Immersion Learning presents a week of live Marine Mammals of the Arctic webcasts, during which viewers will have the opportunity to interact directly with scientists and trainers who work with marine mammals to better understand their behaviors and physiology, as well as the impact of humans and climate change on these animals. Kids watching the programs will also be able to participate in an online question-and-answer session and polling features as they hear from these experts and learn how they can help protect the oceans. For more information go to the University of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Classroom website or contact Maryann Scholl (mscholl@gso.uri.edu).
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High School Marine Biology Course – Resources and Request for Input
COSEE-West has developed a comprehensive Marine Biology course for Grades 9-12. The course focuses on marine life and includes lesson plans, labs, activities, games, and web interactives/web quests. The course matrix links every California Biology Standard to multiple marine Biology activities. We hope this will show how easy it can be to pull out activities – or to propose a change in courses to administrators by showing how all the activities are directly aligned. Although the course is written to teach all required California Biology standards, it can be adapted by teachers outside California. All of the materials on the website are available for free. Access the course, resources and information
The course is in development and your input would be appreciated.
How you can help:
• Submit your favorite lesson plans, labs, resources, etc.
If you are a California teacher, tell us which CA Biology standards they support.
We promise to credit you for any of your resources that we post on the COSEE-West website (only with your prior permission!).
• Help align the existing and incoming materials with the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts (OLEPFC).
(For more information about Ocean Literacy, visit this website
You can download a PDF brochure about the OLEPFC here
• If you are a scientist who has data or biological information that we can use to create new lesson plans or incorporate into existing ones, please let us know.
We would much appreciate feedback if you use any of these materials! We’d like to know, for example, if you use them to integrate marine science into an existing course or create a new marine course. Any other information, such as who supports your efforts (e.g., other teachers, administrators), would be useful to us. We also, of course, need to know about any errors that must be fixed.
Send your input to
Gwen Noda
Co-Director, COSEE-West, UCLA
email: gwennoda@ucla.edu
phone: 310-206-8247
fax: 310-206-3987
Earth Science Literacy Framework
The Earth Science Literacy Initiative (ESLI), funded by the National Science Foundation, has gathered and codified the underlying understandings of Earth sciences into a succinct document that will have broad-reaching applications in both public and private arenas. It establishes the “Big Ideas” and supporting concepts that all Americans should know about Earth sciences. The resulting Earth Science Literacy framework will also become part of the foundation, along with similar documents from the Oceans, Atmospheres and Climate communities, of a larger geoscience Earth Systems Literacy effort. More
Welcome to NEwswave
NEwswave is the NEOSEC blog.
NEOSEC (New England Ocean Science Education Collaborative) is a collaboration among a range of institutions from across the region, including museums and aquaria, universities, and research institutions. We recognize that understanding the ocean is integral to comprehending the Earth’s systems and our own life on this planet, and have identified ocean science literacy as a key goal for all of New England. Visit NEOSEC online.
NEwswave is also available as monthly e-newsletter. Sign-up online.
Long Island Sound Resource Guide
Long Island Sound Resource Guide Connecticut Sea Grant announces the publication of the Long Island Sound Curricular Resource Guide. Funded by the EPA-Long Island Sound Study and edited by Diana Payne, the 148-page guide is a resource for educators teaching about Long Island Sound. The Guide is divided into five sections: 1) background information about Long Island Sound (LIS), 2) LIS activities, 3) LIS lesson plans, 4) science lessons at a LIS field site, and 5) resources. The lesson plans and field site section were written by CT Sea Grant LIS Mentor Teachers – K-12 teachers who currently utilize LIS as a teaching tool in their curriculum. All lessons are aligned to the CT Science Frameworks, the NY Science Standards, the National Science Education Standards, and the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts. To obtain a print copy, email CT Sea Grant administrative assistant Karen Massaro. Copies of the Guide are free, but you will have to pay shipping unless you pick up the Guide at the CT Sea Grant office. Electronic copies will be available by September 2009.