The ocean is an important link in the environment. Fostering an awareness and appreciation of its plants, animals and the water itself as vital resources should begin at an early age. This unit brings the ocean alive to students as part of a thematic unit of instruction. The project introduces children to the inhabitants of the kelp forest community by having them build a kelp forest in their classroom. Students learn about each creature as the teacher shares related children's literature.
Lessons involving the science process skills are also part of the unit.
Children use real and teacher-produced specimens to focus on skills such as observation, classification, and measurement. Students communicate with the teacher and each other by describing objects, recording data, and constructing visual representations of information gathered during classroom activities. Teachers interested in adapting this program have at their disposal a bibliography of related materials, student work samples, a list of outside resources, a unit outline, and assessment techniques. This program is designed to have the children actively engaged in their own educational process through hands-on participation in the creation of the kelp forest ecosystem. It encourages creativity on the part of the students, and brings alive an exiting topic that is of interest to children.