Educational Programs
Save Our Shores education programs are grade-level specific, with NGSS-aligned curriculum, and are designed to fit flawlessly into teachers’ academic year. Contact us to learn about scheduling your experiences with Save Our Shores for the upcoming school year!
Our main program consists of 3-parts: two classroom visits and one beach field trip. Other custom programs are available for classroom visits or beach field trips only. No matter what type of program you are interested in, Save Our Shores education programs help students discover their connection with the bay, build healthy eco-identities, and become environmental stewards of our coasts and oceans.
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Our program includes two class visits and one beach field trip. Descriptions of the program by grade below.
Data Collection Cards
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Learning Resources
PreK - 12th Grade Activities
Explore virtual field trips, activities, worksheets, and more for PreK – 12 grade.
Program Overview
Phenomenon: There are many different kinds of living things at the beach.
Guiding Question: What are beach and ocean habitats and how can we protect them?
Overview:
Students will observe and ask questions about living things and where they live using models, images, and direct observation. They will develop an understanding of local habitats, where animals and plants find where they need to live. Then, students read about and discuss how human debris can effect different habitats and how people can take actions to protect those habitats.
Standards Supported:
NGSS SEPs: Asking Questions and Defining Problems; Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information; Developing and Using Models
NGSS CCCs: Cause and Effect, Patterns, Systems and System Models
NGSS DCIs: (Gr K) ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems; ESS3.A: Natural Resources
CA EP&Cs: Principle II.C
Phenomenon: There are many different kinds of birds at the beach that look similar, yet different in many ways.
Guiding Question: How do birds’ body parts help them to survive?
Overview: Students will observe and ask questions about birds that live near and around the Monterey Bay, and will compare similarities and differences between their parts. At the beach, students will directly observe birds and identify structures that aid in their survival. Students will consider the question of how plastic pollution affects a bird’s ability to survive. Students will play a game to understand the challenges birds face in trying to consume food while avoiding plastic. They will take a pledge to keep our local habitats clean and healthy.
Standards Supported:
NGSS SEPs: Constructing Explanations; Obtaining Information; Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
NGSS CCCs: Patterns, Structure and Function
NGSS DCIs: LS1.A: Structure and Function; LS3.B: Variation of Traits
CA EP&Cs: I.B; II.C
Phenomenon: There’s trash in my community!
Guiding Question: How do we prevent litter?
Overview:
Through games and citizen science investigations, students investigate ways debris and pollutants move through a watershed and gather data about types of litter in their community. At the beach, students play a Recycle Relay game, identifying which materials can be recycled or reused and which materials must go the landfill/trash. They engage in an ocean stewardship beach cleanup, organizing collected trash to compare and contrast its properties. Lastly, students explore waste reduction strategies and communicate about which prevention strategies apply to different materials.
Standards Supported:
NGSS SEPs: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions; Engaging in Argument from Evidence; Asking Questions and Defining Problems
NGSS CCCs: Cause and Effect; Patterns
NGSS DCIs: PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter; ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems
CA EP&Cs: Principles I.A; II.A; IV.A
Phenomenon: Animals in different places look different from one another.
Guiding Question: How do animals survive in different habitats, and how do humans impact their survival?
Overview:
Students will be introduced to relationships between organisms and where they live by sorting organisms and habitat cards of three Monterey Bay habitats. Students will use their senses to be curious and observe organisms that live at the beach. They will consider what living things need to survive, and how they survive in a particular habitat. Students will look for evidence of human influence, considering the question “If humans make a change to a habitat, how might that affect the organisms that live here?” Students will deepen their understanding of how humans affect natural ecosystems. They will collect and analyze data on different types of marine debris, and its impact on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary habitats and organisms. Teams of students will discuss solutions to this problem and communicate their solutions to the class.
Standards Supported:
NGSS SEPs: Engaging in Argument from Evidence
NGSS CCCs: Cause and Effect
NGSS DCIs: LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience; LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans; ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions
CA EP&Cs: Principles II.A; II.C; IV.A-C
Phenomenon: Plants and animals of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary look different and have different parts.
Guiding Question: How do certain structures help plants and animals to survive, grow, reproduce, and behave in the MBNMS?
Overview:
Students make observations of giant kelp, and compare features of giant kelp with land plants. They gather information about kelp and create a visual model representing its structures, working together to determine the function of each structure. During a field trip, students compare structures on different types of seaweed and determine if that structure supports survival, growth, reproduction, or behavior. Students complete a beach cleanup activity, where they collect and analyze data about marine debris and discuss the effects on a kelp forest ecosystem. During the follow up visit, students will apply their knowledge of structure and function to the Southern sea otter. They will watch a video demonstrating a common grooming behavior, and conduct an experiment to determine the function of this behavior.
Standards Supported:
NGSS SEPs: Engaging in Argument from Evidence; Developing and Using Models
NGSS CCCs: Cause and Effect; Systems and System Models
NGSS DCIs: LS1.A: Structure and Function
CA EP&Cs: Principle IV.B
Phenomenon: Animals and plants are connected in Monterey Bay, but may struggle in the face of pollution.
Guiding Question: Why is Monterey Bay home to so many animals?
Overview:
Students learn about some of the species in the Monterey Bay that are connected by a complex food web. They create a visual model of the web. Then, as they consider the flow of energy from the sun and the roles of plankton and decomposition, they refine their model. At the beach they play a game and conduct a cleanup, discussing ideas about how plastics pollution affects the marine food web and interrupts the flow of energy. Working in pairs, students design a solution to this problem.
Standards Supported:
NGSS SEPs: Developing and Using Models
NGSS CCCs: Patterns; Cause and Effect; Systems and System Models; Energy and Matter
NGSS DCIs: PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life; LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems; ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
CA EP&Cs: Principle IV.B
Save Our Shores, Virtual Planet Technologies, and Oceans360 have teamed up to create a virtual reality experience of our region’s Marine Protected Areas to offer middle school students a glimpse of these magnificent underwater treasures and learn why they are vital to the health of our oceans and a healthy future of all life on Earth.
In the VR experience students join an animated sea lion named Marina on a fun and educational journey in a Save Our Shores submarine observing and interacting with various species in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along the Central California and Southern California coastlines. The creators consulted with our region’s indigenous leaders to ensure their traditional territories are identified and honored as students arrive at Año Nuevo State Marine Reserve, Point Lobos State Marine Reserve, Casino Point State Marine Conservation Area, and Judith Rock State Marine Reserve during the expedition. You can try this immersive experience in two ways, using an Oculus Quest headset, or on Vimeo 360º in the links below. Contact us to schedule this lesson with your students, and we will supply the Oculus Quest headsets. All resources, including videos in Spanish and Portuguese, can be found here.
Phenomenon: There’s litter on the ground and I don’t know where it came from.
Guiding Question: How does litter get moved around?
Overview:
Students make observations of the weather and are introduced to the water cycle. They gather information about and create a visual model representing the water cycle, showing the movement of water, and debris along with it, through a watershed. In a beach cleanup activity, students collect and analyze data about marine debris. They play a Recycle Relay game to better understand what happens to different waste products. Finally, they design a method for monitoring and minimizing human-generated litter on the environment.
Standards Supported:
NGSS SEPs: Developing and Using Models; Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
NGSS CCCs: Cause and Effect; Systems and System Models
NGSS DCIs: ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes; ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
CA EP&Cs: Principle IV.B
Phenomenon: There are animals and plants in the Monterey Bay that use more than their fair share of resources.
Guiding Question: Why are there some animals and plants that are detrimental to an ecosystem?
Overview:
Through a game and class discussion students are introduced to the concept of invasive species and explore the threats they pose to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary ecosystems. At the beach, students record observations of beach plant communities in their science journals and use field guides to determine if species are native or invasive. Students engage in an ocean stewardship beach cleanup, while investigating the link between marine debris and movement of species by the ocean currents. Lastly, students work in groups to analyze a case study about the control of a particularly concerning invasive species, construct an argument to support or refute the solution used, and present their evidence for their argument to the class.
Standards Supported:
NGSS SEPs: Engaging in Argument from Evidence
NGSS CCCs: Stability and Change
NGSS DCIs: LS2-C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
CA EP&Cs: Principle II.B, Principle III.C, Principle V.A
Phenomenon: The tides are always changing, and they seem to be getting higher.
Guiding Question: What forces cause the tides to change? How will they continue to change in the future?
Overview:
Students will use models to determine what forces cause the tides to change. They will analyze tide charts to observe patterns of tidal changes that correspond with the lunar calendar. Students will explore the concepts of spring and neap tides. At the beach, students will predict the tide, and will learn about king tides and what king tides may tell us about sea level rise. They will draw a picture of the beach, and include in their drawing what features of the beach and surrounding area they predict would be impacted by a king tide. Students will watch a video explaining the importance of studying and monitoring king tides in order to predict the effects of sea level rise. Students will redesign their beach to protect it from the impacts of sea level rise, and will learn about real life adaptation strategies being used to mitigate the impacts of sea level rise in their communities.
Standards Supported:
NGSS SEPs: Engaging in Argument from Evidence, Developing and Using Models, Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
NGSS CCCs: Stability and Change, Systems and System Models, Cause and Effect
NGSS DCIs: ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars; PS2.B: Types of Interactions
CA EP&Cs: Principle II.B, Principle III.C, Principle V.A
Phenomenon: Marine organisms are mistaking plastic for food.
Guiding Question: How does plastic in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary affect the marine food web?
Overview:
Through viewing a video and participating in a game, students will learn about microplastics and the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) that microplastics bond with in the water, as well as the effects of these toxins on the marine food web and ultimately on humans. They will learn how these POPs bioaccumulate in individual organisms, and biomagnify as they move up the food chain. At the beach, students will conduct a beach cleanup looking for plastic debris. They will conduct a brand audit to identify any companies that may be polluting our beaches and oceans. In the final class visit, students will identify groups they feel have the biggest power to solve this problem (companies, individuals, or politicians). They will design solutions to present to these groups, and will begin a letter writing campaign to help mitigate the issues they’ve learned about.
Standards Supported:
NGSS SEPs: Constructing explanations and designing solutions
NGSS CCCs: Stability and Change
NGSS DCIs: LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience; LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans; ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions
CA EP&Cs: Principle I.C, Principle III.C, Principle IV.B