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Investigation 1
Map of Aleutians
Sea Otter Story Part 1
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Producers in the Ecos...
Marine Invertebrates/Fish
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Sea Otter Story Part 2
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NGSS-Aligned Investigations
NGSS-Aligned Investigations
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K-LS1-1
K-2
Field Trip
Classroom
Patterns of Life
Students will explore, observe and collect data (through observation) on where they find plants (or seaweeds on a rocky beach) and animals in different types of habitats. After an initial exploration of the area, they will be guided to notice patterns in where they specific plants and animals and where they observe them in relation to what plants and animals need to survive.
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1-LS1-1
K-2-ETS1-2
K-2
Field Trip
Classroom
The Why of Shells
Classroom activities prepare students for a beach field trip to observe shells in action and other structures and functions of the external parts of marine animals. Students will observe external structures of intertidal animals and identify important similarities in structures and their functions, including those that allow them to be placed into major groups (mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms) in the classroom and on the field trip. They will sort and investigate different types of shells and different functions of shells. Student learning is assessed by the development of models that demonstrate understanding about how external structures solve problems related to survival and growth of organisms.
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1-LS3-1
3-LS1-1
K-2
Field Trip
Classroom
Take A Closer Look!
Students gear up for the field trip focused on comparison of the traits of seaweeds, plants and animals in terms of how they are the same or different in young and adults by making observations in the classroom of the young and adult forms of people and local seaweeds, plants and animals. At the beach, they explore and make observations of plants and animals in a variety of beach habitats, then engage in guided discovery to compare similarities and differences between immature and adults (mature) forms of specific organisms. They take pictures to bring back to the classroom to continue their observations and comparisons of the traits of young and adult organisms.
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2-LS4-1
K-2
Field Trip
Classroom
Diversity of Life
Students are introduced to the phenomenon of intertidal zonation to prepare them for a beach field trip. During their field trip, they will observe and collect data on the diversity of life that can survive in the four different habitats (zones) by establishing study plots and making drawings and counting with tally marks. They will also make observations to describe and compare the physical characteristics of the four habitats. Back in the classroom, they will construct a model (drawing) that compares diversity across the zones. This investigation can be adapted for other types of beach and wetland habitats.
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3-LS4-3
3-5
Field Trip
Not Too Slow, Not Too Fast
Students will establish a distance on a stream bank, using a fixed-length rope and time the movement of a “rubber ducky” toy or block of wood in the stream along that distance. They will then calculate stream velocity and discuss the implications of the stream velocity to the quality of salmon habitat.
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3-LS4-3
3-LS4-4
3-5
Field Trip
Classroom
Adapt!
This investigation is designed for a field trip to a rocky intertidal beach but it can be adapted for field trip locations with less distinct tidal zones or other types of different habitats in close proximity. Students are introduced to the concept of adaptation in the evolutionary sense that changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of different kinds of organisms. Before going on a field trip, they watch a video, create a Biodiversity Checklist, use media to research the adaptations of different beach plants and animals, and write an opinion piece to argue from evidence that a particular organism is or is not well-adapted to survive in a particular intertidal zone/habitat. During a beach field trip, they focus their observations on adaptations as they observe and sample specific organisms in different tidal zones. On their return to the classroom, they construct a bar graph to relate the distribution and abundance of species to the environmental conditions in the different tidal zones.
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3-LS4-3
3-5
Field Trip
Classroom
Fish Finders
Students explore the needs of salmon at each stage of their life cycle and then go on a field trip to investigate a local aquatic habitat and its potential as a salmon habitat. They observe the physical characteristics of the stream and argue from evidence whether or not salmon could survive well there. Extensions are included to gather additional evidence by measuring the water quality parameters of water temperatures, dissolved oxygen, and pH; measuring stream velocity, and collecting and identifying macroinvertebrates as indicators of water quality.
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3-LS4-3
3-5
Field Trip
Macro-Mayhem
Students will collect macroinvertebrates from a stream and identify them to species or species groups (e.g., mayflies, blackflies, caddisflies), assign them to categories of sensitive or insensitive to pollution, share and record their data, and reach a conclusion about what the diversity of species they collected provides evidence for whether or not salmon could survive well in area of the stream being sampled..
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3-LS4-3
3-5
Field Trip
Sampling Water Quality for Salmon
Students review the importance of measuring water temperature, pH, and the dissolved oxygen concentration in a stream to collect evidence that salmon could or could not survive well in a particular stream reach. They collect a water sample and view a demonstration of the methods for sampling the stream and measuring these water quality parameters, then split into teams to make the measurements on three different water samples. They share their data with the group and record it. They also discuss how human activities can affect these aspects of salmon habitat.
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4-LS1-1
4-LS1-2
3-5
Field Trip
Classroom
Survivor! The Intertidal Zone Challenge
Students make close observations of the characteristics of intertidal seaweeds and animals to support an argument that external and internal structures are parts of a system that function to support the survival, growth, behavior and/or reproduction of an organisms as a living system. After a beach field trip, they extend their learning about the interactions of components of a system by constructing and explaining a model of the internal and external anatomy of one intertidal animal.
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3-LS4-3
4-ESS2-2
4-ESS3-1
4-ESS3-2
5-ESS2-1
5-ESS2-2
3-5
Field Trip
Classroom
Investigating Your Local Watershed
This series of investigations is part of a semester-long STEM kit on the theme of interdependence. The NGSS standards addressed are from grades 3, 4, and 5 although the kit is used in 4th grade in the Anchorage School District. These investigations complement and extend classroom and field trip activities in Fish Finders and its focus on adaptation. (3-LS4-3)
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5-LS2-1
5-PS3-1
3-5
Field Trip
Classroom
Migration Munchies & Shorebird Pit-stops
Students do a food web webbing activity to prepare for a field trip to a wetlands (mudflats, beaches, tundra, etc.) where shorebirds stop to feed along their migration route. After exploration of the area and observations of the birds, students use quadrats to collect and identify macroinvertebrates and sample the abundance of burrowing animals. Back in the classroom, students make a model of energy flow through the ecosystem. The activities can be modified or expanded to focus on other migratory birds if they can be viewed more easily at your field trip site.
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5-LS1-1
5-LS2-1
5-PS3-1
3-5
Field Trip
Classroom
Ocean and Beach Food Webs
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.
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MS-ESS3-3
MS-PS1-3
6-8
Field Trip
Classroom
Pollutants—Sink, Suspend, Float
Students explore the impacts of marine pollutants on marine food webs in terms of how their properties (size and density) affect their position in the water column. They first collect and classify “garbage” during a field trip into types of pollution. They then predict and test the buoyancy of different types of pollutants, including plastic micro-beads from manufactured liquid products, to compare the density of each one to that of water. Finally, they use a variety of media to support their participation in a class discussion about the potential negative impacts of plastic pollution on marine food webs and how the impact might be minimized.
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6-8
Field Trip
Classroom
Technology
Drones: Tools for Exploring the Ocean or Beyond!
This series of investigations introduces the students to the idea of using a drone or the unmanned aerial vehicle (AUV) for doing research on the aquatic environment. A 10-slide power point introduces students to some of the modern uses for drones. This unit is not designed to teach students how to fly the drone. Instead, it has been designed to apply those skills in new ways. Some of the activities help the students think and learn as they use the drone or AUV as a tool and prepare them for using it as they plan to monitor something over time that they are interested in or that is changing in their local aquatic environment. Assessments focus on evaluating teamwork and problem-solving skills.
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6-8
Field Trip
Classroom
Technology
Submersibles: Doing Science You Cannot See
This series of investigations first introduces students to different types of submersible robots that can be used in underwater science. They will do a simulation of an activity (in their gym) that one type of robot – “Buttercup,” a remote operated vehicle or ROV “tethered” to people operating it on the surface – performs in Kachemak Bay, Alaska to count rockfish on a linear transect. Students will then assemble ROVs using PVC pipe, pipe insulation, and motors, and test its buoyancy and their ability to control its direction in a large water container like a clean “fish tote.” Students then practice with their ROVs at a local pool and carry out one or more of the challenges or missions suggested in the investigation (such as engineering a device, such as a scoop or a net on their robot so that they are able to retrieve something). If waterproof cameras are available, students can add these to their ROV and carry out other types of missions. The culminating activity is a project that students design to collect observations and/or data in the local aquatic or marine environment.
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Home
Instructional Strategies
Planning Field Trips
Field Trip Event Registration
Partnerships
School and Community Celebrations
Teaching Strategies
Instructional Strategies
Inquiry as a Teaching Strategy
Using Science Notebooks
Teaching About Controversial Issues
Assessment Tools
Project Info
Help Using This Site
Search
Contact Us
Kindergarten
Formative Assessment
Investigation 1
Investigation 2
Investigation 3
Investigation 4
Investigation 5
Teacher Background
Master Materials List
Bibliography and Resources
Science Standards
Grade 1
Formative Assessment
Investigation 1
Investigation 2
Investigation 3
Investigation 4
Investigation 5
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Grade 2
Formative Assessment
Investigation 1
Extension
Investigation 2
Investigation 3
Investigation 4
Investigation 5
Teacher Background
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Science GLEs
Bibliography & Resources
Grade 3
Formative Assessment
Investigation 1
Sample Rubric
Investigation 2
Investigation 2B
Investigation 3
Investigation 4
Investigation 5
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GLEs Addressed
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Grade 4
Formative Assessment
Investigation 1
Map of Aleutians
Sea Otter Story Part 1
Sea Otter Biology/History
Producers in the Ecos...
Marine Invertebrates/Fish
Marine Mammals
Investigation 2
Sea Otter Story Part 2
Teacher Background
Investigation 3
Sea Otter Story Part 3
Teacher Background
Investigation 4
Teacher Background
Master Material List
Scoring Guide
GLEs Addressed
Bibliography & Resources
Grade 5
Formative Assessment
Investigation 1
Bidarki Story Background
Investigation 2
Halibut Cove Story
Investigation 3
Investigation 4
Investigation 5
Teacher Background
Master Materials List
GLEs Addressed
Bibliography & Resources
Grade 6
Formative Assessment
Investigation 1
Investigation 2
Investigation 3
Investigation 4
Investigation 5
Investigation 6
Teacher Background
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Science GLEs
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Grade 7
Formative Assessment
Investigation 1
Investigation 2
Investigation 3
Investigation 4
Investigation 5
Investigation 6
Investigation 7
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Garbage Patch in the Pacific
Hypothetical Spill
Hypothetical Landmass
Teacher Background
Master Materials List
GLEs Addressed
Bibliography and Resources
Grade 8
Formative Assessment
Investigation 1
Investigation 2
Investigation 3
Investigation 3 - WebQuest
Investigation 4
Investigation 5
Teacher Background
Master Materials List
GLEs Addressed
Resources
Glossary
Resources
Honor Roll
Get Your Feet Wet Form
Get Your Feet Wet List
Get Your Feet Wet Map