For Fun

Activities Recommended for Grades 3-5

Regional Ocean Activity Books.
These downloadable books include fun and informative activities about the local coastal ocean and its inhabitants.

Chesapeake Bay Activity Book
http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/cbbook.pdf            

Coastal North Carolina Activity Book
http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/ncbook.pdf

Salish Sea Activity Book
http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/ssbook.pdf

Mobile Bay Activity Book
http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/mbbook.pdf

Why is Hawaii's Ocean Important
http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/hibook.pdf

Coastal Louisiana Activity Book
http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/labook.pdf       

Antarctic Activity Book
http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/aabook.pdf

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Discover Your World With NOAA:

Boat Building Challenge (pdf, 1.82Mb)
Design a boat hull that can float a specified weight. Then, design a way to propel your vessel using wind power.

Make Your Own Compass (pdf, 1.44Mb)
Make a simple compass to find magnetic north or south, depending on where you live.

Tied Up In Knots (pdf, 3.03Mb)
Learn to tie some basic knots that have been used by sailors for centuries and are useful in everyday life.

Who’s Blue Peter? (pdf, 1.10Mb)
Make a set of nautical signal flags, and use them to send messages.

Earth Origami (pdf, 1.74Mb)
Make a three-dimensional model of Earth

Make your Own Volcano (pdf, 2.42Mb)
Make a model of a volcano that erupts

Tornado in a Bottle (pdf, 1.33Mb)
Create a vortex similar to the wind pattern of tornados.

Your Own El Niño (pdf, 1.22Mb)
Create a working model that shows the El Niño effect, trade winds, and upwelling.

Please Pass the Salt (pdf, 1.65Mb)
Experiment to find some of the ways that salt changes the physical properties of water.

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Satellite Communications (pdf, 2.27Mb)
Demonstrate two of the basic principles that make satellites useful.

Wooly Magma (pdf, 1.64Mb)
Make a colorful model of Earth’s structure.

Motion From the Ocean (pdf, 6.84Mb)
Make a mobile of ocean animals.

It All Runs Downhill (pdf, 1.29Mb)
Make a model of a watershed, and show how rainfall carries pollution into the ocean and other water bodies.

Toxic! Or Is It? (pdf, 751Kb)
Use a radish seed bioassay to test for toxicity.

Endangered Species Origami (pdf, 1.73Mb)
Make origami models of whales and turtles.

Make an Edible Coral Reef (pdf, 7.30Mb)
Make an edible model of a coral reef!

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Activities Recommended for Grades 6 and Up

Ocean Challenge Puzzles:

Ocean Explorer - http://www8.nos.noaa.gov/oequizx
Test your ocean literacy with the Ocean Challenge Puzzle!  With each correct answer, you’ll reveal another tile of the puzzle. Collaborate with other users to reveal the full picture. Target: Educators, students (grades 9-12), and adults.

NOAA History - http://www8.nos.noaa.gov/noaa200/
Test your knowledge of NOAA history and science by playing the NOAA History and Science Challenge Puzzle. Team up with other players around the globe to solve the puzzle. Help the group uncover the hidden picture...each time you answer a question, you will reveal one more piece of the puzzle.

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Discover Your World With NOAA:

The Water Writers (pdf, 1.02Mb)
Make a sounding box and discover the profile of a model seafloor.

Nautical Chart Challenge (pdf, 8.78Mb)
Discover how a nautical chart can help sailors navigate safely in unfamiliar waters.

Build an Underwater Robot (pdf, 1.51Mb)
Make a simple underwater remotely operated vehicle.

Be a Shipwreck Detective (pdf, 3.07Mb)
Examine information about items found in and around a shipwreck, and draw conclusions about the ship, who was aboard, and why it sank.

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Follow that Hurricane (pdf, 4.38Mb)
Track a hurricane using the same type of chart as the National Hurricane Center.

Build your own Weather Station (pdf, 1.56Mb)
Build six instruments that you can use to make scientific measurements of your local weather.

Be a Citizen Weather Reporter (pdf, 682Kb)
Set up a weather journal and record measurements from the instruments in your weather station.

Survey Mark Hunting (pdf, 1.91Mb)
Get information on the location and description of survey marks in your geographic area, and find out how to share your survey marking discoveries with the rest of the world!
           
Ocean Diversity Challenge (pdf, 2.32Mb)
Try to find all 73 ocean organisms in the Year of the Ocean poster!

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