S.C. Sea Grant Consortium

Online Learning Resources

A number of organizations and institutions offer educational resources to engage in meaningful remote K-12 education.

Curricula and Online Learning Resources for Teachers

Educator Help Line Videos and Activities

To support teachers and parents engaging in at-home instruction, the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium educators hosted a series presenting marine science materials and explaining activities to go along with them.

Educator Help Line Weekly Activities

Weekly Ocean Science Journal Prompts from S.C. Sea Grant Consortium

S.C. Sea Grant Consortium has created a 10-week set of ocean science writing prompts for elementarymiddle, and high school grade bands. Each week, one Ocean Literacy Essential Principle is highlighted with a fact page and supplemental activity. The prompts are written to be used weekly; however, they can be used more or less frequently depending on the needs of the user. In addition, the prompts are standalone concepts and can be used in or out of sequence. The journals are formatted in order to be used digitally or printed as a hard copy.

Association for Experiential Education Webinars Available at No Cost

If you are looking to continue your professional development efforts virtually, the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) has made its webinars available free of charge, regardless of membership status in the organization. Available topics include Risk Management & Outdoor Education, Facilitation Skills, Inclusion & Social Justice, Higher Education & K-12, Therapeutic Adventure, and COVID-19.

South Carolina Department of Education Online Remote Learning Portal

The South Carolina Department of Education launched SCRemoteLearning.com, a website offering digital teaching and learning resources for teachers, parents, and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The website offers support for remote learners that can be used by teachers across all grade levels. Additional content will continue to be added as it is developed and vetted.

South Carolina State Library Offering Tutor.com

From now through June 30, 2020, the South Carolina State Library will offer Tutor.com through Discus – South Carolina’s Virtual Library. This temporary offering is available to support students, parents, and educators while schools and libraries are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tutor.com connects students (and parents!) with expert tutors and career coaches in more than 80 subjects and test prep areas. The Tutor.com K-12 Learning Suite includes live, one-to-one tutoring, a real-time writing center, test preparation, practice quizzes and 24/7 access to worksheets, videos and tutorials. To get started, visit SCDiscus.org and select Tutor.com from the A-Z list of resources.

S.C. Sea Grant Consortium Curriculum Materials (resources are aligned to S.C. State Science Standard)

Created by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and its partners, a number of these lesson plans and materials can be adapted for use in online learning scenarios. Subject matter for these publications includes salt marsh ecology, marine debris, and countless other coastal science topics and ranges from grades K-12.

E/V Nautilus Exploration Program Education Materials

The Ocean Exploration Trust has created a series of NGSS-aligned, inquiry-based educational lesson companions to E/V Nautilus expeditions and a Digital Resource Library of supplemental graphics, teaching animations, themed video playlists, and fun activities.

Educational Companies Offering Free Resources

A large number of education companies that typically charge subscription fees are waiving them in light of the current situation. A detailed list of free educational resources is available. The resources range widely in both grade level and subject matter.

Twinkl Online Teacher Resources

This online resource library for all subjects in grades K-5 is offering the first month of services free to teachers and families in school districts impacted by COVID-19 closures.

Nature Works Everywhere

Nature Works Everywhere gives teachers, students and families everything they need to start exploring and understanding nature around the globe alongside Nature Conservancy scientists. Their interactive lesson plans align to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards and can be customized for each classroom.

Virtual Field Trips

This list of virtual field trip opportunities was compiled by a classroom teacher and links to a wide array of experiences from the surface of Mars to the Louvre.

CNET Learning Activities List

This list of resources compiled by CNET includes formal education curricula as well as activities for parents to engage in with their children. Resources range from grades Pre-K-12.

Educating While Physical Distancing

This website is working to compile resources for teachers working through the transition to virtual learning. With links to field trip opportunities, best practices in e-learning, and live and recorded learning opportunities, this website continues to update as new resources become available.

The Bridge

The Bridge is a clearinghouse of marine science information for teachers and educators. It is hosted by VIMS/Sea Grant and co-managed by NMEA.

The JASON Project

The JASON Foundation for Education is dedicated to inspiring in students a lifelong passion to pursue learning in science, math, and technology through exploration and discovery.

NOAA Education Resources

This site has been designed to help students, teachers, librarians, and the general public access the many educational activities, publications, and booklets that have been produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Sound in the Sea

Light travels only a few hundred meters into the ocean before it is absorbed. Sound can travel long distances and with great speed underwater. Oceanographers, submariners, whales, dolphins, seals, in short, all working or living in the ocean rely on sound to sense their surrounds, to communicate, and to navigate. Sound in the Sea introduces teachers and students to the science and uses of Sound in the Sea.

Project Oceanica

The College of Charleston’s Project Oceanica integrates education with science exploration. The site contains aerial photos, seafloor mapping information, COASTeam curricula, and other useful resources.

Activities to Do at Home

Arbordale Publishing Science and Nature Books Available at No Cost

During school closings, Arbordale Publishing is offering teachers and students at-home access at no cost to their entire library of over 150 picture books about science and nature. These books focus on STEM topics, are vetted for accuracy by scientific experts, and are available in a read-aloud eReader format.

Woods Hole Sea Grant Suggested Resources

Our education counterparts over at Woods Hole Sea Grant have compiled a list of live webinars and streaming offerings, recorded webinars and videos, things to do with your family outside, and ocean-themed games and activities.

NOAA Education Resources

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has compiled a list of its most popular educational activities that can be done from home. These activities range across grade bands and focus on the ocean and the atmosphere.

Citizen Science Projects

Take advantage of your students being out of the classroom by engaging them in a citizen science project! Use SciStarter.org’s comprehensive database of ongoing citizen science projects to help tailor the experience to best fit your class. Search through projects by location, topic, or age group to find a project that will be most meaningful to your students.

Outdoor Families Magazine Activities

Ranging from outdoor free play to guided, structured learning, Outdoor Families Magazine has compiled a list of over 130 free outdoor learning ideas. This listing is ideal for families looking for ways to occupy children unexpectedly stuck at home, but the activities can be adapted and assigned by classroom teachers as well.

Captain Planet Foundation Learning At Home

With a primary focus on outdoor education and life science, the Captain Planet Foundation has created a number of lessons and activities designed to stimulate and engage students outside of their own homes.

Knowitall Web Portal

Knowitall.org, a portal designed and maintained by South Carolina Education Television, allows access to a wealth of educational content developed for classroom use by teachers and students. It also contains links to educational information, events, associations, and organizations for South Carolina educators.

Live-streaming and Video Resources

Virtual Field Experiences at the Baruch Marine Field Lab

To replace an annual field trip to the Baruch Marine Field Lab, lab coordinators led a small field expedition to record a series of videos illustrating various components of field sampling. These videos are great for older students looking to pursue careers in research science and show abiotic measurementsphytoplankton collectionzooplankton collection, and trawl collection.

NOAA Live! Webinar Series

The NOAA Live! Webinar series is an educational resource for children grades 2-8 and is a collaboration between NOAA’s Regional Collaboration Network and Woods Hole Sea Grant. Each webinar features a different NOAA expert/topic and a moderated question and answer session throughout so that you can get a peek at what our scientists do in the various NOAA offices. Missed a webinar? Check out the archive of past webinars with English captions and Spanish subtitles!

Skype A Scientist

Connecting research scientists with classrooms all over the world, Skype a Scientist matches your students with a practicing scientist for an informal Q&A session. The service is expanding their offerings to families at home during social distancing measures. You can also check out the Skype a Scientist YouTube channel for previous scientist Q&A videos.

Virtual Author Visit – Kevin Kurtz

Children’s author and educator Kevin Kurtz is offering 30-minute virtual programs with kids in grades K-5 using Zoom. For the programs, he can read and talk about one of his books, or share highlights from a few books to teach concepts like habitats, adaptations, ecosystems, and researching and writing nonfiction.

This list does not imply endorsement by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, State of South Carolina, or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and none of these entities shall be held liable for any information presented.