Education
MBARI Summer Internship Program
Applications are no longer being accepted for the 2021 MBARI summer internship program. This 10-week internship allows college students and educators to work on a research or outreach project at MBARI.
MBARI Summer Internship Program Supplemental Application Information
This page provides some supplemental application information for the MBARI Internship program.
2021 Intern Projects and Mentors
Potential intern projects and mentors for 2021. This list may be updated so do check it prior to completing your application. Please DO NOT contact the mentors directly.
Have an Eye in the Sky
Students use photographs taken with satellites and drones to observe changes on Earth. The students will make inferences based on their observations and calculations to make claims about seasonal ice/snow coverage in the Arctic and whale size and behaviour in the Antarctic.
Is Climate Change Impacting Salmon Populations?
Climate change is a topic we hear about every day, from increasing sea levels, warming oceans, and melting polar ice caps. But is climate change impacting our salmon populations? Students will utilize Pacific Decadal Oscillation data, and Coho and Chinook Salmon data to explore the connection between salmon returns and water temperature.
Data, or it Didn’t Happen
This lesson is aimed at helping students improve their skills with claims, evidence, and reasoning. There are two case studies available, one on ocean acidification and one on invasive species. Students will watch an introduction video, read and explore information on the topic, then answer prompts based on data (temperature, salinity, and pH for ocean […]
Marine Careers: Meet Marine Movers and Shakers
Students will be introduced to an array of marine advocates including scientists, artists, educators and students. These films can be used to introduce students to marine advocates/enthusiasts on a personal level and as introduction to a variety of ways to implement marine advocacy into a career.
Marine Mammal Strandings
Using marine mammal stranding data, students will create a model to document the location of strandings on the Oregon coast. The data will be coded to include anthropogenic (human) reasons for strandings which will lead the students to look for patterns and develop future research questions. Students will map 40 data points of ten different […]
Marine Algae and the Mystery of Dissolved Oxygen!
Earth has finite resources, and as a result, matter recycles throughout the world by biogeochemical cycles. The Carbon/Oxygen Cycle is a biogeochemical cycle that is driven by photosynthesis and cellular respiration. As a result of organisms performing these two processes, levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) change within water columns. Inspired by the information available via […]
Can You Build Your Shipwright?
Students will start by completing a webquest on the different equipment that can be found at an ocean observatory. They will explore a variety of research equipment used to determine the biochemical and geophysical activities of our oceans. Students will be able to compare and contrast data for inshore vs offshore mooring systems and gliders. […]
Blue Mud Shrimp Mystery Update
This lesson plan is an extension of the Blue Mud Shrimp Mystery adding information and activities on the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) threatening the white tail deer and elk population in Pennsylvania and other places. It will align with the Pennsylvania Academic Standards, NGSS, and the PA Game Commission environmental education public outreach program. It will be […]
Intro to ROVs
This is an introductory lesson to familiarize students with how ROVs are built and why ROVs are used. Students will observe a variety of deep sea organisms using MBARI YouTube videos and the MBARI Deep Sea guide. Students will explore the subject of why and how ROVs are used to collect data regarding the deep sea. Students will […]
The WAR for Carbonate Ions in Ocean Acidification
This short activity allows students to visualize the negative impacts on ocean organisms as the pH of the ocean drops (ocean acidification or OA). It focuses on the how the changes in ocean chemistry, as more CO2 dissolves in the water, affects life in the ocean. Student groups play four rounds of a modified card […]
Thinking Sinking
Students will have personal experience of increasing pressure. Those experiences can be extended to understand animals at different depths. Then they will use MBARI’s Deep Sea Guide to find animals, and put them on a vertical crosscut of the bay.
Ocean Acidification; Investigating Data
MIDDLE SCHOOL LESSON: This activity was written with a middle school audience in mind, and provides an introduction to ocean acidification using a video from the California Academy of Sciences. After the introduction, students are guided through a yearlong, seasonal sampling of 1 or more bodies of water in their geographical area (the Pacific Coast of […]
Science at home: Free online science curriculum
MBARI has gathered some educational resources that may be useful to parents and students while sheltering in place.
About MBARI
Research programs at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) encompass the entire ocean, from the surface waters to the deep seafloor, and from the coastal zone to the open sea. The need to understand the ocean in all its complexity and variability drives MBARI's research and development efforts.