Educator Resources

Educational Resources by Hazard

Ocean Acidification

Harmful Algal Blooms

Aquatic algae form the base of aquatic food webs. Some algae species produce toxins and can reproduce rapidly to high concentrations. When filter feeders eat the algae, they accumulate algal toxins in their tissues. The toxins are passed up the food chain to fish, birds, marine mammals, and humans as they consume the contaminated organisms, causing illness and death.

Invasive Species

Pollution: Marine Debris

Pollution: Oil Spills

Storms

Educator Resource Database

SEATOR: Safe Shellfish

This film, produced by SEATOR walks students through how toxins that cause Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning get into your food and how the Sitka Tribe of Alaska has created a program to monitor HABs and toxins throughout Southeast Alaska. The film shows how to properly take care of shellfish you’d like to get tested, and how to deliver those shellfish to the Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Environmental Research Lab.

Link: https://aoos.org/alaska-hab-network/videos-webinars/

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

Bigelow Laboratory: Help, It’s An HAB

Students research different responses to Harmful Algal Blooms, presenting the benefits and drawbacks of solutions designed to detect, prevent, or remediate HABs.

Link: https://archive.bigelow.org/edhab/help_hab.html

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

NCCOS: Phytoplankton Monitoring Network – New Volunteers

Students are trained to collect plankton samples to monitor for Harmful Algal Blooms in their community.

Link: https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/research/stressor-impacts-mitigation/pmn/volunteering/whats_involved/

NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): HS, MS
Topic(s): HABs
Lesson Type(s): Citizen Science, Data Sheet/Protocol, Tools, Webinar

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: https://archive.bigelow.org/edhab/community_crisis.html

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

Bigelow Laboratory: Tracing the Toxins

The ways that toxins move through the food web are demonstrated through an active game, followed by critical reading of research on the impacts HAB toxins may have on other animals.

Link: https://archive.bigelow.org/edhab/tracing_toxins.html

NGSS PE(s):
Grade Band(s): MS
Topic(s): HABs
Lesson Type(s): Activity

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: http://aswc.seagrant.uaf.edu/investigations/details/4/13-ocean-and-beach-food-webs.html

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

Bigelow Laboratory: Fitting Plankton Into the Food Web

In this lesson from Bigelow Laboratory, students learn about the basics of food webs and trophic levels. Then they compare more familiar terrestrial food webs with marine food webs, using cards with information about various marine organisms to create their own model of a food web.

Link: https://archive.bigelow.org/edhab/fitting_algae.html

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

Plankton Chronicles: Ceratium

2 minute video focused on ceratium as an example of dinoflagellates. Introduces amazing adaptations of this photosynthetic organism.

Link: http://planktonchronicles.org/en/episode/ceratium-grow-fingers-to-catch-more-light/

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

Plankton Chronicles: Diatoms

5 minute video that utilizes beautiful microscopy photographs and video clips to explain what diatoms are, their evolutionary history, how they photosynthesize, and their role in marine ecosystems.

Link: http://planktonchronicles.org/en/episode/diatoms-life-in-glass-houses/

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