Lessons & Resources for Educators
Download This Full Activity: Reflection and Opinion Activity
Brief Description: Students are encouraged to reflect on their Kelp ME ASAP experience by reviewing their journal entries, drawings and pictures. Thoughts will be shared, then students will be asked to respond to a short survey about Kelp ME ASAP.… view full description & alignments
Download This Full Lesson: Seaweed vs Plants
Lesson Description: Seaweeds have been harvested and used throughout the world for centuries and are highly valued in many countries today. The U.S. is just now discovering the many health benefits seaweeds provide and there is a shift towards kelp aquaculture. But what are seaweeds? Are they water plants or a species of their own? How are seaweeds used in today’s society? In this lesson, students will investigate these questions. To begin the lesson, the teacher will introduce the differences between seaweeds and land plants, followed by a microscope lab exercise where … view full description & alignments
Download This Full Lesson: Marine Ecosystems
Lesson Description: Students will gain a better understanding of the intricacies within the Gulf of Maine marine ecosystem after completing this lesson. A classic example of how small changes can affect an entire ecosystem is the sea urchin-kelp story in Maine. Following the collapse of the cod fishery in Maine, green sea urchin populations exploded. The ecosystem became an urchin-dominated system. In the 1980s, fishermen discovered the high value of harvesting sea urchins and the aggressive overharvesting of the green sea urchin resulted in massive declines along the coast. Because urchins are grazers … view full description & alignments
Download This Full Activity: Games and Physical Activities
Brief Description: The games and activities can be used as formal parts of lessons, to supplement on a day when you sped through your planned activities, or as a move around break. Some have already been included in other lessons.… view full description & alignments
Download This Full Activity: Cooking with Seaweed
Brief Description: Students will experience aquaculture in a new way, through the lens of cooking and eating farmed seaweed products. You can make a snack during every session or have one session focused solely on cooking. We cooked the day of our culminating event so that parents, siblings, and community members could partake of our seaweed treats as well. Please keep in mind your time constraints and the availability of adult supervision when choosing the number and difficulty of recipes you attempt.… view full description & alignments
Download This Full Lesson: Aquaculture Husbandry 101
Lesson Description: Husbandry is the care, cultivation and breeding of animals and plants, which is usually one of the first things you think about when starting an aquaculture business. When paired with strong financial management and sales and marketing, husbandry is part of a successful aquaculture business. Simply put, as a farmer, your goal is to keep your animals (or plants) at optimum health that will lead to a profitable harvest.… view full description & alignments
Download This Full Lesson: Geography of Aquaculture
Lesson Description: Aquaculture is not a new technology. Sea vegetables, fish, and shellfish have been grown for hundreds, even thousands, of years throughout the world. China and Japan are examples of countries that have used and relied upon aquaculture for generations. This lesson will first focus on the history and origins of aquaculture followed by a geography exercise where students will locate and identify different countries that use aquaculture on a regular basis. Students will then locate and identify local aquaculture businesses along the coast of Maine using maps or charts. The … view full description & alignments
Download This Full Lesson: Seaweed Products and Marketing
Lesson Description: Students discover the variety of products that contain seaweed. Working in small groups, they will select a product and create a mini-commercial for that product.… view full description & alignments
Download Activity: Aquaculture Game
Activity Description: Class will read through Aquaculture for ME book together and discuss questions. General knowledge of aquaculture will be reviewed through a Jeopardy style game.… view full description & alignments
Download This Full Lesson: Water Quality Monitoring
Activity Description: Water tests are identified and conducted over time to note changes that may occur. Trends may be identified and results graphed.… view full description & alignments