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

CoastWatch Beach Survey (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)

Lesson plan for a field trip activity for beach monitoring focused on marine debris clean up and biodiversity surveys.

NGSS PE(s): MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Marine Debris, Marine Invertebrates
Lesson Type(s): Activity, Field Trip
Download

CoCoRas (Community Collaborative Rain, Snow, and Hail Network)

Students can collect, report, and analyze data on snow, rain, and hail events. NOAA.

Link: Visit website

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

Community Charts: historical and predicted average monthly temperature and precipitation

Students can explore historical average monthly temperatures and precipitation rates for their community in Alaska for the periods 1961- 90 and 1991-2019 with computer model projections for 2040-49, 2060-69, and 2090-99. SNAP.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s): HS-ESS3-5, K-ESS3-2
Grade Band(s): HS
Topic(s): Weather
Lesson Type(s): Data Set

Community Interviews – Changing Technology (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)

Lesson plan for having students interview community members about changes they’ve witnessed in their lives, particularly related to changing technology and the impacts of that on the environment and community.

NGSS PE(s): 5-ESS3-1, MS-ESS3-5
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Adaptations to Increase Food Security, Community Involvement
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Download

Coriolis & Currents (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)

Activity introducing students to the coriolis effect and how it influences currents in the ocean.

NGSS PE(s): MS-ESS2-6
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Oceanography, Weather
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Download

Counting Beads & Baubles – Practice for Beach Monitoring (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)

Lesson plan for introducing and practicing methods used in beach sampling/monitoring activities. Could be used for terrestrial ecosystems as well.

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

Data in the Classroom – investigating El Nino

Online activities support an in-depth curriculum module on El Niño for middle school students and beyond. In addition, maps, images and printable worksheets are available for classrooms that cannot support the technologies on this website. NOAA.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s): MS-ESS2-5
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Weather
Lesson Type(s): Data Set, Images & Visualizations, Lesson Plan

Density Differences – Air (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)

Demonstration and simple lab activities that introduce students to the way that density differences in air drive wind patterns. Learning is organized around considering the way a plastic bag is transported by wind.

NGSS PE(s): MS-ESS2-5
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Weather
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Download

Density Differences – Water (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)

Demonstration and lab activities that introduce students to the way that density differences in water due to temperature and salinity drive currents.

NGSS PE(s): MS-ESS2-6
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Ocean Chemistry, Oceanography
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Download

Effects of Ocean Acidification on Alaska Fish and Shellfish

Downloadable, small color poster that summarizes the research on whether the effect of increasing ocean acidfication will affect different species negatively,positively, not at all, or whether the effect is still unknown. Each species is also characterized by its role in the marine ecosystem (e.g., predator, food web link, ecosytem engineer, chemical/nutrient cycling, habitat-forming

NGSS PE(s): HS-LS2-6, MS-LS2-4
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Ocean Acidification, Ocean Chemistry
Lesson Type(s): Poster
Download