Please enjoy this preview into the "Deep Dive" volume 1 activity pack I've created (link below) to help learners improve their ocean literacy, featuring up to 18 hours of learning extension worksheets, discussion cards, analysis tools, games and other exercises that can be completed independently or as a group.
In addition to each story in The Blue Marble Series, starting with Beneath the Surface, I'm offering learning extension materials focused on enriching ocean literacy in the bioregion where each of the fictional stories take place that align with the NGSS Ocean Literacy Framework for Grades 6 – 8:
Unit 1 – The Plight of the Chinese White (Pink) Dolphins
MS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Understanding how diversity and adaptations have evolved on Earth over time would be incomplete without focusing first on the diversity and unique adaptations of ocean life. Recognizing the importance of a species habitat and the impact it has on extinction probability is a key concept to understand in the Anthropocene.
Unit 2 – The Problem of Overfishing
MS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
By the end of this unit, learners should have a better understanding of how changes in biodiversity can influence resources and ecosystem benefits. Learners will focus on the 7 Key Ocean Literacy Principles, and study evidence that shows how humans and the ocean are inextricably interconnected. Learners will begin to understand how the ocean made life on Earth possible.
Unit 3 - The Scariest Thing In The Sea: Ghostnets
MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
In follow up to the climax scene in Beneath the Surface, where Xing Xing gets caught in the trawler net, this unit focuses on the real-world horror story of "ghostnets" or derelict fishing gear. The aim of this final module is to show how human activities have altered the biosphere, damaged natural habitats and caused or sped up extinctions.
All of the ideas presented in these 3 units are strongly connected to the following concepts: humans affect the ocean in a variety of ways, including impacting biological diversity and causing extinctions; most people live near coasts. The activities were designed based on the NGSS Framework for Ocean Literacy, 2013 (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration).
#BeneathTheSurface #BlueMarbleSeries #MiddleReaders #OceanLiteracy #OceanEducation #OceanScience #OceanLovers #activitypack
what an incredible experience.