Marine Science

[Unregistered]

I taught marine science for the first time this year, and am taking over all the marine science classes at my high school next year. The only marine science supply I have been able to find is Marine Lab's Leave only Bubbles. Aside from ordering supplies from Carolina/Fisher/etc., does anyone else know of other sources? I am really looking to try to make labs more fun, but it's hard to do things other than dissections since we don't have a saltwater tank. Is there anyone else out there teaching marine science who has good lab/teaching tips to keep this a fun elective course for the kids? Unfortunately this year I slipped into the "traditional" note taking skills, and really want to make this a fun course for next year.

[Sandi]

I taught marine science for the first time this year, and am taking over all the marine science classes at my high school next year. The only marine science supply I have been able to find is Marine Lab's Leave only Bubbles. Aside from ordering supplies from Carolina/Fisher/etc., does anyone else know of other sources? I am really looking to try to make labs more fun, but it's hard to do things other than dissections since we don't have a saltwater tank. Is there anyone else out there teaching marine science who has good lab/teaching tips to keep this a fun elective course for the kids? Unfortunately this year I slipped into the "traditional" note taking skills, and really want to make this a fun course for next year.

more than just marine biology. Coastal wildlife such shore birds or marine mammals like otters and seals can be included. Univ. of Texas offered a marine Educators workshop on shorebirds a couple of weeks ago.

Earth science: Incorporate coastal environments like wetlands or barrier islands to study beach/coastal erosional activity, how they can reduce erosion, etc. Simple wave tanks, and minature wetlands are inexpensive to build.
Model building of coastal areas with a variety of topography - use nautical charts and totpgraphic maps.
Hurricanes - the formation and progress. Tracking and mapping storm paths, the hurricane hunters out of Keesler AFB, MS have an interactive website that puts you inside the plane as they fly through a storm

Ecology: trash and it's impact on marine wildlife - non-biodegradabe, mistakenly eaten as food (plastic bags resemble jellyfish and are consumed by sea turtles). Oil spils and the difficulty in cleaning up, the effect on feathers and fur of coastal animals

Chemistry & physics: The gas laws and convection currents are relevant in marine science. There are easy experiments and demonstrations that students can do to understand these concepts.


Some useful websites:
http://www.sedl.org/scimast/steamer/lessons.html
http://wwwutmsi.zo.utexas.edu/outreach/beach_debris/content/pdf/beach-survey.pdf
http://www.noaa.gov has audio files of whale communication with links to other neat pages on the living ocean, maps, etc (animation, audio, and video files)
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/edu/lessonplans/lessonplans.html
The Ocean Explorer section has lesson plans and other info for teachers and students

[Unregistered]

I taught marine science for the first time this year, and am taking over all the marine science classes at my high school next year. The only marine science supply I have been able to find is Marine Lab's Leave only Bubbles. Aside from ordering supplies from Carolina/Fisher/etc., does anyone else know of other sources? I am really looking to try to make labs more fun, but it's hard to do things other than dissections since we don't have a saltwater tank. Is there anyone else out there teaching marine science who has good lab/teaching tips to keep this a fun elective course for the kids? Unfortunately this year I slipped into the "traditional" note taking skills, and really want to make this a fun course for next year.

An additional website witha few science experiments for middle/high school students

http://pao.cnmoc.navy.mil/educate/neptune/lesson/science/science.htm

[Unregistered]

Any new info on this topic? I will be teaching a marine science course next year.