Ocean Literacy Resources are Now Available from NOAA Ocean Service Education

Categories: Classroom Materials, Environment / Climate

Tags: NOAA - National Ocean Service

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Ocean Literacy Resources are Now Available from NOAA Ocean Service Education

Ocean Literacy and NGSS Alignment Resources are Now Available from NOAA Ocean Service Education!

NOAA Ocean Service Education is excited to announce the availability of the Ocean Literacy Guide, The Handbook for Increasing Ocean Literacy, the Ocean Literacy Scope and Sequence for Grades K–12, and the Alignment of Ocean Literacy to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These materials present an extensive framework to share the vision of an ocean-literate society and the range of knowledge required to be considered ocean literate.

These materials were developed by the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) with Support from NOAA, the North American Association for Environmental Education, the Lawrence Hall of Science, the College of Exploration, and innumerable scientists and educators.

You can access all of these resources as well as the Climate Literacy Essential Principles in English and in Spanish on the Ocean Service Education Literacy Resource Page. We strongly recommend you visit the NMEA Ocean Literacy Page for additional resources and more information about Ocean Literacy efforts.

The Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts presents a vision of an ocean-literate society. Along with the Handbook for Increasing Ocean Literacy, Ocean Literacy Scope and Sequence, the Alignment of Ocean Literacy to the Next Generation Science Standards, it outlines a framework for achieving Ocean Literacy. These documents are practical, research-based resources to influence learning
and teaching about the ocean through our schools, museums, aquariums, science centers, parks, and other informal learning spaces. Understanding the ocean is essential to comprehending and protecting this planet on which we live.

The Handbook for Increasing Ocean Literacy is a resource for everyone to help teach, learn, and communicate about the ocean. While originally intended for classroom teachers and informal educators for the development of educational materials, programs, exhibits, and activities, these resources can be used by anyone, anywhere, who seeks to increase
ocean literacy.

The Ocean Literacy Scope and Sequence is an instructional tool that provides guidance to educators to help their students’ achieve a full understanding about the ocean in ever more complex ways across years of thoughtful, coherent science instruction. The content is provided as conceptual flow diagrams for each of the seven Ocean Literacy Essential Principles in four grade bands: K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12.

The Alignment of Ocean Literacy to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) details the correlations between the NGSS - specifically the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI) and Performance Expectations (PE), and the concepts included in the Ocean Literacy Guide and Ocean Literacy Scope & Sequence. This alignment focuses attention on places in the NGSS where Ocean Literacy is essential to understanding the DCI, but the connection may not be obvious.