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.
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?
Youβve never watched a whale this closely! Invite a virtual whale into your room, built to an amazing scaleβ¦ 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 Schoolβs The Harvest module. Youth host Jordan invites you and Boris Worm to his HaiΜΙ«zaqv (Heiltsuk) homelands to take part in the harvest. Learn how herring, salmon, and HaiΜΙ«zaqv 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 HaiΜΙ«zaqv and these keystone speciesβa relationship thatβs 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 usβall of usβto 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
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 Schoolβs 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! Letβs 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, itβs 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
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 π
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 childrenβs environmental inquiry | Authors: Doug Anderson, Julie Comay, and Lorraine Chiarotto | Grade Level: University/College π
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 π
If You Want to Visit a Sea Garden | Author: Roy Henry Vickers | Grade Levels: Preschool, Kindergarten, 1, 2, 3 π
Explore the Eelgrass Meadow with Sam and Crystal | Author: Gloria Snively | Grade Levels: 3, 4, 5, 6 π
British Columbia, Its Land, Mineral and Water Resources | Author: Sandy Duncan | Grade Levels: 4, 5 π
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 π
Ocean Animals
A Whale's World | Author: Nicholas Read | Grade Levels: Kindergarten, 1, 2, 3 π
Sharing Our World: Animals of the Native Northwest Coast | Author: Various Indigenous Contributors | Grade Levels: Preschool, Kindergarten, 1, 2, 3 π
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