Killer Whale Task Force is the introduction to eight units in the Explore the Salish Sea Curriculum. Each unit contains a detailed unit plan, a slideshow, student journal, and assessments. All elements are adaptable and can be tailored to your local community.
This unit introduces the overall phenomenon for the curriculum-the endangered status of the Southern Resident Killer Whales - and puts students in the roles of working group members in the Governor-appointed taskforce to identify the biggest threats and recommend solutions to save the whales. No matter which units you choose to implement with your class, start here to set the premise.

In this unit, students wonder about the physical drivers of ocean movement, explore density differences, and take a look at some tiny creatures who struggle to keep their place in the water column in the midst of all that ocean motion.
Each unit of the Explore the Salish Sea curriculum contains a detailed unit plan, a slideshow, student journal, and assessments. All elements are adaptable and can be tailored to your local community.

In Unit 2 of the Explore the Salish Sea curriculum, students will review the water cycle, learn the parts of a watershed, and the effects of erosion and pollution, then learn ways of purifying these waters before they enter our streams and estuaries to safeguard these ecosystems for marine life and us.
Each unit in this series contains a detailed unit plan, a slideshow, student journal, and assessments. All elements are adaptable and can be tailored to your local community.

Salish Sea Rocks is Unit 3 of the Explore the Salish Sea Curriculum. Each unit contains a detailed unit plan, a slideshow, student journal, and assessments. All elements are adaptable and can be tailored to your local community.
In the unit, students will explore Earth’s processes that create the perfect spawning habitat for a few species of small but mighty fish.

In this unit, students will solve a mystery about changes in oyster larvae in the Salish Sea, causing oyster farmers to send their larvae to Hawaii until they grow stronger. They will look for clues in:
• activities and games, articles, and films that introduce the concepts of habitat and ecosystem
• structures and behaviors for survival in intertidal zone habitats
• the Earth-moon-sun interactions that drive the tides
• the importance of First Foods of the intertidal to first nations communities;
• how intertidal organisms interact across the Salish Sea food web
Afterward, they will arrive at the importance of a balanced carbon cycle in the health of the ocean and use a full scientific investigation to test if their local waters have a healthy pH for oyster larvae and other shelled creatures. Clear pathways of hope are woven into this complex issue, so students know that scientists and leaders are working to solve this problem - and kids can help!

The moon is more explored than the ocean, and that includes the Salish Sea. Where it is inconvenient or even impossible for people to go, we can engineer technology to go there for us, like the Mars Rovers, space probes, automatic unmanned vehicles, drones, and in this unit, remotely operated vehicles (ROV’s). Ocean Tech revisits the engineering process, but this time it requires physical, mechanical, and electrical engineers working together as a team to achieve a student-driven mission.

Chapter 5, Life in the Deep: The Subtidal World, is our first look into the amazing life forms that live their whole lives underwater. Is there access to the subtidal world near your school? If you can get to one (even if it is a pond or a pool), your students’ engineering efforts will find their reward. What mystery or problem will your students explore with their own ROV? Dive in!

Did you know that a elephant seal can hold its breath for 77 minutes and dive 5,000 feet (1524 meters) into the sea? We are still working on the science to discover just what enables these remarkable feats under intense pressure, cold, and dark. Diving birds and mammals utilize physical, behavioral, and physiological adaptations to withstand the extreme conditions of diving and still return to the surface with oxygen reserves (and a meal!). Your students can join us in investigating just how they do this.

This unit will review the concepts of pressure-changing with depth, marine food webs, structure and function, photosynthesis and respiration, and of course, the process of science. It will introduce metabolism, the diving reflex, sensory structures for detecting prey, wave properties of acoustics, trophic pyramids, and bioaccumulation of toxins in long-lived predators. Oh yeah, and there will be orca forensics!

Migration explores the routes, distances, and purposes for wildlife migration with a special focus on Pacific salmon. This iconic species of the Pacific Northwest has shaped life in Salish Sea watersheds since they first entered rivers and creeks to spawn, bringing their ocean-derived nutrients in reach of land animals, plants, and people. Nearly 1/4 of the nitrogen in the leaves of our giant temperate rainforest trees once swam in the sea as salmon. They are the reason for the great natural wealth of the Salish Sea and beyond.

Learning to identify habitat needs based on their specific migrations will empower students to identify ways they can improve salmon habitat near their own schools and possibly design and carry out a salmon habitat improvement project. Reach out to salmon experts in your community for support with this unit and project, from protecting storm drains to raising salmon in the classroom. Share your salmon project story along the way. Your school may just be featured as our next Salish Sea Heroes!

The culmination of the Explore the Salish Sea Curriculum is improving the environment for wildlife and people in your own community. Students will review the science and traditional ecological knowledge-based recommendations they have made after each scientific investigation throughout the previous units, then choose one to put into action. Their choices will depend on available resources, time, and expertise available.

This infographic visual provides strategies to create culturally responsive classrooms, learning and understanding student voice and family voice, strategies for supporting student voice for teachers and a deep dive into student and family voice strategies.

Los estudiantes de primer grado escuchan la lectura de un libro de cuentos ilustrado, van a una caminata en la naturaleza y leen un cuadernillo que presenta información que les sirve para su propia historia. Luego se les invita a escribir sobre como es ir a visitar un bosque. También pueden visitar un bosque cercano. Cuadernillo de lectura que acompaña la tarea de desempeño.

Los estudiantes miran un video, leen el cuadernillo y usan su experiencia propia para escribirle a sus amigos, una carta con informacion que contesta la pregunta: "¿Qué es un estuario y qué lo hace tan especial?" Cuadernillo de lectura que acompaña la tarea de desempeño.

Los estudiantes leen un articulo, miran un video y toman notas de estos dos recursos de los que aprenden sobre contaminación del agua pluvial y como prevenirla. También aprenden la frase "que no baje agua sucia al drenaje" y escriben un ensayo para informar a otros estudiantes sobre la importancia del agua limpia para tener peces sanos.

Los estudiantes leen un articulo, miran un video y exploran una guía de campo de bolsillo y luego responden tres preguntas de investigación. Después, conducen un inventario biológico (bioblitz) y escriben un ensayo explicando lo que es un inventario biolgico o bioblitz.

Diseñado para proveer informacion básica sobre energía renovable incluyendo qué es, cómo funciona y las ventajas y desventajas para el ambiente. Cada tarea de desempeño enfoca en un tipo de energía renovable, incluyendo información básica y con suficiente información para escribir ensayos de persuasión. La tarea de energía renovable y no renovable culmina con un discurso. Los maestros cuentan con una rúbrica para calificar el discurso como pracita del SBAC. Se proporciona una plantilla para preparar los discursos.

Los estudiantes de tercer grado leen un artículo y miran un video sobre cómo empezar una hortaliza. Toman notas de estas dos fuentes y escriben un ensayo de información para explicarle a otra clase cmo empezar su propia hortaliza. 

Students in the 1st grade are asked to write stories about what it is like to take a walk in the woods. Students will listen to a picture book, watch a video, and read a booklet to give background knowledge for their stories. You may also use information from your own walks in the woods! Includes reading booklet.

Write an informational letter to your friend answering the question “What is an estuary and what makes them so special?”. Use information from the reading/book, video, and your experience. Includes a reading booklet.

Designed to provide basic background knowledge about renewable energy including what it is, how it works and the advantages and disadvantages for the environment. Each task focuses on a type of renewable energy, including basic background knowledge, career information, and a variety of print and video resources. Students practice the research skills of locating information, selecting the best information and having enough information to explain or persuade. Renewable and Non-renewable Energy, culminates in a speech. Teachers are provided with the SBAC Speech rubric for scoring the student presentations. A template is provided for planning speeches. 

Los estudiantes de K-2 usan la información que se presenta en el cuadernillo, miran un video y utilizan lo que han aprendido, para escribirle una carta a sus amigos, explicando cómo estará el tiempo y cómo deben vestirse apropiadamente. Cuadernillo de lectura que acompaña la tarea de desempeño.