Programs for Teachers

Lesson Plans

Tools for Teaching

These lessons have been created by participants in the Rivers to Reef Teacher Workshop to assist fellow educators in teaching the concepts of watersheds, nonpoint source pollution, water cycle, rocks and minerals, water quality and much more.

We’ve also added our brand new sea lion lesson plans. Check them out before your next visit to SunTrust Pier 225.

Available Plans

  • NEW: Sea Lion lesson plans

      Learn about our charismatic California sea lions! Georgia Aquarium’s education team has created some engaging curricular resources to use in the classroom prior to visiting SunTrust Pier 225 to see our Under the Boardwalk sea lion presentation . Learn about what our California sea lions eat, the characteristics of their habitat, and the threats they face.

      • Dinner Dilemma (grades 3-5) – Students will learn the role of producers, consumers, and decomposers in a California sea lion’s community and how complex a food web can be.
      • Where in the World Do Pinnipeds Live? (grades 6-7) – Students will discover that pinnipeds (sea lions and seals) can be found all over the world in addition to the coast of California. Students will identify where pinnipeds are found throughout the world on a map and explore the adaptations pinnipeds use to survive in their habitats.
      • Classification Station (grades 6-8) – Students will learn why scientists classify animals and will classify the animals living in kelp forests, with an emphasis on how California sea lions interact with their environment.
      • Sea Lion! (grades 6-8) – Students will discuss how limiting factors such as predation, resource availability, and competition impact California sea lion populations.
  • Grades K-2:
  • Grades 3-5:
      • Thirsty Anyone? – Students will describe what pollution is, identify sources of non-point source pollution and learn how humans will effect the environment and its influence on the plants and animals that share it with us.
      • From Brook to Ocean – Students will be able to create an understanding that everyone is part of a watershed and that humans can affect that watershed in positive and negative ways.
      • What is a Watershed? – Students will learn what a watershed is and how rivers are connected to the ocean.
      • Useable Water – Students will investigate the concept that water is a limited resource.
      • Pollution Solutions – Students will examine what water pollution is and types.
      • Protecting our Backyard – Students will identify variables that impact our schoolyard creek and ultimately our watershed.
      • Watery Webs! – Students will be able to describe the diversity and interdependence of organisms within various habitats of a watershed.
      • What is the Story with Sand? – Students will differentiate between sand, soil and other small particles and understand that sand is the result of weathering and erosion.
      • Erosion and Deposition along Rivers and Seashores, Part 1: Modeling in the Classroom – Students will understand the causes and effects of erosion, deposition and weathering.
      • Erosion and Deposition along Rivers and Seashores, Part 2: Hunting from Space – Students will understand the causes and effects of erosion, deposition and weathering.
      • Eye in the Sky – Students will investigate land use and water quality.
  • Grades 6-8:
      • Effects of Turbulence on Dissolved Oxygen – Students will discover the importance of dissolved oxygen to a healthy aquatic ecosystem and how dissolved oxygen in water can be increased.
      • Sim’s Isle – Students will gain the perspective of a variety of stakeholders on development of barrier islands. Students will exercise environmental decision-making, critical thinking, creative thinking and problem solving.
      • The Ocean’s Nursery – Through the use of art, students will investigate marsh life and the impact that pollution in estuaries has on the food chain and local economics.
      • What is a Watershed? – Students will learn what a watershed is and how rivers are connected to the ocean.
      • Song of the Chattahoochee: Appreciating Nature Through Literature – Students will identify literary elements of a poem and discuss ways in which they are connected to water.
      • What is the Story with Sand? – Students will differentiate between sand, soil and other small particles, and understand that sand is the result of weathering and erosion.
      • Useable Water – Students will investigate the concept that water is a limited resource.
      • Water, Water, Everywhere – Students will be able to identify point and non-point source pollutants, and understand the cumulative effects of non-point source pollution.
      • Who, me? – Students will explore the concept of water, how we affect it and need it. Click here for the supporting PowerPoint presentation
      • Crazy Classification – Students will explore how classification is used to identify an organism.
      • The Sound of the Beluga – Students will describe different uses for sound in the human and animal world.
  • Grades 9-12:
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