National Marine Sanctuaries

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Sanctuaries website is everything a science teacher or a student interested in oceanography dreams of in an Internet resource!Begin a marine investigation by reading about the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (also known as Title III of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972; the Act or NMSA).Learn about the 14 marine sanctuaries in the United States.

• Gulf of the Farallones
• Cordell Bank
• Channel Islands
• Monterey Bay
• Olympic Coast
• Stellwagen Bank
• Gray’s Reef
• Florida Keys
• Flower Garden Banks
• Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale
• Fagatele Bay
• Monitor
• Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
• Thunder Bay

The Marine Sanctuaries section provides summary descriptions of each marine sanctuary. The descriptions include physical, biological, archaeological and cultural resources; resource management techniques; research and education activities; official rules and regulations governing activities in the sanctuary; how visitors can get access to the sanctuary; and how to contact the sanctuary staff. All of the marine sanctuaries maintain their own websites and links to those sites can be found on the introductory pages.The Special Offerings can contain interactive forums, discussion groups, logs of scientific missions, and summaries of workshops and conferences. Also find notices of new educational and outreach materials, which currently include reef restoration, a conservation series, and special exploration topics.Educational resources include sanctuary tours that allow students to explore sanctuary habitats of beautiful rocky reefs, lush kelp forests, whale migration corridors, spectacular deep-sea canyons, and underwater archaeological sites. These virtual tours are composed of underwater video clips and exploring image galleries with stunning photographs.Among the many fun activities and cool things to do are:

• A virtual submersible dive of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
• A digital lab to establish ‘no-take’ areas around Anacapa Island in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
• A primer about the human history and culture of the Channel Islands
• An in depth look at the life and times—from breeding to molting—of northern elephant seals as seen on San Miguel Island
• Puzzles, coloring pages, and more

There are abundant lesson plans on this site.

• Mock Shipwreck Lesson Plan: This maritime heritage-based lesson plan generates excitement among students and peaks their curiosity about the people who lived and worked along our coasts and the events that shaped who we are today.
• National Marine Sanctuary Lesson Plan: Explore our national marine sanctuaries and learn about habitats and human impacts with this Internet research activity.
• The Land-Sea Connection: This curriculum will increase your students understanding of science and geography.
• Marine Debris Lesson Plan: Students will perform experiments to examine if debris will float, or blow in the wind. The effects of these characteristics on the marine debris are then discussed.

This is just a sampling of the many resources you will find in the education pages on this site. A few other things you won’t want to miss include:

• Seamounts in Monterey Bay: Learn about these mountains under the sea; explore images of seamount critters and tie it all together with educational lesson plans.
• Build an Ocean: K through 5th grade activity in which students identify mangrove, seagrass, coral reef plants and animals.
• Test Your Knowledge: Learn about the deep boulder reefs and whale populations off the coast of Boston in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
• Satellite Tracking of Loggerhead Sea Turtles: Explore how scientists utilize backpack satellite tags to monitor adult and juvenile Loggerhead Sea Turtle behavior and movement in the South Atlantic Bight.
• Coral Reef Tutorial: Learn about coral reefs from an online tutorial, an educational roadmap to resources, and formal lesson plans.

Other features include information about marine careers, workshops, conferences, field studies, professional development opportunities, multicultural programs, and special events.Just in case you are looking for more material on coral reefs, the Science section of this website includes articles featuring science and habitat topics.