Lesson Plans
Educators and scientists working with NOAA developed a series of lesson plans for students in Grades 5 - 12 that are specifically tied to the science behind the Cayman Island Twilight Zone Expedition. These lesson plans focus on cutting-edge ocean exploration and research using state-of-the-art technologies.
The lesson plans are grouped into the following categories:
Grades 9-12 (Chemical, Biological, Earth, and Physical Science)
In addition to being tied to the National Science Education Standards and the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts, the hands-on, inquiry-based activities include focus questions, background information for teachers, links to interesting Internet sites, and extensions. Web logs that document the latest discoveries and complement the lesson plans, complete with compelling images and video, will be sent back each day from sea. Teachers are encouraged to use the daily logs from the Cayman Island Twilight Zone Expedition, which are posted on this site, to supplement the lessons.
Read a description of each lesson plan and/or download them to your computer. All of the lesson plans are available in a PDF format, and may be viewed and printed with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download a lesson, click on its title from the listing below. (Note: if you have problems downloading one of these lessons, right-click on the link and save the lesson to your desktop.)
A Piece of Cake (7 pages; 282kb PDF)
Focus: Spatial heterogeneity in deep-water coral communities (Life Science)
In this activity, students will be able to explain what a habitat is, describe at least three functions or benefits that habitats provide, and describe some habitats that are typical of deep-water hard bottom communities. Students will also be able to explain how organisms, such as deep-water corals and sponges, add to the variety of habitats in areas such as the Cayman Islands.
Deep Gardens (11 pages; 331kb PDF)
Focus: Comparison of deep-sea and shallow-water tropical coral communities (Life Science)
In this activity, students will compare and contrast deep-sea coral communities with their shallow-water counterparts, describe three types of coral associated with deep-sea coral communities, and explain three benefits associated with deep-sea coral communities. Students will explain why many scientists are concerned about the future of deep-sea coral communities.
Let's Go to the Video Tape! (11 pages; 327kb PDF)
Focus: Characteristics of biological communities on deep-water coral habitats (Life Science)
In this activity, students will recognize and identify some of the fauna groups found in deep-sea coral communities, infer possible reasons for observed distribution of groups of animals in deep-sea coral communities, and discuss the meaning of biological diversity. Students will compare and contrast the concepts of variety and relative abundance as they relate to biological diversity, and given abundance and distribution data of species, will be able to calculate an appropriate numeric indicator that describes the biological diversity of a community.
Treasures in Jeopardy (8 pages; 278kb PDF)
Focus: Conservation of deep-sea coral communities (Life Science)
In this activity, students will compare and contrast deep-sea coral communities with their shallow-water counterparts and explain at least three benefits associated with deep-sea coral communities. Students will also describe human activities that threaten deep-sea coral communities and describe actions that should be taken to protect resources of deep-sea coral communities.
What's Down There? (8 pages; 316kb PDF)
Focus: Mapping Coral Reef Habitats
In this activity, students will be able to access data on selected coral reefs and manipulate these data to characterize these reefs, and explain the need for baseline data in coral reef monitoring programs. Students also will be able to identify and explain five ways that coral reefs benefit human beings, and identify and explain three major threats to coral reefs.
The Benthic Drugstore (8 pages; 278kb PDF)
Focus: Pharmacologically-active chemicals derived from marine invertebrates (Life Science/Chemistry)
In this activity, students will be able to identify at least three pharmacologically-active chemicals derived from marine invertebrates, describe the disease-fighting action of at least three pharmacologically-active chemicals derived from marine invertebrates, and infer why sessile marine invertebrates appear to be promising sources of new drugs.
Watch the Screen! (8 pages; 278kb PDF)
Focus: Screening natural products for biological activity (Life Science/Chemistry)
In this activity, students will be able to explain and carry out a simple process for screening natural products for biological activity, and will be able to infer why organisms such as sessile marine invertebrates appear to be promising sources of new drugs.
Now Take a Deep Breath (8 pages; 278kb PDF)
Focus: Physics and physiology of SCUBA diving (Physical Science/Life Science)
In this activity, students will be able to define Henry’s Law, Boyle’s Law, and Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures, and explain their relevance to SCUBA diving; discuss the causes of air embolism, decompression sickness, nitrogen narcosis, and oxygen toxicity in SCUBA divers; and explain the advantages of gas mixtures such as Nitrox and Trimix and closed-circuit rebreather systems.
Other Relevant Lesson Plans from NOAA’s Ocean Exploration Program
Grades 5-6
Easy as Pi (4 pages, 252k) (from the 2003 Charleston Bump Expedition]
Focus: Structural complexity in benthic habitats (Life Science/Mathematics)
In this activity, students will be able to describe the importance of structural features that increase surface area in benthic habitats and quantify the relative impact of various structural modifications on surface area in model habitats. Students will also be able to give examples of organisms that increase the structural complexity of their communities.
Friend, Foe, or . . . (5 pages, 331k) (from the North Atlantic Stepping Stones 2005 Expedition)
Focus (Life Science) - Symbiotic relationships with corals
In this activity, students will be able to define and describe symbiotic, mutualistic, commensal, parasitic, facultative and obligatory relationships between organisms; describe at least three species that have symbiotic relationships with corals; and discuss whether these relationships are mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic.
Architects of the Deep Reef (5 pages, 388k) (from the Gulf of Mexico Deep Sea Habitats 2003 Expedition)
Focus: Reproduction in Cnidaria (Life Science)
In this activity, students will be able to identify and describe at least five characteristics of Cnidaria coral, compare and contrast the four classes of Cnidaria, and describe typical reproductive strategies used by Cnidaria. Students will also be able to infer which of these strategies are likely to be used by the deep-sea coral Lophelia pertusa, and will be able to describe the advantages of these strategies.
Chemists Without Backbones (4 pages, 356k) (from the 2003 Deep Sea Medicines Expedition)
Focus: Benthic invertebrates that produce pharmacologically-active substances (life science)
In this activity, students will be able to identify at least three groups of benthic invertebrates that are known to produce pharmacologically-active compounds and will describe why pharmacologically-active compounds derived from benthic invertebrates may be important in treating human diseases. Students will also be able to infer why sessile marine invertebrates appear to be promising sources of new drugs.
Keep Away (5 pages, 424k) (from the 2003 Gulf of Mexico Deep Sea Habitats Expedition)
Focus: Effects of pollution on diversity in benthic communities (Life Science)
In this activity, students will discuss the meaning of biological diversity and compare and contrast the concepts of variety and relative abundance as they relate to biological diversity. Given information on the number of individuals, number of species, and biological diversity at a series of sites, students will make inferences about the possible effects of oil drilling operations on benthic communities.
Grades 7-8
Big Fleas Have Little Fleas (7 pages, 1Mb) (from the 2003 Mountains in the Sea Expedition)
Focus: Physical structure in benthic habitats (Life Science)
In this activity, students will recognize that natural structures and systems often display recurrent complexity over many scales of measurement, infer the importance of structural complexity to species diversity and abundance in benthic habitats, and discuss ways that octocorals may modify seamount habitats to make these habitats more suitable for other species.
Climate, Corals, and Change (14 pages, 441k) (from the 2006 Exploring Ancient Coral Gardens Expedition)
Focus (Physical Science) - Paleoclimatology
In this activity, students will be able to explain the concept of paleoclimatological proxies and describe at least two examples, describe how oxygen isotope ratios are related to water temperature, and interpret data on oxygen isotope ratios to make inferences about the growth rate of deep-sea corals. Students will also be able to define forcing factor and will be able to describe at least three forcing factors for climate change and discuss at least three potential consequences of a warmer world climate.
Design a Reef! (5 pages, 408k) (from the Gulf of Mexico Deep Sea Habitats 2003 Expedition)
Focus: Niches in coral reef ecosystems (Life Science)
In this activity, students will compare and contrast coral communities in shallow water and deep water, describe the major functions that organisms must perform in a coral ecosystem, and explain how these functions might be provided in a miniature coral ecosystem. Students will also be able to explain the importance of three physical factors in coral reef ecosystems and infer the fundamental source of energy in a deep-water coral community.
Biodiversity of Deep Sea Corals (3 pages, 1Mb) (from the Mountains in the Sea 2003 Expedition)
Focus: Deep-sea corals
In this activity, students will research life found on tropical coral reefs to develop an understanding of the biodiversity of the ecosystem; students will research life found in deep-sea coral beds to develop an understanding of the biodiversity of the ecosystem; students will compare the diversity and adaptations of tropical corals to deep-sea corals.
Climate, Corals, and Change (14 pages, 441k) (from the North Atlantic Stepping Stones 2005 Expedition)
Focus (Physical Science) - Paleoclimatology
In this activity, students will be able to explain the concept of "paleoclimatological proxies" and describe at least two examples, describe how oxygen isotope ratios are related to water temperature, and interpret data on oxygen isotope ratios to make inferences about the growth rate of deep-sea corals. Students will also be able to define "forcing factor" and will be able to describe at least three forcing factors for climate change and discuss at least three potential consequences of a warmer world climate.
Deep Sea Coral Biodiversity (3 pages, 152k) (from the 2001 Deep East Expedition)
Focus: George’s Bank
In this activity, students will research life found on tropical coral reefs to develop an understanding of the biodiversity of the ecosystem; students will research life found in deep-sea coral beds to develop an understanding of the biodiversity of the ecosystem; and students will compare the diversity and adaptations of tropical corals to deep-sea corals.
Grades 9-12
History's Thermometers (5 pages, 80k) (from the 2002 Alaska Seamount Expedition)
Focus: Use of deep-water corals to determine long-term patterns of climate change (Physics)
In this activity, students will be able to explain the concept of paleoclimatological proxies, learn how oxygen isotope ratios are related to water temperature, and interpret data on oxygen isotope ratios to make inferences about climate and climate change in the geologic past.
Cut-off Genes (12 pages, 648k) (from the Mountains in the Sea 2004 Expedition)
Focus: Gene sequencing and phylogenetic expressions (Life Science)
In this activity, students will be able to explain the concept of gene-sequence analysis; and, given gene sequence data, students will be able to draw inferences about phylogenetic similarities of different organisms.
Feeding in the Flow (6 pages, 268k) (from the 2003 Charleston Bump Expedition)
Focus: Effect of water currents on feeding efficiency in corals (Life Science)
In this activity, students will be able to describe at least two ways in which current flow may affect the feeding efficiency of particle-feeding organisms and explain how interactions between current flow and the morphology of a particle-feeding organism may affect the organism’s feeding efficiency. Students will also be able to identify at least two environmental factors in addition to current flow that may affect the morphology of reef-building corals.
Cool Corals (7 pages, 476k) (from the 2003 Life on the Edge Expedition)
Focus: Biology and ecology of Lophelia corals (Life Science)
In this activity, students will describe the basic morphology of Lophelia corals and explain the significance of these organisms, interpret preliminary observations on the behavior of Lophelia polyps, and infer possible explanations for these observations. Students will also discuss why biological communities associated with Lophelia corals are the focus of major worldwide conservation efforts.
Keep It Complex! (5 pages, 272k) (from The Charleston Bump 2003 Expedition)
Focus: Effects of habitat complexity on biological diversity (Life Science)
In this activity, students will be able to describe the significance of complexity in benthic habitats to organisms that live in these habitats and will describe at least three attributes of benthic habitats that can increase the physical complexity of these habitats. Students will also be able to give examples of organisms that increase the structural complexity of their communities and infer and explain relationships between species diversity and habitat complexity in benthic communities.
Are You Related? (11 pages, 465k) (from the Florida Coast Deep Corals 2005 Expedition)
Focus: Molecular genetics of deepwater corals (Life Science)
In this activity, students will define microsatellite markers and explain how they may be used to identify different populations and species, explain two definitions of species, and describe processes that result in speciation. Students will also use microsatellite data to make inferences about populations of deep-sea corals.
How Does Your (Coral) Garden Grow? (6 pages, 456k) (from the Gulf of Mexico Deep Sea Habitats 2003 Expedition)
Focus: Growth rate estimates based on isotope ratios (Life Science/Chemistry)
In this activity, students will identify and briefly explain two methods for estimating the age of hard corals, learn how oxygen isotope ratios are related to water temperature, and interpret data on oxygen isotope ratios to make inferences about the growth rate of deep-sea corals.
How Diverse is That? (6 pages, 552k) (from the 2003 Windows to the Deep Expedition)
Focus: Quantifying biological diversity (Life Science)
In this activity, students will be able to discuss the meaning of biological diversity and will be able to compare and contrast the concepts of variety and relative abundance as they relate to biological diversity. Given abundance and distribution data of species in two communities, students will be able to calculate an appropriate numeric indicator that describes the biological diversity of these communities.
For More Information
Contact Paula Keener-Chavis, national education coordinator for the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, for more information.
Other lesson plans developed for this Web site are available in the Education Section.
