Analyzing Historic Ocean Chlorophyll
Activity - Classroom
Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Biology
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by My NASA Data
What it is
- In this short mini-lesson, students will analyze a global map to compare the chlorophyll concentrations in different regions of the ocean to determine the concentration of phytoplankton in the ocean.
- Students will learn about phytoplankton, chlorophyll data, and how phytoplankton populations differ throughout various ocean regions.
Teaching tips
Positives
- The language in the activity and directions is student-facing, so teachers can either direct students straight to this page or copy and paste the steps into an assignment page.
- The resource contains many additional articles and data tools to extend the learning and you can easily add this to a Google classroom with the provided link.
Prerequisites
- Teachers will need to submit the Teacher Key Request and Verification Form to receive an answer key for the lesson.
- Students may benefit from seeing an image of phytoplankton or from a more in-depth discussion of what they are and why they are important.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Use the link to the Source data to connect this activity to the carbon cycle, photosynthesis, oxygen production, or climate change.
- Teachers who are short on class time to dedicate to these topics can add this short activity at the beginning or end of a lesson in their curriculum.
- Teachers who are looking to extend this activity to a whole class period can refer to the complementary lesson plans linked at the bottom.
- Some students may benefit from having the map and questions alongside each other or having the questions in a notebook in front of them so they don't have to scroll back and forth.
From the scientist review
This resource tasks students with analyzing ocean chlorophyll data presented in maps. The included map is clear and accessible either via the web or as a printable pdf. The linked website below the map details how chlorophyll concentrations have changed with time, a good discussion point for climate change impacts on marine life. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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Hosted on mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov
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