Marine primary producers play a crucial role in the functioning of marine ecosystems. No, they don’t bite and you won’t see any cool videos of them swimming around in the ocean, but you better believe they are important. From the smallest Sybiodinium to the largest kelp, marine primary producers form the base of the food chain and provide energy to the higher trophic levels. So even though they may not seem super cool to your students at first glance, you can definitely change their opinion with these activities for your marine plants, phytoplankton and algae lesson.
Seaweed Scavenger Hunt
First off, you need to make sure that your students understand that algae and seaweed are the same thing. After you have done that, you can start off with one of my favorite activities: Seaweed Scavenger Hunt. You’ll need to give yourself and your students a few days to a week to prep this one. Have your students bring in empty containers with ingredients listed on the back. This can be food, makeup products, cleaning products, lotions, hair care, etc. As long as it has ingredients listed, it’s good! Once you have a good collection of containers, spread them out around the room. Your students will be given a designated amount of time ( I usually gave about 15 minutes) to hunt for items that had one of the following ingredients in it.- Carrageenan
- Algin
- Agar
- Alginate
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