on track. Explorations of the web sites beyond the designated instructional content are also possible.

This link is to their search page from where a keyword search on "oceans" will produce numerous hits. Caution #1: Many of the web sites that these lessons access may already be on this CLN page - it's the creation of lesson objectives and the sequencing of the tours through the sites that make the lesson potentially useful to your students. Caution #2: The quality of the lessons (e.g., definining objectives, finding web sites, sequencing the tours) will vary widely within the TrackStar collection.

Treasures @ Sea: Exploring the Ocean Through Literature

In this unit/module plan, students read story books about the ocean and then apply the information they have gained through creative writing, art and interactive activities. (Caution: You may experience delays in connecting to the site.)

World Wide Virtual Library: Oceanography

A meta-list of links to web resources on oceanography.

Note: The sites listed above will serve as a source of curricular content in Oceanography. For other resources in Science (e.g., curricular content in Earth Science, General Science, Life Science, or Physical Science), or for lesson plans and theme pages, click the "previous screen" button below. Or, click here if you wish to return directly to the CLN menu which will give you access to educational resources in all of our subjects.