Arctic Exploration - Lesson Plans
Below are descriptions of lesson plans have been developed for students in Grades 5 – 12 and are specifically tied to the Arctic Expedition. The lesson plans are grouped into the following categories:
Grades 5-6
Grades 7-8
Grades 9-12 (Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science, and Physical Science).
All of the lesson plans are available in pdf format, and may be viewed and printed with the free Adobe Acrobat reader. To download a lesson plan, click on its title from the listing below.
Contact Paula Keener-Chavis, National Education Coordinator for the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration at paula.keener-chavis@noaa.gov if you have questions about the lesson plans or if you need additional information about their development.
Grades 5-6
Polar Bear Panic! (8 pages, 476k)
Focus: Climate change in the Arctic Ocean
In this activity, students will be able to identify the three realms of the Arctic Ocean, and describe the relationships between these realms; be able to graphically analyze data on sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, and recognize a trend in these data; and discuss possible causes for observed trends in Arctic sea ice, and infer the potential impact of these trends on biological communities in the Arctic
Life in the Crystal Palace (6 pages, 464k)
Focus: Sea ice communities in the Arctic Ocean
In this activity, students will be able to identify major groups of organisms found in Arctic sea ice communities, describe major physical features of sea ice communities and how these features change during summer and winter, and will be able to explain how these changes affect biological activity within these communities. Students will also be able to describe interactions that take place between sea ice communities, and will be able to explain the importance of sea ice communities to Arctic ecosystems.
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Grades 7-8
Would You Like a Sample? (30 pages, 556k)
Focus: Sampling strategies for biological communities
In this activity, students will be able to identify the three realms of the Arctic Ocean, and describe the relationships between these realms and discuss the advantages and limitations of sampling techniques to study biological communities.
Meet the Arctic Benthos (8 pages, 492k)
Focus: Benthic invertebrate groups in the Arctic Ocean
In this activity, students will be able to recognize and identify major groups found in the Arctic benthos, describe common feeding strategies used by benthic animals in the Arctic Ocean, and discuss relationships between groups of animals in Arctic benthic communities. Students will also be able to discuss the importance of diversity in benthic communities.
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Grades 9-12
Being Productive (Chemistry/Biology) (14 pages, 512k)
Focus: Primary productivity and limiting factors in the Arctic Ocean
In this activity, students will be able to identify the three realms of the Arctic Ocean, and describe the relationships between these realms; and identify major factors that limit primary productivity in the Arctic Ocean, and describe how these factors exert limiting effects. Given data on potentially limiting factors and primary productivity, students will be able to infer which factors are actually having a limiting effect.
Let’s Get to the Bottom (8 pages, 476k)
Focus: Factors that influence the composition of benthic communities in the deep Arctic Ocean
In this activity, students will be able to identify the three realms of the Arctic Ocean, and describe the relationships between these realms; describe different species associations in a benthic community; and be able to infer probable feeding strategies used by benthic organisms and relate these strategies to sediment characteristics.
Message in the Bottles (13 pages, 88k)
Focus: Estimating primary productivity (Earth Science/Chemistry)
In this activity, students will be able to identify the three realms of the Arctic Ocean, and describe the relationships between these realms; explain the relationships between gross primary productivity, net primary productivity, and respiration; and understand how oxygen production and consumption can be measured and used to estimate primary productivity in water bodies.
Current Events (8 pages, 472k)
Focus: Currents and water circulation in the Arctic Ocean (Earth Science)
In this activity, students will be able to identify the primary driving forces for ocean currents and will be able to infer the type of water circulation to be expected in the Arctic Ocean, given information on temperature, salinity, and bathymetry.
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