Our Deepwater Backyard: Exploring Atlantic Canyons and Seamounts 2014

As "America’s Ship for Ocean Exploration," NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer’s sole assignment is to systematically explore Earth’s largely unknown ocean. A major task for this mission is to reach out to teachers, students, and the general public so that they may become engaged with expeditions dedicated to purposes of discovery and the advancement of knowledge. Okeanos Explorer Expedition Education Modules are designed to help accomplish this task.

The Okeanos Explorer Exploration of the New England Seamounts 2014 offers a unique opportunity for explorers of all ages to investigate the unknown and poorly known areas off the Northeastern United States.

Expedition Focus: Seamounts and Canyons

The education resource collection below includes a link to the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection - Volume 1, Why Do We Explore? and Volume 2, How Do We Explore?; specific lessons and learning tools relevant to this expedition and the exploration strategy of the Okeanos Explorer; and links to Expedition Education Modules from two recent expeditions to Northeast seamounts and canyons which include introductory videos, standards-based lessons and much more.

Additionally, below are theme pages on Seamounts and Canyons. Each theme page includes a selection of essays from past related expeditions, additional lessons and multimedia tools for the classroom, images and videos, career interviews, and links to past expeditions with a seamount or canyon focus.

Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection was developed to encourage educators and students to become personally involved with the voyages and discoveries of the vessel.

Education Materials Collection

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 Classroom Lessons

Classroom lessons and learning tools relevant to the expedition are listed below by grade level. Although some of these resources may have been developed for past expeditions conducted in other regions of the world ocean, the Focus Questions and Student Learning Objectives are applicable to the current expedition.

 Multimedia Content Themes

These Education Theme Pages are designed to provide the best of what the Ocean Explorer website has to offer to support your classroom during this expedition. Each Theme page provides links to content essays, lessons, multimedia interactive activities, career information, and associated past expeditions.

Related Expeditions

The following expeditions cover topics similar to those of interest on the current expedition. 2015-2017 expedition web pages have an education component with associated lessons and other resources that you might find useful to classroom teaching and learning.