This is the first of three short videos showcasing the dramatic changes in Alaska's marine ecosystems. This introduction to the impacts of climate change in Alaska includes interviews with Alaska Natives, commentary by scientists, and footage from Alaska's Arctic.

This video is the second of three short videos showcasing the dramatic changes in Alaska's marine ecosystems. The video highlights the marine mammals and birds and how they depend on Arctic sea ice, as well as questions about how these animals will cope in the face of climate change.

Objective:  This hands on activity is designed for middle school students to simulate the competition that occurs between organisms within the same ecosystem. Students will play the role of an organism where they will compete for resources (beads).   Students will collect and analyze data as well as answer conclusion questions.   South Carolina State Science Standards: SC: 7-LS2-1, 7-LS2-2, 7-LS2-4  (Preview Image): "Predator&Prey" by Rathika Ramasamy is licensed under CC BY 2.0  retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/28163014@N00/690266517  

Discussing environmental issues can be a pivotal part of a student’s environmental education. Thinking about complex issues while engaging in respectful discussion is an opportunity for students to develop skills that are important throughout life. In this activity, students discuss the question, “Should humans stop wildfires?” At first, students typically respond, “Yes! Fires are bad!” In reality, fire management is a challenging environmental management problem, and the question has no simple answer. To make actual fire policy decisions you need a thorough analysis of the impacts of fires—which are not all bad!—on different ecosystems. You also need to think about the usefulness, cost, and effects of different management approaches and solutions.

Students learn how scientists assess wildfires using remote sensing, then use some of the same techniques to solve grade-level appropriate math problems.

Students create a kelp forest or coral reef food web, then research related shark species to learn about species interactions. Posters illustrate the shark̢ĺŰĺŞs role as key predator in the ecosystem.

This video segment from NatureScene features the area of the Congaree Swamp where the high ground and the flood plain meet. Learn how a few feet of difference in elevation on a floodplain can yield drastic changes in what youŰ__Ű__ŒŒÇll find living there.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students learn about the unique environment of southern Florida's Everglades and gain insights into the interrelatedness of living things, nonliving things, and climate.

This activity is a guided inquiry by students into balancing ecosystems through food chains and webs.

This activity gives students a way to look at how organisms are connected to ecosystems through the cycling of matter and the flow of energy. By the end of the activity, students will be able to make distinctions between how matter and energy are used and transferred and will be encouraged to apply this important crosscutting concept to the world around them.

First, students observe an animal, then they reflect on how it uses matter from food to build body structures and energy from food to do things. Students look at food as “packages” of matter and energy that animals (and plants) consume. They also think about wastes, such as poo, pee, sweat, heat, and carbon dioxide. This is a focused activity best used as part of an extended matter and energy-themed experience, and it works best after students have had time to explore, check out organisms in other ways, and be physically active.

In this psychology real-life investigation, students investigate the food on their plates, identify the source location of the foods they consume on a regular basis, and calculate their carbon footprint. The goal is to identify their diet (its source of origin – where was it grown, packaged, shipped from, etc.), its impact on their subjective well-being (also known as "happiness"), and its impact on their health as well as climate justice. Students conduct research to identify one potentially problematic ingredient that they frequently ingest. The idea here is for the students to investigate their carbon footprint and reflect on their current dietary choices, and also consider food ingredient(s) that might be detrimental to their well-being, such as increasing the vulnerability to certain diseases such as COVID-19, cancer, diabetes, etc. The goal is to widen students' awareness and encourage them to make up their own minds about their dietary choices while considering new directions to take. Furthermore, with the encouragement of a TED Talk on the power of talking about climate change with others, students are asked to create/design an infographic to effectively engage with the larger community on the issues of climate change and climate justice, and then use the infographic to talk to friends and family about what you are learning about climate change and climate justice.

Students will participate in a demonstration that will show the interconnectedness of a food web such that when one component is affected, the whole web is affected in some way. This is important for students to understand, as we are part of food webs and we need to be thoughtful about our decisions.

Students will observe organisms in their ecosystem and describe the flow of energy in food webs

This resource was created by Moe Martin, in collaboration with Dawn DeTurk, Hannah Blomstedt, and Julie Albrecht, as part of ESU2's Integrating the Arts project. This project is a four year initiative focused on integrating arts into the core curriculum through teacher education, practice, and coaching.

Students will use knowledge of aquatic and terrestrial environments to identify fossils and predict environmental changes over time.

Leaders in the field of biological diversity present an overview of emergent issues in biodiversity, from the surrounding flora and fauna to the genes deep within us. (117 minutes)

Students use geochemical tools used to track the presence of marine (salmon) derived nutrients in the terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems of creeks where salmon spawn. They also explore pros and cons of hatchery-raised salmon.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This educational video features Sperm whales and has an accompanying lesson plan to teach about Sound in the Sea. The Sperm whale holds many records. It is the deepest-diving whale on Earth, the largest toothed whale on Earth and has the largest brain on the planet too. On top of that, it has a reputation for being a vicious beast, thanks in part to Herman Melville's Moby Dick. But the real Sperm whale is a lot different than people think. It has a highly-evolved social life, operates at depths where nobody can see them most of the time, and uses sonar which is so sophisticated that it makes the Navy's electronics look like toys. Sperm whales are very hard to find and even harder to film. In the Caribbean, Jonathan repeatedly attempts to get close to the elusive whales, until finally he succeeds and has an incredible experience eye to eye with a giant who investigates him with powerful sonar clicks. Please see the accompanying lesson plan for educational objectives, discussion points and classroom activities.

In a quiet forest in central Florida, a mysterious pond filled with warm clear water hides a secret at the bottom. In this video, Jonathan explores the pond to find a spring which leads into a cave. As Jonathan travels underground, he meets unexpected marine life in the dark depths and learns how water travels through an aquifer from the underground world to the surface. Please see the accompanying study guide for educational objectives and discussion points.