Teaching Marine Bio by https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl Katelyn Gerressen en-us 2018-04-17 19:00:12 UTC 2025-11-26 09:38:19 UTC hello@padlet.com 4th Grade Science Standards (AZCCRS) katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/252748215 Strand 3. Concept 1. Describe the interaction between human population, natural hazards, and the environment. 
-PO 1. Describe how natural events and human activities have positive and negative effects on environments (e.g. fire, floods, pollution, dams). 
Strand 4. Concept 3. Understand the relationship among various organisms and their environment.
PO 4. Describe ways in which resources can be conserved (e.g., by reducing, reusing, recycling, finding substitutes). 
Strand 4. Concept 4. Diversity, Adaptation, and Behavior. Identify plant and Animal Adaptations. 
PO1. Recognize that successful characteristics of populations are inherited traits that are favorable in a particular environment. ]]> 2018-04-17 19:23:23 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/252748215 Main Ideas katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/252762006 Why is the Marine Ecosystem and oceans so important?
What are some of the marine life species and why are they important?
What is happening with pollution and waste that is hurting the oceans?
How big is this problem, really?
How can we help?]]> 2018-04-17 19:58:18 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/252762006 Unit Overview katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/252773524 Day 1: Amazing Oceans: Species, characteristics, etc.
Day 2: Specifics of Adaptations, Environments, and Traits
Day 3: Human Relationship with Oceans
Day 4: Teach pollution. What is it, what kinds are there, etc. How it is affecting our oceans.
Day 5:  What can we do to help?]]> 2018-04-17 20:38:27 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/252773524 Day 1: Amazing Oceans katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/252778243 Book: Ocean and Sea (by: Steve Parker)
Students will learn about a variety of different species like the Green Sea Turtle and Clown Fish. They will gain insight on how a Coral Reef works and how it is a community that thrives with thousands of different species. This website will allow students to explore the different animals and learn a little bit about them. We will go through this slideshow together on the Smart Board, as students create an OWL chart about what they are learning, This technological resource produces visuals for the students. After the reading and exploration, we will have a group discussion reflecting on some of the interesting things they learned and wrote in their charts. They will be asked to draw a picture of one of the species they learned about, and then write one sentence about that species. This lesson will open student's eyes to some of the amazing things that happen in our oceans and some of the species that thrive in these environments. It is important to teach this because this marine life is extremely important and there are many different things that factor into having a sustainable marine environment. This lesson is intended to be an introduction to marine life, and teaches students some of the basics so they understand what is happening in the days following.  ]]> 2018-04-17 20:57:02 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/252778243 Day 2: The In's and Out's of Adaptations, Environments, and Life in the Ocean katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/253200334 Students will be. involved in a group discussion about what adaptations and traits that different species have in order to survive in their environments. This will connect to their prior knowledge because we will review what we learned before about this topic, and then connect it to marine life and this ecosystem. The link below is instructions for an activity that shows them how camouflage works, and how it protects fish from big predators. Students will then work in small groups in order to create a fish (or other marine animal) that has some of these characteristics so it can hide and survive in a coral reef. I will have a picture like the on in the background of this padlet on the Smart Board, so they can see some of the colors and factors that might affect their fish. For this activity, they will use large paper, markers, colored pencils, scissors, etc. At the end of the lesson, student will be asked to write about their creation and why they chose these specific traits to help them survive (exit ticket). ]]> 2018-04-18 20:25:16 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/253200334 Other Resources and Worksheets for Marine Lesson katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/253209368 -"Mysteries Of The Deep" worksheet has students color different marine life, and then create "panel tool" that when you move the ROV view down, you see some of the species that live at different levels in the ocean. ( Day 1).
 

]]> 2018-04-18 21:03:00 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/253209368 Day 2 (cont'd.) katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/253210738 Students will learn about coral reefs, including what they are, how they work, and why they are so important. Students will gain a better understanding of these amazing ecosystems, and how the different species in these ecosystems all work together to thrive and survive. They will learn about different relationships like an Anemone and a Clownfish.
https://www.leisurepro.com/blog/explore-the-blue/5-marine-symbiotic-relationships/
The link above gives examples of different relationships between marine life. Students will be able to explain how these different species rely on each other in order to live in their environments, and how each and every animal needs each other to survive, so it is important to protect them all. ]]> 2018-04-18 21:09:09 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/253210738 Other Resources katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/253212571 (Day 1)]]> 2018-04-18 21:17:43 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/253212571 Day 3: Human Relationships With Our Oceans katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/253213404 Students will be asked to brainstorm different things that we use our oceans for, like for food, water, etc. in order to show why this lesson is relevant to them. This is a good starting activity to this lesson because it is connecting to their prior knowledge, and then they will build on that throughout the lesson. 
I would then show them this picture and talk about the different things, and how it relates to their lives. We will have a group discussion about food systems and how fishing is important and about things like transportation and how some of the everyday things in their life would never be accessible without Oceans. When you make a topic relevant to students' personal lives, they can make a better connection and are more likely to remember the concepts. ]]> 2018-04-18 21:21:40 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/253213404 How Does This Relate to Sustainability and Why Does It Matter? katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257120447 The Ocean makes up almost 3/4 of our planet. We rely on it for a food source, clean air, medicine, and much more. Teaching students about the Marine Ecosystems and the direct relationship between humans and our oceans shows them how important this concept is. Humans simply cannot survive without Oceans, and economies across the world would crash and burn if this food supply diminished. On top of all that, the regulation of different climates are controlled by the oceans, and we would not be able to breathe without them.  I have always had a love for Marine Biology and think it is absolutely amazing how intricate these systems really are, but I never really thought about how important it is to teach these concepts to future generations.  Marine Biology and everything that is entailed with it is super complex, so it is important to introduce the basics to students at a young age.
 Taking it a step further and teaching students about how to make a difference in Recycling and Pollution Reduction is the biggest connection to Sustainability. These kids are the future generations of this country, and it is very important that we teach them about these concepts so they grow up with a mindset to make a difference. When it comes down to it, teaching this topic is one of the most important things you will teach to your students. ]]> 2018-05-02 05:40:39 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257120447 Day 3 (cont.d) Human Relations With Our Oceans katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257125652 This is an activity from National Geographic about making connections with the Ocean. Students will work in small groups to brainstorm different things that come from the Ocean. The teacher asks different questions to help them think of ideas like "What food do we get from the ocean?" and "What things do you use in your life that comes from the ocean or a part of it does?". Students will also write down things that we do that the Ocean gets from us, like Pollution. Then, students will try to organize their things into different columns of where these come from (around the World). 
From there, the teacher would lead a whole group activity where all the things were pooled together and put on sticky notes. The things like food and things we get from the Ocean would be on one color sticky note, and the things we "give" the ocean like pollution would be on another sticky note. The class would work together to put these sticky notes on a big map. After that, you would tie strings linking the notes to where they came from to make connections. 
Students will then look at the finished product, and make a connection to the different relationships. They will be able to visualize what the positive and negatives are when it comes to the relationship with the ocean. 
There is a video at the end of the lesson on the link called "Why The Ocean Matters", and this sort of helps tie everything together for the students. 
Students will be given a writing piece that asks, "What did you notice about the relationship between humans and our Oceans? Do you think the relationship is the same between what we get from our ocean and what we give? What do you think would happen if we were not able to get these things from Oceans anymore?". Students will be asked to write at least two well-written paragraphs, and this would be their exit ticket.  The activities students did today requires them to use Systems Thinking, because they must think of all the different pieces that play into the relationship between Humans and Oceans. They are sort of connecting the dots around the world, and they witness how a lot of factors play into making a system work. It is something they would not usually think about otherwise. ]]> 2018-05-02 06:24:57 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257125652 Extension on Day 2; Teaching Species katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257398796 This is a good extension lesson for Day 2. It is a lesson I found on National Geographic Education about Whales. If I had more than one week to teach this whole lesson, there are so many other species I would love to teach my class about. 
The last week of class we learned about different methods of teaching Sustainability and different ways of incorporating these concepts. This lesson is such a fun one, that it might be one I just keep handy for if we had down time or something in the classroom. 
This lesson includes different Math concepts as well, because students compare the size of the Whale to different human objects like a bus. They also learn about different Marine Animals and their sizes in this lesson, so they are using actual set measurements. ]]> 2018-05-02 18:30:32 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257398796 Day 4: Teaching Pollution katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257409392 On this day, students will explore different kinds of pollution that are affecting the Oceans. This will range from plastics, to water pollution and everything in between.
We will introduce the concept by having a group discussion to brainstorm different things students think are a part of this pollution and where they think it comes from. 
We are going to do an experiment I found from the Science & Health Education Partnership to help students visualize how pollution affects the animals. First, students will create an OWL chart, and write down a few things they already know about pollution and affects. They will be filling it out during the experiment as well.
-They will have one water bottle with water and a few drops of blue food coloring, which will be "Our Ocean". They will put a few beads in this bottle that will represent the sea animals, and each group will think of which bead represents what Marine animal. Some of the beads that sunk could be things like Starfish or Crabs, and some of the ones that float could represent things like Fish or Dolphins. 
-There will be one water bottle full of "Pollution", and will have different things in it that would represent pollution. The lesson plan gave examples like red food coloring, Mayo, Soy Sauce, etc. As a group, decide what each item in the pollution bottle represents, like Sprinkles being plastic. Have students pour a little bit of the pollution bottle into their ocean bottle, and observe how it affects the "animals". They will jot down a few of their observations into their chart.
-Then, students will add a little bit of vegetable oil into their ocean, which will represent oil from cars and ships, and teacher will explain different ways this oil gets to the ocean in real life. Students will observe where the oil sits, and then we will have a brief discussion on how this is dangerous. (You can elaborate more on this by pouring oil on a feather and showing how it sticks, and how this could be dangerous for a bird.)
- Students will have a group discussion on some of the different things they observed in their oceans and how their animals were affected. Teacher will lead conversation into why pollution is bad. 
-Students will complete their OWL charts, which will help them wrap up their learning. From this lesson, students will have gained a new understanding about different forms of pollution and what happens to it in the Ocean. They will have a visual representation of how it affects different species, and what it makes Oceans look like. ]]> 2018-05-02 18:53:05 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257409392 Day 5: What Can We Do To Help? katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257424414 Over the past few days, students will have learned about different Marine Life, why Oceans are important, and about Pollution, so today is the day to wrap everything up and figure out what we can do to make a difference. 
-Students will start by working in small groups to brainstorm different ways of reducing pollution in their own lives by thinking of the different kinds of pollution they learned about the day before.  We will then have a group discussion about some of the things they thought of and make a list on the board. Some of the things might be recycling, using less plastic water bottles, and finding ways to carpool or use public transportation. 
-I found an activity book called "Be An Ocean Guardian" from the NOAA National Marine Sanctuary, and it includes many different activities on this topic. There is a crossword, a puzzle, and a few other activities that teach how to reduce our footprint. There is so much information included in the fun activities, and then at the end, each student takes a "pledge" to be an Ocean Guardian. I am so happy I found this, because everything included is absolutely awesome. 
After they work through the workbook, we will have a class discussion to reflect on what we have learned, and create a "class goals" poster on what we are going to do as a class to make a difference in our own lives. We will discuss how we can tell others about what we learned, and how they can help make a difference.

]]> 2018-05-02 19:31:47 UTC https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257424414 Works Cited katelyn_gerressen https://padlet.com/katelyn_gerressen/r504jx368ibl/wish/257448989 Caruana, S., & SEA. (1994). Academics. Retrieved April 5, 2018, from https://www.sea.edu/academics/k-12_detail/how_to_hide_in_the_ocean

Frost, E., & Smithsonian Institution. (2018, February 28). Corals and Coral Reefs. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from http://ocean.si.edu/corals-and-coral-reefs?amp

Keller, L., & Matyskiela, M. (n.d.). Ocean Pollution & its effect on aquatic animals. Retrieved April 10, 2018, from http://www.seplessons.org/node/350

Leisure Pro. (2017, January 10). 5 Marine Symbiotic Relationships. Retrieved April 12, 2018, from https://www.leisurepro.com/blog/explore-the-blue/5-marine-symbiotic-relationships/

Monterey Bay Aquarium. (n.d.). Dive into the Deep. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/education/classroom-resources/games-and-activities/dive-into-the-deep

National Geographic Society, & Cahill, M. C. (2015, August 07). Ocean Connections. Retrieved April 10, 2018, from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/ocean-connections/

National Geographic Society, & Nelson, D. (2017, July 11). Size Me Up-to a Blue Whale! Retrieved April 8, 2018, from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/size-me-up-to-a-blue-whale-/

Natural Beach Living. (n.d.). Ocean Zones [Photograph]. 
https://www.naturalbeachliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ocean-zones-coloring-2.jpg

Our World Ocean Provides [Photograph]. (n.d.). AAMBOceanService, NOAA.

Smithsonian Ocean Team, & Watt, J. (2017, December 21). Bizarre and Beautiful Coral Reef Animals. Retrieved April 5, 2018, from http://ocean.si.edu/slideshow/bizarre-and-beautiful-coral-reef-animals?amp






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