June 8th is World Oceans Day
This year is the best yet for your classroom to participate in the globe’s biggest celebration of our shared ocean. The theme is Youth: the Next Wave for Change and it’s a great opportunity to have fun while teaching and inspiring the next generation of the ocean’s guardians. You’ve probably heard of Earth Day, but 70% of the Earth’s surface is the ocean! Take a day (or a whole week) to teach your class about why the ocean is so important.
If you are working with a very young class, consider having a Dr. Seuss-themed ocean celebration. Keep the lesson informational and upbeat, while emphasizing that the ocean needs to be protected just as much as the land does. Keep in mind that young children can be frightened by environmental problems if they aren’t also presented with solutions. Many give up altogether because the challenges seem far too great. This is why World Oceans Day education should have a positive spin despite the serious problems the ocean faces—love and fond childhood memories of nature are the best determiners of pro-environmental action in adults.
For classrooms inland, one of the most meaningful concepts you can teach about is watersheds. Watersheds connect people from around the world to one of our greatest shared resources: the ocean. The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is the largest in the United States, and is a great case study for your class! Watersheds are a complex teaching challenge but are necessary for inland students to understand how the ocean is relevant to them. Older kids can learn about how pollution from their town ends up in the ocean, but strive to keep the lesson positive. A fun and effective way to teach about watersheds is to make a model: click here for an easy guide.
Additional Resources:
- Check out The Ocean Project’s webpages on reaching kids and on reaching youth for some age-appropriate ways to present environmental issues.
- Bay Backpack also supplies many resources to help you teach about watersheds and their connections to the ocean.
- You can also see our list of educational celebration ideas on the official World Oceans Day website.