Ocean Species at Risk Unit (3-5)
Lesson Plans
Grades3, 4, 5Science
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Provided by Ocean Wise
What it is
- This five-lesson unit, available in English and French, details how pollution, commercial fishing, climate change, and other human activities affect whales, otters, turtles, and sharks.
- Students will learn about the importance of whales to the Iñupiat of Arctic Alaska, hear a Tsaagweidf Clan Tlingit legend about the origin of killer whales, learn the Indigenous cultural importance of salmon, understand how plastic pollution affects fish important to Inuit culture, and hear about the hunting of otters that happened concurrently with the mistreatment of the Siletz tribe in Oregon.
Teaching tips
Positives
- The kid-hosted news clip is engaging and empowering for students.
- Each lesson ends with an action step for students to complete, which may help students with climate anxiety.
- Throughout this lesson, students are introduced to the connection between marine life and Indigenous culture.
Prerequisites
- This link will take teachers to a landing page for all the grade bands in this module. The elementary (3-5) resources are the first ones listed.
- Students should understand the greenhouse effect and how human actions contribute to climate change.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Teachers can create a word wall using terms from the glossary for students to reference throughout the unit.
- Classes near the ocean can take a field trip to watch for whales or other wildlife and report sightings using the provided link.
- After learning how pollution impacts marine life, students can think of ways to reduce pollution in their community.
- Students can draw a kelp forest, including species in the related food web.
- In videos where there is text and no voiceover, as in "Sea Otters: This Kelp Forest's Best Friend by National Geographic," in the fifth lesson, teachers may wish to slow the video playback speed or read the text aloud to students.
From the scientist review
The lessons in this resource offer a comprehensive look at how climate change is impacting marine life for five specific animals. The lessons are well-cited and the links within all jump to accredited videos and resources. This lesson is recommended for teaching.
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