Resources for Students & Educators
Education and Outreach
Education and outreach are vital to improving the public’s awareness and understanding of ocean acidification to prepare and adapt to its impacts.
The goal of NOAA's OAP is to effectively communicate the changes our ocean faces along with the science behind and efforts to adapt to and mitigate these changes.
Partnering with other NOAA programs, we work to develop strategies and tools to effectively communicate the impacts of ocean acidification and potential solutions. We host a variety of workshops and online webinars to share these strategies to those communicating about our changing ocean around the globe.
Partnering with other NOAA programs, we work to develop strategies and tools to effectively communicate the impacts of ocean acidification and potential solutions. We host a variety of workshops and online webinars to share these strategies to those communicating about our changing ocean around the globe.
OAP advances ocean acidification literacy for better decision-making
NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program provides educational and public outreach opportunities to improve understanding of ocean acidification to students, educators and the broader public. With increased awareness of ocean and coastal acidification, communities can prepare and adapt to the consequences of our changing ocean. NOAA is legislated to facilitate national public outreach activities to improve the understanding of current scientific knowledge of ocean acidification and its impacts on marine resources.
Action for Ocean Acidification Education
The Ocean Acidification Program works to understand and fill the needs of the ocean acidification education and communication community.
NOAA addresses four major goals for advancing education
- Develop and conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of education and outreach programming and potential audiences.
- Prioritize and engage target audiences for ocean acidification education and outreach outcome.
- Match ocean acidification communication needs with existing research, education and outreach activities.
- Develop innovative approaches for community involvement outcome.
The NOAA Ocean Acidification Implementation Plan identifies actions to extend the reach of NOAA research findings to the broader community through education and outreach. The first step was evaluating the needs in education and outreach programming to determine gaps and opportunities to strengthen ocean acidification education and communication.
OAP supported grants and NOAA activities address the goals of the implementation plan. Some efforts include developing multimedia education tools, place-based curricula and supporting community science in various U.S. regions.
Education & Outreach Resources
Unlock ocean acidification with our curated collection of background, classroom ready, regional and species-specific resources – each vetted for teaching and communication best practices. These resources are for teachers, students and anyone interested in ocean and coastal acidification.
Choose Your Own (O)Adventure
Explore a personalized learning path tailored to your specific interests and goals. This interactive feature helps you quickly navigate our curated library to find the exact resources you need. You can also browse our full resource collection using our searchable Resources portal.
Best Background on Ocean Acidification
Build your foundational knowledge with expert-curated materials, including in-depth guides, easy to understand graphics, and primers designed to clarify the science and impacts of ocean acidification. Find more at Choose Your Own (O)Adventure.
What is Ocean Acidification?
Ocean acidification (OA) occurs when the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere like sponge. This causes a fundamental and global change in the chemistry of the ocean. Learn all about ocean acidification, it’s causes, consequences and solutions straight from NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program.
Ocean Acidification Overview
General information from NOAA Education about ocean acidification (OA) including a brief overview of the past 200 years and the pH scale we use to measure OA.
Understanding Ocean Acidification
NOAA Fisheries presents how our oceans are absorbing increasingly more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, leading to lower pH and increased acidity. Learn about the impacts of ocean acidification (OA) on people and society and what we can do to mitigate and adapt.
Engage students with Ocean Acidification Resources
Inspire the next generation with NGSS aligned lessons, dynamic tools and multimedia that make complex ocean chemistry accessible and relevant and bring these concepts to life inside and outside the classroom.
Browse all materials in our Resources portal
Classroom-ready Resources
Access a comprehensive suite of lesson plans, teaching guides, and instructional materials vetted for educational use and ready for immediate implementation.
Search by grade level and more at Choose Your Own (O)Adventure
Hands-on Curricula
Deepen student understanding through structured, NGSS aligned mulit-lesson curricula that emphasize active learning, critical thinking, and real-world application.
Choose Your Own (O)Adventure by grade level and discover more curricula.
Data in the Classroom: Understanding Ocean and Coastal Acidification
Dive into ocean and coastal acidification with the newly updated NOAA Data in the Classroom. Designed for grades 9-12, this 5-level module features interactive maps, graphs, videos and incorporates the latest NOAA data to reveal the science behind acidification impacts.
MACAN Coastal Acidification in the Classroom curriculum- Grades 9-12
This NGSS aligned curriculum developed by the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Acidification Network (MACAN) brings coastal and ocean acidification into high school classrooms with lessons, hands-on activities and data-driven investigations.
Games, Activities, Experiments
Make learning fun and impactful with engaging simulations, virtual experiences and hands-on experiments and games that demonstrate impacts of ocean acidification and point toward solutions.
Explore more at Choose Your Own (O)Adventure
Ocean Protector
Understand ocean acidification through game-based learning. Website includes easy to access game, source code, science standards, educator guide, and module integration. Geared toward students middle school to adults. (2023)
Virtual Urchin: Our Acidifying Ocean
Four module online and mobile friendly curriculum for students to experiment and learn about ocean acidification, it’s impacts, and actions students can take. Available in five languages. Based on real sea urchin research.
Water We Gonna Do?: Dive into MACAN’s New Acidification Video Game
Come along with MACAN and adventure through an education video game that follows acidification through coastal habitats. Meet coastal and ocean friends and help them recover from the effects of acidified waters.
Think Local
Access a comprehensive suite of lesson plans, teaching guides, and instructional materials vetted for educational use and ready for immediate implementation.
Search by grade level and more at Choose Your Own (O)Adventure
Species
Make learning fun and impactful with engaging simulations, virtual experiences and hands-on experiments and games that demonstrate impacts of ocean acidification and point toward solutions.
Explore more at Choose Your Own (O)Adventure
Toolkit: Dungeness Crab Case Study
This toolkit designed for educators and communicators to use to teach others about the impact of ocean acidification on Dungeness crab. Inside the toolkit: fact sheet, infographic, slideshow with script, reference list, resource list, and public domain media.
MACAN Biological Impacts Graphics
The Biological Impacts Graphics from MACAN show conditions where negative impacts have been observed and potentially lethal conditions for Mid-Atlantic species. These graphics explore how species are impacted by the natural differences in pH and aragonite saturation values across different coastal and marine habitats.
Regions
Keep ocean acidification relevant with location-specific research stories and solutions, including storymaps,regional network resources, education toolkits and more. Choose Your Own (O)Adventure for your own backyard.
Ocean Acidification Education Toolkit – Pacific Northwest
"Hey! What's the commotion in our ocean?" is an NGSS aligned 4 module toolkit that brings the Pacific Northwest into the classroom. Students ages 9 and up will make connections between how changes in the atmosphere affect the ocean and in turn, important marine life. Students can become OA Ambassadors as they explore solutions and take action.
Exploring our changing ocean storymap collection
Access six interactive StoryMaps showcasing relevant ocean acidification trends, science activities, stakeholder engagements and policy responses taking place across regions where NOAA supports U.S. Coastal Acidification Networks (“CANs”). The six regional NOAA CANs include activities in Alaska, California Current, North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic and the Gulf.
Dive in deeper - extension, expansion, extra ideas
Take your exploration further with advanced resources, webinar series like SOARCE and collaborative opportunities to expand your knowledge toolkit.
Access our entire resource collection using our searchable portal.
SOARCE Webinars
This webinar series provides ocean acidification communication tools to formal and informal educators, stakeholders, and rightsholders across the country.
SOARCE promotes a more integrated and effective ocean acidification education community by sharing activities and resources virtually. The ocean acidification education and communication communities can use and create cutting-edge communication tools incorporating current scientific and communication research to reach a variety of audiences.
Coastal State Governments, Regional Networks & Others
The OAP works closely with coastal state governments, on-the-ground networks, industry and NGOs to develop their responses to ocean acidification
