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.

Search and filter

  • 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

Search the database

Note: As you search for and filter options, it takes a second or two for the table to refresh.

Partners and funding

Encountering Environmental Hazards on Alaska’s Coast

Portal website for reporting a variety of environmentall hazards people encounter along Alaska’s coast with Alaska-specific factsheets and other resources to teach about invasive species, earthquakes and tsunamis, flooding and erosion, harmful algal blooms and PSP, marine mammal strandings, oil and hazardous spills, and impacts of sea ice and risingocean temperatures.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Coastal Erosion, HABs, Oil Spills
Lesson Type(s): Article, Teacher Background

Faces of Climate Change I: Overview

Overview of potential climate change impacts on Alaska’s marine ecosystems through interviews with scientists. 2012.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Climate Change, Sea Ice
Lesson Type(s): Video

Faces of Climate Change II: Disappearing Sea Ice

Observations of changes in sea ice, weather patterns. and Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean marine ecosystems through interviews with scientists and Alaska Natives. Includes Inupiaq names for different types of sea ice. 11 mins. 2012.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Climate Change, Coastal Erosion, Sea Ice
Lesson Type(s): Video

Faces of Climate Change IIIe Life on the Ice

This video includes interviews of scientists and Alaska Natives to highlight Arctic marine mammals and birds (spectacled eiders, phytoplankton bloom timing, ringed seals, ), how they depend on sea ice, and how these animals will cope in the face of climate change. 7 1/2 mins. 2012.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Climate Change, Sea Ice
Lesson Type(s): Video

Farm to Table: The Impact of Rising CO2 and Warmer Temperatures on the Food Supply

NGSS PE(s): HS-ESS2-6, MS-ESS3-5
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): Adaptations to Increase Food Security, Climate Change
Lesson Type(s): Images & Visualizations
Download

Feed the Whales (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)

Lesson for a hands-on (and somewhat messy) activity that helps students understand the feeding adaptations of baleen and toothed whales.

NGSS PE(s): 4-LS1-1
Grade Band(s): 3-5, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Marine Mammals
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Download

Fish Finders

Teaching unit that culminates in a field trip. Students explore the needs of salmon at each stage of their life cycle and then go on a field trip to investigate a local aquatic habitat and its potential as a salmon habitat. They observe the physical characteristics of the stream and argue from evidence whether or not salmon could survive well there. Extensions are included to gather additional evidence by measuring the water quality parameters of water temperatures, dissolved oxygen, and pH; measuring stream velocity, collecting and identifying macroinvertebrates as indicators of water quality, and observing human impacts.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s): 3-LS4-3
Grade Band(s): 3-5
Topic(s): Salmon
Lesson Type(s): Activity, Field Trip

FISH2SCHOOLS: A Guide to Serving Local Fish in Alaska School Cafeterias

The Alaska Fish to Schools program – on-going in Cordova,Dilingham, and Sitka – brings donations from local fishermen to schools. This resource guide provides information on how to get fish into your school, funding opportunities, and case studies on existing programs. It will detail the steps Sitka took to develop its program with
the hope that it will give your community ideas for starting your own Fish to Schools initiative. Lesson plans are also available

NGSS PE(s): HS-ESS3-4, MS-ESS3-3
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, K-2, MS
Topic(s): Adaptations to Increase Food Security, Marine Fishes, Salmon
Lesson Type(s): Teacher Background
Download

Fishing Over Time (CACS CoastWatch Curriculum)

Lesson plan for student research projects about how fishing technologies and practices have changed over time in their region or the broader state of Alaska.

NGSS PE(s): 5-ESS3-1, MS-ESS3-5
Grade Band(s): 3-5, HS, MS
Topic(s): Food Security, Marine Fishes
Lesson Type(s): Activity
Download

Friends of the Sea

Students discuss stewardship actions and develop an action plan that they will carry out as a class. They host a “Friends of the Sea” party to involve the school and community in their stewardship efforts and to share the results of their investigations.

Link: Visit website

NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): 3-5
Topic(s): Community Involvement
Lesson Type(s): Activity