STANDARD - UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
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Open ocean aphotic/twilight zone: Light at the bottom of the deep, dark ocean? - NOAA Ocean Explorer 
Lesson PlanSummary
Students learn how organisms adapt to life in the ocean with little light through this role-playing activity.
There are many diverse habitats in the open ocean, which contribute to the diversity of organisms.
Education Standards
Hydrothermal vents: This old tubeworm - NOAA Ocean Explorer
Summary
Students learn about the process of chemosynthesis and how to calculate age of tube worms found in deep-sea vents.
There are many diverse habitats in the open ocean, which contribute to the diversity of organisms.
Education Standards
Estuaries: Give Me Shelter - COSEE Coastal Trends
Lesson PlanSummary
Students observe the feeding behavior and success rate of blue gill feeding on brine shrimp in two different environments; one with seagrass and one without.
Coastal ocean systems provide important habitats for organisms.
Education Standards
Wetlands: Marsh Elevation - University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Summary
In this field investigation, students visit a local wetland to explore plant zonation. Students construct a transect, use quadrats to count grass species, and graph their findings.
Coastal ocean systems provide important habitats for organisms.
Education Standards
Rocky intertidal: Monitoring the Intertidal with Life-Sized Photos - Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association
Summary
Students use photo quadrats of a real rocky shoreline to investigate the zonation of organisms in the rocky intertidal zone. Note: links to photo quadrats and organism ID guide are listed in the Materials section.
Coastal ocean systems provide important habitats for organisms.
Education Standards
The Benthic Drugstore - NOAA Ocean Explorer
Summary
Students identify and investigate the importance of pharmacologically active chemicals found in specific marine invertebrate species.
The ocean affects human life in many ways. The ocean provides many resources for humans.
Education Standards
Ocean Power - U.S. Department of Energy
Summary
Students investigate methods used to generate energy from physical ocean processes as well as design an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) system.
The ocean affects human life in many ways. The ocean provides many resources for humans.
Education Standards
90+ minsThe Drill on the Spill: Learning About the Gulf Oil Leak in the Lab - New York Times, The Learning Network
Summary
Students explore the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil spill by accessing high quality data-based models and maps on the New York Times website. They also develop a research question about oil spills or clean-up technology and design a lab investigation to answer the question.
Humans affect the ocean and therefore must protect it.
Education Standards
Dead Zone Model - COSEE Coastal Trends
Summary
Students add fertilizer to pond, river, or estuarine water and compare results to a control treatment with no added fertilizer to simulate how algal blooms and dead zones occur in coastal bodies of water due to nutrient pollution.
Coastal areas and humans are particularly interconnected.
Education Standards
What Affects Dead Zones? - COSEE Coastal Trends
Summary
Students explore scenarios in real datasets to investigate how physics and biology interact to produce Dead Zones of various sizes and durations.
Coastal areas and humans are particularly interconnected.
Education Standards
