Welcome to our searchable database of education resources created by NOAA and our partners. If you have issues or feedback, please let us know by filling out our feedback form offsite link or sending us an email at education@noaa.gov.
Tips for using the database
Searching for terms that contain more than one word.
Use quotation marks around multiple-word phrases you want to search. For example, searching “climate change” will return resources about “climate change.” If you don’t include quotation marks, it will return resources that include either the word “climate” or “change.”
Opening resources in a new tab.
Follow the instructions below for the device you are using.
- PC: Hold down the control (ctrl) key while clicking the link. Or, right-click the link and select “open in new tab.”
- Mac: Hold down the command key while clicking the link.
- iPhone or iPad: Press and hold the link. Select “open in new tab” from the pop-up menu.
- Android device: Press and hold the link. Select “open in new tab” from the pop-up menu
Expanding categories.
Each category has a plus sign (+) to expand the available filters within the category. Some categories have subcategories. Look for the plus sign (+) to see more filterable items.
Making the most of the filterable categories.
There are several categories you can use to filter through the resources.
- “Audience” filters by grade level, including postsecondary education, and also has a filter option for adult learners.
- “Subject” filters by the general subject area, such as Arts, Earth science, Math, and more.
- “Resource Type” filters allow you to look for resources ranging from activities, lessons, and units to videos or background information.
- “Topic” filters are more specific than subject. They include filters such as climate, freshwater, and weather and atmosphere.
- “NGSS DCI” filters by Next Generation Science Standards Disciplinary Core Ideas. Only activities, lessons, and units (and no other resource types) have NGSS DCI associated with them. Not all activities, lessons, and units have this alignment.
- “Special categories” offers additional filters for specific types of resources and topics, such as printables, resources available in other languages, and safety/preparedness.
Exploring activities, lessons, and units.
Activities, lessons, and units are bundled together under resource type. You can expand to filter for only one type. Activity/demonstration refers to straightforward activities with little or no classroom strategy or pedagogy. Lesson refers to structured activities that are intended for a classroom audience. Module/unit refers to a collection of lessons that can build upon each other over multiple class periods or times of instruction; some people might call this a curriculum.
Understanding instructional strategies.
Within special categories, there is an expandable filter called “instructional strategies.” This includes special filters that are applicable for some lessons, activities, and units, including things like “outdoor education” and “uses data.”
- Activities, lessons, and units (246)
- Arts and crafts (6)
- Background information (268)
- Career profile (95)
- Citizen science project (12)
- Collection (198)
- Coloring/activity book (37)
- Contest (4)
- Data product (166)
- Job seeker resource (11)
- Multimedia (568)
- NOAA Education resource collection (25)
- Poster/brochure (30)
- Related story (182)
- Climate (305)
- Freshwater (167)
- Marine life
(504)
- Adaptations (18)
- Aquatic food webs (64)
- Coral reef ecosystems (89)
- Conservation (39)
- Ecosystems (131)
- Endangered species (22)
- Entanglement (16)
- Fish (113)
- Fisheries and seafood (123)
- Invasive marine species (9)
- Invertebrates (94)
- Life in an estuary (36)
- Marine mammals (138)
- Plankton (15)
- Salmon (24)
- Sea turtles (64)
- Seabirds (31)
- Seaweed, algae, and aquatic plants (24)
- Sharks, rays, and skates (40)
- NOAA careers (29)
- Ocean and coasts
(686)
- Earth processes (27)
- Harmful algal blooms (21)
- Maritime archaeology and history (36)
- Ocean acidification (67)
- Ocean chemistry (16)
- Ocean currents (102)
- Ocean exploration (86)
- Ocean floor features (88)
- Ocean pollution and marine debris (174)
- Ocean sounds (15)
- Oil spills (58)
- Rip currents (22)
- Sea level rise (43)
- Tides (59)
- Tsunamis (55)
- Space (50)
- Technology and engineering (294)
- Weather and atmosphere (335)
- ESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe (3)
- ESS2: Earth’s Systems (44)
- ESS3: Earth and Human Activity (56)
- ETS1: Engineering Design (28)
- LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes (20)
- LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics (70)
- LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits (4)
- LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity (25)
- PS1: Matter and Its Interactions (25)
- PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions (3)
- PS3: Energy (8)
- PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer (6)
- B-WET grantee (10)
- Data in the Classroom (6)
- Deep-sea dialogues (5)
- Diving Deeper podcast (2)
- ELP grantee (5)
- Exploring Ocean Mysteries: From Dynamic Shores to the Deep Sea (17)
- JetStream: An online school for weather (9)
- Making Waves podcast (4)
- Modeling Marine Ecosystems with Virtual Reality (4)
- National Marine Sanctuaries Webinar Series: Archived webinars (7)
- Ocean Odyssey Educators Guide (9)
- Ocean facts (3)
- Ocean Today
(263)
- Ocean Today: Danger zone (27)
- Ocean Today: Deeper dive (1)
- Ocean Today: Exploration (27)
- Ocean Today: Fix the ocean (21)
- Ocean Today: Go fish (9)
- Ocean Today: Marine life (45)
- Ocean Today: Research (40)
- Ocean Today: The future of ocean farming (1)
- Ocean Today: Trash talk (1)
- Ocean Today: Tsunami science and safety (2)
- Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay modules (4)
- Sanctuaries 360 virtual dives (7)
- Sanctuaries resource collection (6)
- Science On a Sphere catalog (12)
- SciJinks (15)
- Sea Grant podcasts (5)
- Teacher at Sea (19)
Audience
Subject
Resource type
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NGSS DCI
Special categories
Through role-playing, teamwork, and a little fate, this activity provides students with an opportunity to get an "insider's" view of what it takes to be an active stakeholder in a commercial fishery. Whether a boat owner, dockside buyer, processing plant owner, distributor, or retail seafood store operator, each student will get a deeper sense of the complex factors that determine the viability of a commercial fishery. Students will learn to understand the real costs that contribute to eventual market value, as well as experience some of the unanticipated gains or losses that can occur at any stage along the way.
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Collection name
Discover America’s underwater ocean parks as we “Get Into Your Sanctuary!" The archive of this live interaction will connect you with information on what national marine sanctuaries are and bring you below the surface to virtually interact with the sea life that call sanctuaries home. Join us at any time as we explore the NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary System from wherever you live.
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Learn what scientists have discovered in ten years of studying the endangered Southern Resident killer whales. See the science behind recovering this charismatic creature, from collecting their poop to tracking them using satellites.
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We think of oil as being a single substance, but there actually are many different kinds of oil. Oil types differ from each other in their viscosity, volatility, and toxicity.
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A graphic asking what impacts our choices today will have on our planet tomorrow.
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Special categories
Monitor National Marine Sanctuary offers a variety of free resources for educators. Resources include social studies activities, as well as science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) activities, lesson plans, and guides. Each section below is filled with STEM activities, lesson plans, and games. Explore the Civil War and USS Monitor, World War I, World War II, Shipwrecks and STEM, Wrecks as Reefs, the Outer Banks Maritime Heritage Trail, and more.
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An infographic depicting the results of a snapshot study by the National Park Service, Clemson University, and the NOAA Marine Debris Program to understand the amount of microplastics in U.S. National Park beaches.
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On the afternoon of April 13, 2018, a large wave of water surged across Lake Michigan and flooded the shores of the picturesque beach town of Ludington, Michigan, damaging homes and boat docks, and flooding intake pipes. Thanks to a local citizen’s photos and other data, NOAA scientists reconstructed the event in models and determined this was the first ever documented meteotsunami in the Great Lakes caused by an atmospheric inertia-gravity wave.
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NOAA plans to expand its research in the Great Lakes region as the agency teams up with the travel company Viking to carry scientists aboard new expedition voyages.
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Watch cool videos and learn everything you need to know to make your next trip to the shore your best and safest.