Ocean Species at Risk Unit (6-8)
Lesson Plans
Grades6, 7, 8Biology
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by Ocean Wise
What it is
- This 5-lesson unit shows students the relationship between the health of marine species and human activities, and includes important Indigenous perspectives about how ocean health affects Indigenous culture and livelihoods.
- Through activities like creating posters to advocate for species' protection, calculating their carbon footprint, drawing food chains, exploring pollutants, using fishing simulations, participating in shoreline clean-ups, and designing kelp products, students will learn how to be stewards of the sea and why their stewardship is necessary.
Teaching tips
Positives
- The call for students to take action at the end of every lesson gives great suggestions to use what they have learned to make a difference in the world.
- The lessons incorporate all different types of media and activities, supporting students of all learning styles.
Prerequisites
- The guidebook is designed for students in grades 7 and 8, but 6th-grade students can also use the resource.
- Students should understand how societal and governmental systems impact their lives.
- Teachers may need admin or IT approval before downloading iNaturalist onto school devices.
- The link to iNaturalist's Getting Started page is broken. Users can find it here.
- The video, 30 Days Without Single-Use Plastics, does have one instance of a bleeped-out curse word.
- The link for the data card in Lesson 4 takes users to the shoreline clean-up page. The data card is in the Student Workbook.
Differentiation & Implementation
- To support vocabulary acquisition, teachers can use the words in the glossary to create a word wall to keep up as the students work through the unit.
- For the longer articles, some students may benefit from text-to-speech extensions for support.
- After the Killer Whales lesson, students can analyze how their actions or actions in the community contribute to pollution.
- Students can practice creative writing by imagining a story starring the shark for which they record data.
From the scientist review
This resource from Ocean Wise provides teachers with a guidebook as well as a student workbook to teach students about climate change, plastic pollution, and habitat loss. Additional links are provided within the guidebook that include additional information for teachers as well as links to provide data for students to explore. The references and sourced material utilized for this lesson plan are from credible sources and are up-to-date.
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