9th-12th Grade

A Look Inside a Squid
Grades 6-12

How does a squid swim? Why does a squid ink?

The answers to these questions and many more can be found with a closer look inside the squid. This hands-on dissection program allows students to closely explore squid anatomy and discover the ins and outs of these interesting ocean animals.

• Supports Next Generation Science Standards:
  • Performance Expectations
    • MS-LS1-3. Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells
  • Disciplinary Core Ideas
    • LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms
    • LS1.D: Information Processing
    • LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
  • Science and Engineering Practices
    • Asking Questions and Defining Problems
    • Engaging in Argument from Evidence
    • Analyzing and Interpreting Data
  • Cross Cutting Concepts
    • Patterns
    • Systems and System Models
    • Structure and Function
    • Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Animal Exploration
Grades PreK-12

Get your hands wet in this 30-minute, educator-led animal exploration class.

After a brief introduction, students will touch and explore live tidepool animals, animal models, and biofacts.

• Supports Next Generation Science Standards:
  • Science and Engineering Practices
    • Asking Questions and Defining Problems
    • Engaging in Argument from Evidence
  • Cross Cutting Concepts
    • Patterns

Conservation in Action
Grades 6-12

Be a conservation biologist while exploring efforts to conserve endangered Southern California wildlife most threatened by climate change.

In this class, learners will collaborate to design solutions for raising and releasing endangered species. Students will build a 3-D model to visualize and evaluate their ideas using real-world considerations and conservation plans currently in action.

• Supports Next Generation Science Standards:
  • Performance Expectations
    • MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
    • o HS-ETS1-3. Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
  • Science and Engineering Practices
    • Asking Questions and Defining Problems
    • Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
    • Engaging in Argument from Evidences
    • Developing and Using Models
  • Disciplinary Core Ideas
    • SS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
    • LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
    • LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
    • LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans
    • ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions
  • Cross Cutting Concepts
    • Patterns
    • Stability and Change
    • Science is a Human Endeavor

Kelp Forest Conservation
Grades 6-12

Kelp Forests are a unique and productive habitat local to Southern California, but are also one of the most threatened by climate change.

Students will learn about the kelp forest ecosystem, why it’s important, threats, and ways we are helping these habitats recover.

• Supports Next Generation Science Standards:
  • Performance Expectations
    • MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.
    • MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
    • MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
    • MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations
    • HS-LS2-6. Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
  • Science and Engineering Practices
    • Asking Questions
    • Analyzing and interpreting data
    • Constructing explanations
    • Engaging in Argument from Evidence
  • Disciplinary Core Ideas
    • SS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
    • LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
    • LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
    • LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
  • Cross Cutting Concepts
    • Patterns
    • Cause and Effect
    • Stability and Change

Discover Earth
Grades 3-12

Take a new look at the water, weather, continents, currents, tsunamis, and hurricanes that make our Earth a dynamic system.

With an Aquarium educator as a guide, your students will explore beautiful visualizations on the Aquarium’s six-foot spherical display called Science on a Sphere. Discover the wonders of our instrumented earth and the information we can use to learn more about our planet.

• Supports Next Generation Science Standards:
  • Performance Expectations
    • HS-ESS2-4. Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate
    • HS-ESS2-6. Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere
    • HS-ESS3-5. Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth’s systems.
    • HS-ESS3-6. Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.
  • Science and Engineering Practices
    • Asking Questions and Defining Problems
    • Analyzing and Interpreting Data
    • Engaging in Argument from Evidence
  • Cross Cutting Concepts
    • Analyzing and Interpreting Data
    • Cause and Effect

Aquacology
Grades 6-12

In this class your students will explore the world of aquariums and aquarium filtration.

By building their own aquarium systems complete with mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration, students will be introduced to the living and nonliving components that are needed to recreate natural ocean habitats.

• Supports Next Generation Science Standards:
  • Disciplinary Core Ideas
    • LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
    • PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
    • ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution
  • Science and Engineering Practices
    • Asking Questions and Defining Problems
    • Engaging in Argument from Evidence
    • Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
  • Cross Cutting Concepts
    • Patterns
    • Systems and System Models
    • Structure and Function
    • Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Downloadable Classroom Kits

• Career Connections Video Series
• Conservation Series
• Sustainability Series: Future of Food
• Sustainability Series: Our Water Future