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Extra Credit: Additional Educational Resources

Don't let your learning stop here. Browse these other online resources aimed at students and teachers interested in ocean, coastal, and pollution issues.

Ocean Education

NOAA Educational Resources Site

This website provides links to a number of educational resources available from NOAA. The site includes resources for teachers, students and the public.


NOAA National Ocean Service Education Site

Here you can find links to various educational resources available from NOAA's National Ocean Service. This website includes resources for teachers, students and the public, including lesson plans.


NOAA Ocean Explorer Site

This website strives to engage broad audiences to enhance America's environmental literacy through the excitement of ocean discovery. It also includes downloadable educational materials and lesson plans for all ages.


NOAA Restoration Center

The Restoration Center is the only office within NOAA solely devoted to restoring the nation’s coastal, marine, and migratory fish habitat. Learn about its four priority habitat restoration approaches: opening rivers, reconnecting coastal wetlands, restoring corals, and rebuilding shellfish populations.


Smithsonian Ocean Portal

The Smithsonian Ocean Portal is a website bursting with dynamic, multimedia content designed to engage young adults, ocean enthusiasts, and middle school teachers and their students.


Games: Planet Arcade

This arcade is a portal to games and interactive activities focused on ocean and air themes. It highlights the science and the activities of NOAA and other agencies and organizations promoting environmental stewardship.

Coral Reefs

NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program

This website provides access to lesson plans and other useful information to help incorporate coral reefs into the classroom, as well as resources for individuals wanting to learn more about coral ecosystems, including students working on school projects.


National Ocean Service Education Discovery Kit: Corals

Explore this tutorial on the biology of and threats to corals, a roadmap to related web resources, and a series of coral-related lesson plans developed for students at the high school level.

Pollution

Prince William's Oily Mess: A Tale of Recovery

Check out a case study in the Exxon Valdez oil spill, accompanied by a set of supporting resources, including student and teacher guides, an interactive quiz, an exercise with real data, and an interview with National Ocean Service (NOS) scientist, Dr. Alan Mearns.


NOAA Marine Debris Education Site

This website provides free, downloadable education and outreach materials for people of all ages to learn about marine debris.


Explaining DDT and PCB Impacts on Wildlife

NOAA's Montrose Settlements Restoration Program has developed a collection of products for educators to use for teaching about industrial marine pollution. Order free copies of several educational products, including a comic book [PDF] which explains the impacts of pollution throughout the food chain and a Fish Contamination Educator's Curriculum Guide [PDF] which covers topics relating to contaminants in fish, identifying fish, and restoration.


Nonpoint Source Pollution

Nonpoint source pollution is contamination released from many spread out sources that can't be tied to a specific location. Take this tutorial describing the types of nonpoint source pollution, the various pollutants that originate from nonpoint sources, and our research and monitoring efforts.


Understanding Chemical Pollution at Sea

Find out all about chemical spills caused by ships, and improve your understanding of response to chemical spills at sea. This website is part of a series of educational documents produced by the French Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (Cedre) in collaboration with Transport Canada, aimed at 12 to 18-year-olds as well as their teachers and the general public.


Understanding Black Tides

Explore this animated and informative website produced by the French Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (Cedre), which offers plenty of visuals and current knowledge on oil spill response.


Ohmsett: Just for Students

Ohmsett is an oil spill response and research testing facility in New Jersey, where oil spill conditions are tested using tanks. They have a section of their website dedicated to kid-friendly information and activities about oil spills and how they are managed.


New Zealand Ministry of Education: Rena Oil Spill Resources

Learning resources for various age levels, related to New Zealand’s most significant maritime pollution emergency—the grounding of the container ship Rena in 2011. The presentation “What now for the Rena?” focuses on the long-term impacts of the grounding. While most of the 360 tons of oil, plus other pollution, was cleared within months, the environmental, social, economic, and cultural impacts continued for years.


Exploring Earth: What Happens When an Oil Spill Occurs?

Navigate this web-based investigation featuring animations, interactive graphics, and unique imagery to help students gather information about oil spills.


FAQ: Microbes and Oil Spills

This report is based on the deliberations of over 20 of the nation’s leading experts who came together for one day to develop clear answers to seven frequently asked questions regarding the role of microbes in an oil spill.

Get Fun Free NOAA Science Stuff

To receive free NOAA science stuff, send an e-mail to outreach@noaa.gov and include your age or grade level with your complete mailing address. Please write if you want specific materials on oceans, fish, marine animals, weather, climate, or satellites. NOAA can provide one copy of each publication.

 


Go back to the main Education page to explore other ways to learn about the ocean and the impacts of oil pollution.

Last updated Monday, February 12, 2024 9:04am PST