Ocean Acidification for Educators

UAF scientist Amanda Kelley discusses factors that influence changes in ocean pH with students on St. Lawrence Island. Photo: Yuri Built-Ito

The following selected curriculum on ocean acidification has been deemed relevant in Alaska. We are working on additional curricula that highlights Alaska’s unique water chemistry and OA drivers. If you have a K-12 educational resource you’d like to share, email dugan@aoos.org. We welcome submissions from teachers and scientists.

NEW: An ocean acidification teaching kit with hands-on experiments for Alaska middle school and high school classrooms. The kits are available for check-out. Learn about the kit.

Topic/Conceptual Understanding	Grade Level	Type of Resource	Description
Intro to OA as a problem related to increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere	Various	Narrated PPT and video	Ocean Acidification Science Presentation (Dr. Gledhill)
Intro to OA as a problem related to increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere	Various	Video	OA Introduction and demonstrations (Dr. Jane Lubchenko)
Intro to OA as a problem related to increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere	Various	Video	Ocean Acidification: The Other Carbon Dioxide Problem The Acid Test
Intro to OA as a problem related to increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere	Various	Article with image of chemical equation	“Ocean acidification”
Intro to OA as a problem related to increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere	Various	Articles	“Ocean Acidification – From Ecological Impacts to Policy Opportunities”
Intro to OA as a problem related to increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere	Various	Article	“The Dangers of Ocean Acidification” (Scientific American)
Intro to OA as a problem related to increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere	Various	Article	“Oceans of Acid: How Fossil Fuels Could Destroy Marine Ecosystems” (WGBH Nova) with Teacher Guide/Student Comprehension Questions
The pH scale and how pH is measured	Grades 9-12	Lesson Plan	The Power of pH (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
CO2 increases the acidity of water: a small change in pH can have a big effect on conditions of survival for marine organisms	Grades 8-12	Simple demos video intro	Introduction to demos for educators
CO2 increases the acidity of water: a small change in pH can have a big effect on conditions of survival for marine organisms	Grades 8-12	PowerPoint for students to introduce demos	Can be downloaded from Washington Sea Grant website
CO2 increases the acidity of water: a small change in pH can have a big effect on conditions of survival for marine organisms	Grades 8-12	Demo for teachers	A Tale of Two Acids video + demo protocol (WA Sea Grant)
CO2 increases the acidity of water: a small change in pH can have a big effect on conditions of survival for marine organisms	Grades 8-12	Demo for teachers	Hold Your Breath video + demo protocol (WA Sea Grant)
CO2 increases the acidity of water: a small change in pH can have a big effect on conditions of survival for marine organisms	Grades 8-12	Demo for teachers	Crossing Thresholds video + demo protocol (WA Sea Grant)
The pH of sea water Relationship of pH of sea water to (soluble) CO2 Relationship of alkalinity and pH of sea water to soluble CO2 and tolerance range of most organisms that live in the salt water	High school	Lab	Is sea water more like lemons or bleach? (OCB Lab Kit)
The pH of sea water Relationship of pH of sea water to (soluble) CO2 Relationship of alkalinity and pH of sea water to soluble CO2 and tolerance range of most organisms that live in the salt water	High school	Lab	OA – Wet Lab (From Mark VanArsdale, Anchorage School District)
The pH of sea water Relationship of pH of sea water to (soluble) CO2 Relationship of alkalinity and pH of sea water to soluble CO2 and tolerance range of most organisms that live in the salt water	High school	Lab	OA in a Cup (OCB Lab Kit)
Temperature affects the rate of chemical reactions and the solubility of CO2 in water; colder waters absorb and retain higher concentrations of CO2	Middle School	Lab + video	Can Gases Dissolve in Water? (American Chemical Society)
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 8-12	Image (includes chemical equation)	How Will Changes in Ocean Chemistry Affect Marine Life?
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 8-12	Video demo	OA Intro and demonstrations (Dr. Jane Lubchenko)
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 4-8	Demo for teachers	Shells on Acid video + demo protocol (WA Sea Grant)
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 4-8	Lab Experiment	I’m Melting! Seashells in Acid (OCB Lab Kit) Ocean
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 4-8	Experiment	Acidification Experiment: Impact of Carbonated Water on Mussel and Oyster Shells (NOAA Sanctuaries)
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 4-8	Lab Experiment	Demonstrating the effects of OA on marine organisms (grades 6-9)
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 8-12	Video	Ocean Acidification: The Other Carbon Dioxide Problem (impacts to pteropods highlighted)
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 8-12	Video	Acid Oceans (impacts and research on sea urchins highlighted)
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 8-12	Video animation	Pteropod shell dissolving interactive
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Middle school	Lab + video	Forming a Precipitate (ACS) (Foundational concept)
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 6 and up	Poster	Impacts of OA on Alaska Fish and Shellfish (Alaska OA Network)
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 6 and up	Interactive tool and virtual lab	Virtual Urchin Part 1. An interactive tool with overview of how CO2 in the air and pH in the ocean are connected and can affect the cycle of marine life. Part 2. Enter a virtual lab bench set up experiments. Students go through all the steps.
Impacts of OA on calcifying marine species Many marine animals build shells through a process of precipitation of calcium carbonate. The chemical process of shell-building competes with the process of formation of carbonic acid in seawater.	Grades 6 and up	Article	An Upwelling Crisis: Ocean Acidification (effects on oysters)
People can use science to monitor changes in ocean acidification	Grades 6 and up	Article	A more acidic Arctic? NOAA deploys first buoy in region to monitor levels of CO2 absorbed by ocean.
People can use science to monitor changes in ocean acidification	Grades 6 and up	Article + data Article + data Article + data	Gulf of Alaska OA Mooring – GAKOA
People can use science to monitor changes in ocean acidification	Grades 6 and up		Northern Gulf of Alaska OA Mooring – Kodiak OA
People can use science to monitor changes in ocean acidification	Grades 6 and up		Southeastern Bering Sea OA Mooring – M2 OA
People can use science to design experiments to observe the effects of increased ocean acidification on different species at different life stages.	Various	Articles	Gulf of Alaska OA Research Projects NOAA Ocean Acidification Program)
People can modify their activities to avoid negative impacts of ocean acidification.	Various	Article	How Washington Transformed Its Dying Oyster Industry Into A Climate Success Story
People can use technology to reduce the effects of OA.	Various	Lab	Oceanic Absorption- Oceanic Sequestration (Keystone Science School)
Linkage of human activities to OA Reversing or slowing the trend of increasing ocean acidification will require reducing human-caused carbon emissions into the atmosphere.	Various	Animation	OA Animation (Hawaii)
Linkage of human activities to OA Reversing or slowing the trend of increasing ocean acidification will require reducing human-caused carbon emissions into the atmosphere.	Various	Problem-solving Activity	International Student Carbon Footprint Challenge
Other concepts: Concept of parts per million (ppm) to explain that things might be present in the environment even though they are not visible.	Various	Lesson Plan	Parts per Million (serial dilution of food coloring)
Regulation of ocean pH	Grades 6-8	Lesson plan	Exploring the complexity of ocean acidification

Additional Resources

“Ask a Scientist” series
The Alaska OA Network’s video series where scientists answer a question about ocean acidification in 5 minutes or less.

Ocean Acidification Curriculum Collection
A searchable collection of links to existing lesson plans, units, and supplemental materials on ocean acidification. Filter by category, activity type, OA principle, key word, or grade level to see a brief overview and link to comprehensive information.

NOAA’S Ocean Acidification Program webinar series
Sharing Ocean Acidification Resources for Communicators and Educators (SOARCE) is a webinar series that shares education and communication tools to promote an integrated and effective ocean acidification education community. Scroll down this page to find upcoming webinars.

NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program curriculum collection
Educational resources for the high school classroom, including hands-on demos, lab activities, and lesson plans. This site also shares interactive multimedia, videos, powerpoint presentations, and age-appropriate journal articles.