Resources for librarians


This page is for librarians who want to use Ocean School resources.
It is designed to help get you started and provide you with support and resources for your library activities.


Host an Ocean School Event

To hire a guest speaker for a conference or organize a virtual workshop, please contact: oceanschool@dal.ca

To organize a Science Literacy Week in your library, please contact Lucija Prelovec: e.sheepy@nfb.ca

Science Literacy Week 2020 Poster by AmΓ©lie Lehoux


Workshops

Below we have provided direct links to interactive experiences, as well as links to ready-made workshops that you can adapt for your needs.

These activities are part of specific modules. For more related content, you can read the module guides.

Bay Watch

During this interactive experience, students will explore how the actions of an agricultural farmer and an oyster aquaculture farmer impact the health of eelgrass in Malpeque Bay, and therefore the survival of other species in the habitat.

Bay watch workshop (15-25 min, low tech)

Bay watch workshop (40 - 50 min, high tech)

Audience

Ages 10+

Topics

  • Water pollution

  • Ecosystems

  • Aquatic animals and plants

  • Aquaculture


Preparation

  • Duration:

    • Low tech: 15-25 min.

    • High tech: 40-50 min.

  • Strong WiFi connection

  • Computer and projector


Activities in this workshop

  • Small-group collaboration

  • Exploring a simulation

  • Searching for information

  • Discussion

Where's Whaledo?

You’ve never watched a whale this closely! Invite a virtual whale into your room, built to an amazing scale… Reach out and discover every detail of this mighty mammal in augmented reality, all the way from its blowhole to its flukes!

Where's Whaledo workshop (10-20 min)


Audience

Ages 8+

Topics

  • Augmented reality

  • Right whale

  • Orca

  • Anatomy


Preparation

  • Duration: 10-20 min.

  • Strong WiFi connection

  • iPad or iPhone (one per two participants)

  • Ocean School App installed


Activities in this workshop

  • Group activity and collaboration

  • Outside event

  • Scavenger hunt


The Harvest Virtual Workshop Kit

This virtual workshop kit is for organizations who want to host an online workshop event featuring Ocean School content.

This kit features content and activities from Ocean School’s The Harvest module. Youth host Jordan invites you and Boris Worm to his Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) homelands to take part in the harvest. Learn how herring, salmon, and Haíɫzaqv people are interconnected in the rich ecosystem of what is now known as British Columbia's Central Coast. Join us in celebrating the reciprocal relationship between the Haíɫzaqv and these keystone speciesβ€”a relationship that’s over 14 000 years old!

Download link coming soon!

Workshop A: Balancing Act

In this workshop, participants will be taken to Bella Bella, British Columbia, to learn about how the HaΓ­Ι«zaqv are dependent on the seasonal cycles that bring ocean resources to the coast. Every generation learns to harvest in a sustainable way. But now these resources are dwindling. And it's up to usβ€”all of usβ€”to work together to put things back in balance.

This workshop includes time for a question and answer session with a special guest. The guest could be an Ocean School youth host or another expert of your choice.

Audience

Ages 10+

Topics

  • Sustainability

  • Indigenous knowledge and perspectives

  • Keystone species

  • Giving back to nature


Preparation

Workshop A: Balancing Act

  • Duration: 100 min

  • Strong WiFi connection

  • Computer with a modern browser such as Chrome or Safari


Activities in this workshop

  • Drawing

  • Group activity and collaboration

  • Q&A with a guest speaker

  • Virtual meeting


Workshop B: Land and sea

In this workshop, participants will visit temperate rainforests, kelp gardens, and rivers in HaΓ­Ι«zaqv territory with 360 degree video! Participants will learn about the cycles that connect land and sea, and learn how traditional ecological language can guide us into a more sustainable future.

Audience

Ages 10+

Topics

  • Sustainability

  • Indigenous knowledge and perspectives

  • Keystone species

  • Giving back to nature


Preparation

  • Duration: 90 minutes

  • Strong WiFi connection

  • Computer with a modern browser such as Chrome or Safari

  • Videoconferencing tool


Activities in this workshop

  • Drawing

  • Group activity and collaboration

  • Q&A with a guest speaker

  • Virtual meeting

The Harvest module was filmed and developed on unceded Haíɫzaqv homelands and waterways.
We are sincerely grateful to the HaΓ­Ι«zaqv Nation for allowing Ocean School to be guests in their territory,
for sharing their stories and knowledge, and for collaborating with us for this module.


Marine Migration Virtual Workshop Kit


This virtual workshop kit is for organizations who want to host an online workshop event featuring Ocean School content.


This kit features content and activities from Ocean School’s Marine Migration module, which explores migratory species in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean.

Download link coming soon!

Workshop A: Sharks are awesome!

Sharks have survived in the ocean for millions of years - from the time of the dinosaurs! Let’s take a 360Β° view of sharks and the adaptations that make them so amazing. In this workshop, participants will be taken to the open ocean to explore technologies used to study sharks and other migratory species in the ocean.

This workshop includes time for a question and answer session with a special guest. The guest could be an Ocean School youth host or another expert of your choice.

Audience

Ages 10+

Topics

  • Deep-sea exploration

  • Hammerhead sharks

  • Migration

  • Underwater geography


Preparation

  • Duration: 105 min

  • Strong WiFi connection

  • Computer with a modern browser such as Chrome or Safari

  • Videoconferencing tool



Activities in this workshop

  • Drawing

  • Group activity and collaboration

  • Q&A with a guest speaker

  • Virtual meeting

Workshop B: Sharks and Seamount science

Studying a place like the open ocean is not easy. For one, it’s deep. Really deep. And that makes getting there extremely difficult. In this workshop, participants will explore the open ocean, seamounts and sharks. Time to launch the submarine!

Audience

Ages 10+

Topics

  • Deep-sea exploration

  • Hammerhead sharks

  • Migration

  • Underwater geography


Preparation

  • Duration: 95 minutes

  • Strong WiFi connection

  • Computer with a modern browser such as Chrome or Safari

  • Videoconferencing tool


Activities in this workshop

  • Drawing

  • Group activity and collaboration

  • Q&A with a guest speaker

  • Virtual meeting

The Marine Migration module was made possible by the generous support
of IOC-UNESCO and the Government of Sweden.


Book recommendations

Feel free to use the topics as suggestions to find books for story time, research, displays, and other activities.

Want to add book suggestions to our reading list? Please complete this form to submit your suggestions!

General Science

We Are All Connected: Coast Salish, Coastal Rainforests and Cougars | Authors: Celestine Aleck, Brenda Boreham, and Terri Mack | Grade Level: 3, 4, 5 🍁

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants | Author: Robin Wall Kimmerer | Grade Level: 10, 11, 12, University/College

Natural curiosity 2nd edition: A resource for educators: Considering indigenous perspectives in children’s environmental inquiry | Authors: Doug Anderson, Julie Comay, and Lorraine Chiarotto | Grade Level: University/College 🍁

Science and Sustainability: Learning from Indigenous Wisdom | Author: Joy Hendry | Grade Level: University/College

General Ocean

About Habitats: Oceans | Author: Cathryn Sill | Grade Levels: Preschool, Kindergarten, 1, 2

High Tide, Low Tide: A Shoreline Activity Book | Author: Gloria Snively | Grade Levels: Preschool, Kindergarten, 1, 2, 3 🍁

If You Want to Visit a Sea Garden | Author: Roy Henry Vickers | Grade Levels: Preschool, Kindergarten, 1, 2, 3 🍁

Explore the Eelgrass Meadow with Sam and Crystal | Author: Gloria Snively | Grade Levels: 3, 4, 5, 6 🍁

British Columbia, Its Land, Mineral and Water Resources | Author: Sandy Duncan | Grade Levels: 4, 5 🍁

Climate

Climate Change: The Science Behind Melting Glaciers and Warming Oceans with Hands-On Science Activities | Author: Josh Sneideman | Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12

The Right to Be Cold | Author: Sheila Watt- Cloutier | Grade Levels: 12, University/College 🍁


Ocean Animals

A Whale's World | Author: Nicholas Read | Grade Levels: Kindergarten, 1, 2, 3 🍁

Sharing Our World: Animals of the Native Northwest Coast | Author: Various Indigenous Contributors | Grade Levels: Preschool, Kindergarten, 1, 2, 3 🍁

National Geographic Kids Mission: Sea Turtle Rescue | Author: Karen Romano Young | Grade Levels: 4, 5, 6

Return of the Sea Otter: The Story of the Animal That Evaded Extinction on the Pacific Coast | Author: Todd McLeish | Grade Levels: Advanced

Turtle Planet: Endangered Species, the Future of Humanity, and What We Can Do to Save the Earth | Author: Monk Yun Rou | Grade Levels: Advanced