Let’s focus on the older children and teens for once! I’ve taken a short break from writing my workbooks to focus on lesson packs for children ages 5+. Those lesson packs will be finished this weekend! (And available to purchase through my Etsy shop). But before I get back to writing my 3rd workbook, for children ages 9+, let’s look at what’s out there for older kids and teens. I thought I'd break this down into 3 sections
Please note that these resources are above the age range for which I currently write, so I haven’t bought these resources myself – I’m going on the recommendations and reviews of others. If there are any issues with any of these resources, or if I’ve missed something, then please let me know!
Home Schooling
A few years ago Jennifer, ‘the organized homeschooler’, put together a marine biology curriculum for her children. They use secular science resources and she’s explained in detail her experience using these resources – check out her full blog post here.
She recommends Amy Hill’s Marine Biology: An Introduction to Ocean Ecosystems (but she doesn’t recommend Amy Hill’s teacher’s guide or lab manual).
She also recommends the Marine Biology Colouring Book,
She has a breakdown of chapters, field trips, and activity ideas so I won't go into too much more detail here.
iGCSE, AS and A Level Marine Science
Cambridge International now has iGCSE, and AS and A Level, courses for Marine Science, they usually have a course textbook, a workbook and a teacher’s book for their courses
Despite being for older kids and teens, the courses are roughly broken down in a similar way to my workbooks: Oceanography, Marine Biology and Human Interactions (which I refer to ‘oceans and us’ and ‘people and the oceans’).
I’ve read through the syllabus breakdown for both courses, and there are similarities between these courses and current common core curriculums such as; plate tectonics, weathering and erosion (geography) or cell biology and the animal kingdom (biology). So, I would recommend that for additional resources in units 1 and 2 (both iGCSE and AS and A Level) look for geography curriculum resources and for units 3-5 iGCSE and units 3-7 AS and A Level look for biology curriculum resources.
iGCSE syllabus is
1. The Earth and its oceans
2. Sea water
3. Marine organisms
4. Nutrients and energy
5. Marine ecology
6. Human influences on the marine environment
And AS and A Level syllabus is
1. Water
2. Earth processes
3. Interactions in marine ecosystems
4. Classification and biodiversity
5. Examples of marine ecosystems
6. Physiology of marine organisms
7. Energy
8. Fisheries for the future
9. Human impacts on marine ecosystems
But where you’ll find differences between these courses and core curriculum materials are iGCSE 6. Human influences on the marine environment and AS and A Level 8. Fisheries for the future and 9. Human Impacts on marine ecosystems. There won’t be many materials out there targeting younger readers
For some video links and reading about how we use oceans check out
· NOAA
For a fisheries gear guide
· MCS UK
For sustainable fishing
· Nat Geo has a summary
· Whilst the Marine Stewardship Council website is full of more detailed information on their certifications
Assembling Course Materials
The iGCSE and AS and A Level courses should provide what you need, but if you're finding there are some gaps and you feel as if you would like some extra materials, or ocean-specific examples rather than more general geography or biology examples, then I have some suggestions...
For something interactive, I would recommend the Nat Geo Resource Library and selecting examples such as their introduction to MPAs
For older kids and teens, I would highly recommend FutureLearn courses. Some teach wider topics than just oceans but have individual modules which are relevant such as this one from York University, - you could pick out the relevant modules. There are a lot of options for oceans on FutureLearn, you might want to explore the courses.
For younger kids, the Marine Conservation Society has teaching resources and lessons which cover some of the issues raised in iGCSE units 6, though these might be a little light for older kids and teens they do introduce aquaculture, fisheries and MPAs.
For all ages, Andrew Cain’s book series (ages 12-18) has been popular for quite some time. There are 3 books in the series; Incredible Oceans, Marine Ecology and Marine Biology for the non-biologist.
For a bit of fun, there’s Juila Rothman’s Ocean Anatomy
Good Luck with your learning!
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