Exploring Ocean Mysteries is a curriculum that makes it easy to teach the seven Ocean Literacy Principles while meeting NGSS, Common Core and Climate Literacy standards. Lessons are targeted to middle grades and adaptable for grades 4-12. They use the National Marine Sanctuary System as an engaging backdrop that helps students understand their importance for exploration, research, Indigenous cultures and more.
Ocean Literacy Essential Principle 2: The ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of Earth.
The Sanctuary Landscapes lesson engages students with phenomena impacting coastal landscapes at East Coast and West Coast national marine sanctuaries. Students will examine coastal landscapes using photographs and/or Google Earth and hypothesize why they see differences. They will explore the geologic and ocean forces that created the diverse features and investigate where and when they might be most likely to find buried treasure.
Lesson Plan
Students will:
- Describe physical differences between coastal landscapes.
- Hypothesize about the geologic processes that formed these landscapes.
- Hypothesize how the ocean impacts coastal landscapes.
- Argue from evidence to explain how seasonal storms impact beach erosion.
- Explain why monitoring physical changes in beaches is important.
Print copies of the “Sanctuary Landscapes” handout for each student, or distribute it electronically.
Prepare to share the interactive “Exploring Sanctuary Landscapes” PowerPoint presentation with the class.
Print copies of the images and description cards in the “Exploring Sanctuary Landscapes images for print” for each group of 3–4 students, or distribute the file electronically.
