Educator Resource Database

Developed by partners in the Alaska CoastWatch for Action Project

Marine and coastal K-12 educators collaborated to create this database. It is designed to help teachers and informal community educators engage youth in community resiliency, climate change adaptation, and mitigation of coastal hazards.

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  • Next Generation Science Standards—NGSS alignments are available for most lesson plans and activities
  • Grade level
  • Topic—coastal hazard types and other topics
  • Resource type—lesson plan, citizen science data collection protocol/data sheet, poster

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Partners and funding

Adapting to Climate Change in Alaska

Alaskans from Unalakleet to Kenai to Ketchikan are witnessing changes to their environment due to climate change. Erosion, invasive species, forest fires, flooding, thawing permafrost, melting ice, insect outbreaks, and shifting animal habitats are many of the changes taking place. This video describes how communities are responding with planning and adaptation to these changes as they strive to maintain their lifestyles in the face of climate change. Order as DVD from Alaska Sea Grant Bookstore. $3.75 plus shipping.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Climate Change
Lesson Type(s): Video

Alaska Inuit Food Security Conceptual Framework

Inuit Circumpolar Council brochure that summarizes a report on the holistic, six-dimensional aspects of environmental health as the stability of 1) food availability, 2) Inuit Culture, 3) decision-making power and management of subsistence resources, 4) health & wellness, 5) food resources and 6) accessibility of food resources.

NGSS PE(s): HS=ESS3-4, MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Adaptations to Increase Food Security
Lesson Type(s): Teacher Background
Download

Alaska Ocean Acidification Network

Network of scientists, outreach specialists, and Alaska community members likely to be affected by ocean acidification. Includes videos of scientist interviews that provide models for career development. Additional links are provided to resources related to on-going research, potential impacts, and adaptation to ocean acidif ication and a “find an expert” database to locate and contact scientists involved in the research.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Ocean Acidification, Ocean Chemistry
Lesson Type(s): Teacher Background

Alaska Sea Grant Seas & Watersheds: Ocean and Beach Food Webs

In this unit from the Alaska Seas & Watersheds Curriculum, students investigate marine and intertidal food webs, then collect and observe plankton, and observe food web interactions during a beach field trip. After the field trip, students observe plankton using microscopes and do research to extend their learning about food chains and webs. They construct a model of a food web based on their research and evidence collected on the field trip.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s): 5-LS2-1, 5-PS3-1
Grade Band(s): 3-5, MS
Topic(s): HABs, Marine Invertebrates
Lesson Type(s): Activity, Lab

Alaska Weather Spotter Program

Students can collect and analyze weather data using Alaska Weather Spotter protocols for Northern Alaska. National Weather Service.

NGSS PE(s): MS-ESS3-2, MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Weather
Lesson Type(s): Citizen Science, Data Sheet/Protocol, Presentation
Download

Alaska’s Coast is Vanishing, One Storm at a Time

2017 Scientific American article that describes how coastal erosion rates are increasing and efforts by scientists to monitor the amount of change.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s): MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Coastal Erosion
Lesson Type(s): Article, Teacher Background

Arctic Vessel Traffic in the Bering Strait

2014 article by the Pew Charitable Trusts identifying risks to Bering Strait resources and communities from increased ship traffic in the Bering Strait region due to changes in sea ice.

NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Marine Shipping
Lesson Type(s): Article
Download

Art Exhibition (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)

Lesson plan for an activity culminating exploration of marine debris and creation of art. This activity uses small-scale marine debris sculptures made
during the Ecosystem Effects Station Rotation lesson to create an interactive sculpture that people can walk through to experience the perspective
of animals trying to evade entanglement and find prey in a sea of plastic. Artists’ statements prepared by the students help to synthesize what they have learned and communicate it with the public.

NGSS PE(s): 5-ESS3-1
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Community Involvement, Marine Debris
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Download

Be a Beach Steward (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)

Brief activity to review proper beach stewardship with students. This will help them be will be prepared for field trip experiences and the ways in which their presence and activities on the beach could impact the beach habitat they are trying to study.

NGSS PE(s): K-ESS3-1, K-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Marine Invertebrates
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Download

Bigelow Laboratory: A Community In Crisis

Students participate in a community meeting based on the scenario of a fictional town impacted by a Harmful Algal Bloom.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s): Foundational
Grade Band(s): MS
Topic(s): Adaptations to Increase Food Security, Coastal Hazards, HABs
Lesson Type(s): Activity