As the school year wraps up and all the testing chaos ends, you may be thinking “what can I do for the rest of the school year?” “How can I keep my students engaged?” Well, I believe the end of the year in marine science is all about having some fun while still keeping the activities content-focused. Here are some of my favorite ways to wrap up the end of the year in marine science.
Did you Miss Anything?
This one may be simple but just looking at your pacing guide and curriculum map can be really helpful here. What are some of those big projects or labs that you put off because you didn’t have enough time earlier in the year? The end of the year is the perfect time to revisit those activities.
Contributions to Marine Science Project
This is a fun project that I usually like to assign at the beginning of the year but I have done it at the end of the year as well. The Contributions to Marine Science Project is a research project that allows students to learn more about inventions and technologies that have made the lives of marine scientists easier and advanced research. The students get assigned a contribution (or you can let them choose) from a list. Once they have theirs chosen, they begin to do research about it. What does it do? What does it look like? Who uses it? How does it help marine scientists?
Once they have their background knowledge about the invention, they take on a marketing role. Their job is to pretend they are on the marketing team for this invention or advancement. They must design an advertisement for their contribution that shows what it is capable of and convince others why it’s so helpful. If you want to take things up a notch, you can add a Shark Tank twist. Have your students present their advertisements as if they are on the show. This always made it a bit more fun!
Plastic Pollution and the Coral Reef PBL
This is an excellent long-term project for marine science. It covers coral reefs, biodiversity, ecology and the impact of plastic pollution on coral reefs. It reviews many of the concepts you have gone over throughout the year and ties it all together. You can learn more about the project here or grab the resource for the project here. You will need about 2-3 weeks to complete this PBL, making it perfect for the end of the year.
Here is the quick summary of the project plan:
1. Introducing the project. This really sets the tone for the unit and keeps students on track with a goal in mind. I like to write the question (How does plastic pollution affect the biodiversity of life on coral reefs?) on the board and come back to it throughout the project.
2. Create a sketch. Have students create a sketch of what they think a healthy, biodiverse coral reef looks like. They can apply what they know about coral reefs here.
3. Research. Students will begin researching the coral reef and the current state of things. This can be done individually, with a partner, or even in small groups depending on your class size and dynamics.
4. Create a new sketch. After researching, have students create another sketch that represents the “true” state of coral reefs based on what they learned.
5. Create a PSA. Now that students know why coral reefs are important and what is happening with coral reefs – they can inform others! Put students into groups to create a PSA about biodiversity and how plastic pollution has affected coral reefs.
6. Create an Action Plan. Finally, have students create an action plan that gets the school or community involved in efforts to reduce the plastic in the oceans. Their action plan will focus on why coral reefs are important and what the average citizen can do to help.
Polynesian Nautical Stick Charts
This is a fun project that ties in the history of marine science and early map making. Ancient Polynesians made their maps out of sea shells, sticks and other natural materials to create personalized maps that helped them with seafaring. With this Polynesian Nautical Stick Charts Project. With this project, Students will learn about Ancient Polynesian stick charts, how they were created, and their significance. Then, they will build their own map using various materials and include islands of their choice. Once they have created their own charts, they will trade with a classmate to see if they can be read and understood by others. This project will take a couple of class periods so that students get an idea of how to tie the sticks together.
You’ll need some supplies such as:
Kabob sticks
Sea shells
Clay
Beads
Strings
Build an Edible Coral Polyp
Students love a good food lab. They can be messy but they are fun and educational too! This Edible Coral Polyp Lab is a simple lab that you can do with students to review coral polyp anatomy. Students bring in different candies or snacks to create their coral polyp. However, the foods they use must represent the different parts of the anatomy for their coral polyp. Have your students review the anatomy, the function of each feature and how the food they choose represents that anatomical feature. This one was always a favorite in my marine science class!
Marine Animals Bingo
If you are looking for a way to have your students review characteristics of marine animals, this Marine Organisms Bingo Game is perfect. It is played similar to the traditional style of Bingo but, in order to win, students need to be able to identify and understand the characteristics of organisms in various phyla, classes and orders. As the teacher, you read off the characteristics and the students mark the correct organism on their Bingo card. Make the game easier by giving students game cards with images or make it more challenging by providing game cards without images.
Marine Animals ABC Book
One of my favorite projects is the ABC’s of Marine Vertebrates Book. This is a collaborative project in which each student’s contribution puts the whole project together. Each student gets a page of a book with a letter. The students have to find a marine vertebrate that matches that letter and research it’s characteristics. Then, they draw their animal and color it. Once all students are complete, you can place all the pages together in order, bind the book with string and there you have it! A book that your class made together. Sometimes, we donate the book to our local elementary school so that the younger students can enjoy it.
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