Expanding Ocean Literacy

C-CoMP is developing initiatives that expand ocean literacy in K-12 classrooms and the broader population. Our outreach activities should reach hundreds of thousands of people, whereby we will broadly inform the public about how chemistry (and microbes) in the oceans impacts their everyday lives and advance our goal of enhanced ocean literacy.

Programs and Initiatives

(1) Developing curriculum for K-12 classrooms that meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for Ocean Science, focusing on Ocean Literacy Principles of ocean life (#5), ocean and society (#6), and ocean exploration (#7). These materials will be distributed to teachers through workshops or taught directly to students in classroom outreach.

C-CoMP Team Members Elizabeth Kujawinski and Mary Ann Moran have co-authored this publication based on NGSS : How do tiny ocean critters affect the global carbon cycle?

C-CoMP Team Member Sonya Dyhrman has developed the Artistic Oceanographer Program (AOP), a standards-based program focusing on Ocean Literacy Principles #5 and #6 that integrates phytoplankton biology with art.

(2) Planning to collaborate with museums, zoos, and aquariums in urban centers to develop exhibits that highlight essential ocean functions and meet the standards for the ocean and society (#6) NGSS standard.