By learning about local fish habitat, students are able to understand how survivability of juvenile fish is crucial to not only the survival of their own species but to all species along the food chain which ultimately affects food sources, recreation, cultural traditions, and economy of humans.
Student pairs start the lesson with a kinesthetic activity in which they form a gauntlet of hazards faced by salmon. One to several of the students (or the teacher) plays the salmon trying to get through the gauntlet as it makes its journey from the ocean to its spawning grounds upriver. Back in the classroom, […]
This activity encourages students to apply their knowledge of natural selection, ocean life, and ocean zones to observe and analyze the unique adaptations needed by organisms that exist in the deep ocean.
Animals and plants have a great variety of body plans and internal structures that contribute to their being able to make or find food and reproduce. Scientists use technology to help them answer questions about the organisms they can’t readily access. In this activity, students will explore how animals in the deep sea are adapted […]
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.