Please note: These links were valid
when this page was posted. However the Web is very volatile, and TKI has
no control over outside websites. Please let us know if you find a broken
link or if you have an update for a link. Te Kete Ipurangi recommends
that teachers view all websites we link to before using them with students.
Every year during the last week of
September, the International Maritime Organisation
celebrates World Maritime Day. The day is used partly to focus attention
on the importance of the protection of the marine environment. Our Hot
Topic looks at ocean and river pollution, and marine life in the context
of the Science learning strand Making Sense of the Living World.
Pollution
Oceanlink,
a Canadian site aimed at secondary students, has a long section in which
a scientist answers common questions about marine pollution.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority's
"Oil
and Water Don't Mix" and "Don't
Mess the Sea" interactives provides games about fixing oil spills.
The Shockwave/Flash
player or plugin is required.
Australia's Torrens and Patawalonga Catchment
Water Management Boards' Watercare
Club looks at pollution and fish in urban catchment areas.
NASA's Ocean Planet site has a large selection
of pages on marine
pollution arranged in catergories including oil pollution, toxic materials
and dangerous debris.
Fish species and behaviour
New Zealand Fishing Magazine's New
Zealand fish species section is an illustrated guide to popular fish
stocks.
New Zealand's National
Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research has the section "Q&A for
Kids", and several illustrated resources on marine science.
Oceanlink
has general information about marine biology and includes a Guinness-style
marine records page.
The fishing company Sealord's "The
Fish We Catch" is another fish fact resource.
The New
Zealand Seafood Industry site illustrates species, catching methods,
habitat and limits.
NASA's Ocean Planet site has the full
journals of the US-led team that searched waters off the South Island
for giant squid in 1999.
The Ocean
Planet Exhibition, from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum
of Natural History, has a huge amount of material. Sections include Oceans
in Peril, Ocean Science, Heros (environmentalists and scientists) and
Sea People (seafarers). The site's education materials section has links
to many sources of teacher
resources related to the sea.
The Australian
Museum Online's site lists the common and scientific names of Pacific
Ocean fish, their habitat requirements and regional distributions.
Hawaii's Pacific Whale Foundation's "children's
place" area has fact sheets on various whale species, an art gallery
and a short, downloadable sample of whale song (wav format).
Class Activities
University of South Carolina's Oceans
and Undersea Life has marine-related activities on classroom decor,
literature, poetry and songs, social studies, maths, health/science, lists
of video resources, and a links section.
DiscoverySchool.com
asks, "Why did so many ancient sharks disappear?" and considers evolution
and natural selection. The site chronicles Discovery's expedition to the
Falkland Islands in search of the fossil remains of the ancient shark
Pucapampella. Contains a prehistoric shark gallery and many activities.
Another DiscoverySchool.com activity is
aimed at helping primary students understand the role of blubber
in many sea mammals. Elsewhere at the site, older students learn about
cephalopods and their ability to change
their body colour to blend in with their environments. Other activities
include those on whale
migration and the rehabilitation
of a killer whale after release from an aquarium.
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