If you are a parent or guardian or an educator looking for home learning resources, check out these activities for grades K-12. If you are an educator, many of these activities and curricula can be adapted to online learning platforms. For a curated selection of streaming educational videos for a range of ages and topics click here. Find more of our resources and programs on our Resources for California Educators page. If you have any questions, please contact the Public Education Program at coast4u@coastal.ca.gov.

Click on the grade category below to expand and view the resources.

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• Elementary School

  • Marine Mammal Quiz and California Coastal Creatures Quiz: Use the clues to identify California coastal animals.
  • California Coastal Creature Word Search: Find the names of 22 coastal creatures. En Español
  • A Gallery of Sand: A collection of photos that illustrate the diversity of sand in coastal California and beyond. Links to activities for upper elementary grades (most of which can be done from home) are included, as well as questions for younger students to guide exploration of this resource, which can be done independently or as part of an online discussion.
  • California Coastal Webcams: Find a selection of webcams of coastal animals and locations, including suggested activities for students.
  • King Tides Science Journal: Be a community scientist by observing King Tides, the highest tides of the year. Download and print a King Tides Science Journal for grades K-5. During the winter King Tides season, observe the tides at your local coast or waterway, or by watching from a coastal webcam. Learn about the King Tides project. See NGSS connections for the science journal.
  • Explore a map of high tide photos and go on a photo scavenger hunt.
  • From Marsh to Marina: Think about the different ways people have interacted with wetlands over time. How has the way we use and protect them changed? Designed for 3rd grade, but suitable for older grades as well. From Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds. 20-50 minutes.
  • Build a Working Wetland: Build a model to investigate how wetlands filter runoff. Needed: clay, large sponge or carpet remnant, baking pan, dirt, water. Designed for 3rd grade but suitable for older grades as well. From Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds. 50-90 minutes.
  • Sandy's Journey to the Sea: A story to read and illustrate about how sand is formed. Needed: paper and something to draw with, optional. 4th grade. From Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds. 20-50 minutes.
  • Branching Out: What's a watershed, you ask? Build a simple model of a watershed and explore ridge lines and tributaries. Needed: spray bottle of water, paper, food coloring, pencil, rocks or other lumpy items. 5th grade. From Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds. 90 minutes.
  • Coast and Ocean Read-Alouds for PreK-2 Grades
    Here's a selection of ocean-themed read-aloud videos. After watching the read-aloud, students might answer these questions:
    

    How do you think ______ felt when ______ ? (I think ______ felt ______ when ______ because ______ .)
    Why do you think the author wrote this book? (I think the author wrote this book because ______ .)
    How did this story make you feel? (This story made me feel ______ because ______ .)
    What is one thing you learned from this book? (I learned_________.)
    What is one question you still have? (One question I have is ___________/I wonder_________.)

    • What Lives in a Shell? by Helen K. Davie
    • Super Sand Castle Saturday by Julia Gorton
    • Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andres
    • The Bravest Fish by Matt Buckingham
    • Clark the Shark by Guy Francis
    En Español:
    • Tantos Peces by Monarca Language
    • El Pez Arco Iris Y La Cueva De Los Monstruos by Marcus Pfister
    • El Pez Pucheros by Marcus Pfister

• Middle School

  • California King Tides Project: Interactive map, pictures, and resources that can help students connect sea level rise to climate change, on a local level. Visit the King Tides Resources for Educators page for ways for students to explore the project and learn about sea level rise.
  • Schoolyard Cleanups - At Home: The Schoolyard Cleanup Program supports teachers and students in using a litter cleanup (as part of Coastal Cleanup Day or any time of year) as a way to design a scientific investigation, analyze data, communicate results, and design and carry out solutions to an environmental problem. Get suggestions for how students can do the same around their home.
  • Shifting Sands—Groins and Jetties: What's the difference between jetties, piers, and other coastal structures, and the impacts they have on sand movement? From Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds.
  • Rollin' Down the Sand Highway: Learn about littoral cells and do some math! Which California harbors are dredged and which aren't, and why? Needed: something to write with, optional calculator. From Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds. (Recommended video to watch as part of the activity: Beach: A River of Sand) 50 minutes.
  • What's so special about native species?: Research an endangered species. Find updated stats and links here. Needed: internet search capabilities. From Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds.
  • Adapted for Survival?: Design a bird adapted for a specific California habitat. Created for 7th grade but works for older too, this activity can be done individually or with a group online. Needed: Paper and something to draw with. From Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds. 40-90 minutes.
  • Shipping in Dangerous Waters: Buoyancy Matters!: Learn to read a code found on the side of ships in order to decypher the impact of buoyancy. From Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds.
  • The Edge of the Wedge: A kitchen investigation of density. Needed: salt, food coloring, water, a paper cup, a clear pan such as a glass bread pan. Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds. 30-60 minutes.
  • Is there one right way to describe a place? It's More Than A Place short reading from California Coastal Voices.
  • Learn about image analysis. Read Making Sense of Images and Interpretation of Aerial Photographs, then use Guiding Questions for Image Analysis to analyze California coastal images. From California Coastal Voices.
  • A Sense of Place, A Sense of Truth: Learn the elements of an urban image, draw a mental map of school or another familiar place, then use Google satellite view to ground truth the drawing. From California Coastal Voices. 30-60 minutes.

• High School

  • California King Tides Project: Interactive map, pictures, and resources that can help students connect sea level rise to climate change, on a local level. Visit the King Tides Resources for Educators page for ways for students to explore the project and learn about sea level rise.
  • Schoolyard Cleanups - At Home: The Schoolyard Cleanup Program supports teachers and students in using a litter cleanup (as part of Coastal Cleanup Day or any time of year) as a way to design a scientific investigation, analyze data, communicate results, and design and carry out solutions to an environmental problem. Get suggestions for how students can do the same around their home.
  • Is there one right way to describe a place? Read It's More Than A Place from California Coastal Voices.
  • Learn about image analysis. Read Making Sense of Images and Interpretation of Aerial Photographs, then use Guiding Questions for Image Analysis to analyze California coastal images. From California Coastal Voices.
  • A Sense of Place, A Sense of Truth: Learn the elements of an urban image, draw a mental map of school or another familiar place, then use Google satellite view to ground truth the drawing. From California Coastal Voices.
  • Explore video clips and news articles (under Activity #1 here) from and relating to a public meeting deciding whether a new toll road would be built through San Onofre State Park. (From California Coastal Voices.) Consider the following questions:
    What legal or policy issues inform the discussion? How does the speaker support their assertions? What evidence is cited to support their assertions? Is there any other information you would like to have? What would you do differently?
  • Read What is Public Policy, from California Coastal Voices. Consider the following questions:
    What are some examples of policy? Remember to consider school, community, and state/federal government levels. Which of these are private policies and which are public policies? What are some institutions that create public policy in California?
  • National Patterns in Beach Access Policy from California Coastal Voices: Analyze coastal access case studies from throughout the country. The activity can be done independently or as part of an online group discussion.
  • Interpreting the Public Trust Doctrine from California Coastal Voices: This activity can be done independently or as part of an online group discussion. Read an explanation of the Public Trust Doctrine.
  • Interpreting the California Coastal Act from California Coastal Voices: This activity can be done independently or as part of an online group discussion. Read an introduction to the California Coastal Act with annotated excerpts.
  • Climate Change Data Analysis: Download a spreadsheet of average global sea surface temperature change 1880-2015. Graph the annual anomaly (the change in reference to a long-term average) and upper and lower confidence intervals. What trends do they identify? What arguments can students make as to how the changing global average sea surface temperature impacts coastal places? (See the data graphed and read documentation for the data. Needed: spreadsheet software.
  • Sea Level Rise Data Analysis activities from California Coastal Voices: Download a spreadsheet of global absolute sea level change from 1880-2015 and graph the change over time. Why is the adjusted sea level zero in 1880? What is the slope of change in sea level rise during the time period shown? Using this slope to extrapolate to 2040, what sea level rise amount would you expect? Have students make a claim as to whether this extrapolation produces a plausible prediction. Students should provide evidence for their claim. What environmental factors in the present and future are influencing the slope of the data and impacting the accuracy of their extrapolation? Needed: spreadsheet software.
    As shown in this graphic, land in different locations rises and falls due to things like tectonics and groundwater extraction, which combined with ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns, results in "relative local sea level rise" rates that may be higher or lower than the global average. How much has sea level changed relative to land nearest you? How does that compare to the absolute change in global sea level shown in the data analyzed in the last activity?
  • Changes Over Time: Analyze aerial photographs and a timeline of events around Upper Newport Bay in Orange County to discover how the area has changed and what impact that change has had. Use this chart to guide your analysis. From Our Wetlands, Our World.
  • California Coastal Careers: Meet people in coastal careers, talking about their work and how they got there, through short video testimonials.