This lesson explores the effects of pollution, in particular nitrogen pollution, on marine ecosystems. Students can brainstorm the effects of pollution on marine life, examine the sources and causes of nitrogen pollution, discuss possible solutions, and apply their knowledge to specific actions in their own lives.
In this activity, students will construct models of water molecules in the three physical states. By completing this activity, students will understand that matter can be found in three forms or phases (solid, liquid, and gas) and they will be able to explain the molecular behavior of ice, water, and water vapor.
The Carbon Stabilization Wedge game, a unique, hands-on learning tool, helps students learn the impacts of different strategies for reducing greenhouse gases. To emphasize the need for early action, this activity strives to drive home the scale of the carbon mitigation challenge and the tradeoffs involved in planning climate policy. It uses the the concept of 'stabilization wedges' - 25 billion ton "wedges" that need to be cut out of predicted future carbon emissions in the next 50 years to avoid a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide over pre-industrial levels.
This hands-on Oceanography article describes an activity that helps students better understand the nonintuitive concept of diffusion and introduces them to a variety of diffusion-related processes in the ocean. As part of this activity, students also practice data collection and statistical analysis (e.g., average, variance, and probability distribution functions).
The Curriculum Guide activities engage students in an exploration of the impacts of global climate change on ecosystems and natural resources, on community, and on individuals and society.
In this lesson, students build upon their previous investigations of water and its different forms by learning about the water cycle. Students begin by reviewing previous knowledge about water and how it can freeze or turn into a gas depending on how low or high temperatures become. They then learn about the water cycle and its key processes that affect our lands, oceans, and atmosphere. The ongoing need for fresh-water conservation is also highlighted.
This multimedia CD-ROM provides a virtual microscope, build your own phytoplankton bloom, special topics such as upwelling, and background information in the study of primary productivity and phytoplankton in our oceans.
Exploring the Environment™ (ETE) is a series of interdisciplinary, problem-based learning (PBL) modules for high school students. The project engages student teams in addressing real-world problems related to weather, population growth, biodiversity, land use patterns, volcanoes, water pollution, and global warming. Teams analyze remotely-sensed satellite images to come up with solutions to open-ended earth science problems--problems that real scientists are working on today in much the same fashion. In this module, students are asked to track and predict landfall of the next hurricane to threaten the United States.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant # NSF OCE-0707385. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
COSEE-Ocean Systems Central Office School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine Darling Marine Center 193 Clark's Cove Road Walpole, ME 04573
Phone: (207) 563-8176 E-mail: cosee-os
