Description

What is included in my purchase of STEM activities for preschoolers?

In the mail, you will receive an Ocean Debris STEM Kit

You will instantly receive a PDF Kit with:

• Ocean Debris STEM Kit and STEM Activities
• STEAM Activity: Plastic down the river
• Arts Activity: Raindrop in a Watershed Skit

Goal:

With these activities, the goal is to teach the newest generation of ocean lovers about watersheds, how they work and how debris from freshwater sources can be harmful to our world’s ocean. With these activities and a list of materials, we have developed a curriculum that will build a foundation for preschoolers to start understanding their environment. These activities are built with a sense of creativity, to not upset children but rather make them more aware of the objects around them, and their life beyond the single use.

What you will receive:

Multiple activities that can be used in your classroom in the form of printable PDF documents as well as an Ocean Debris Kit made by Blue schools.

An Ocean Debris Science Kit comes with plastics, styrofoam, and rope found washed up on beaches around the U.S.

These activities will create an environment for preschool aged students to observe their surroundings, practice simple math, utilize science skills, create ideas and engage in projects.

Our goal with the Ocean Debris science kit is to engage students while they learn about marine debris, to upcycle single use items from home to complete their Ocean Debris Science Kit to have a better understanding of the importance of healthy oceans and feel empowered by doing their own part. The kit can be used time and time again for years to come while keeping recovered ocean debris from going to the landfill. This activity will help foster awareness in younger aged learners on the importance of recycling and sustainability.

Many young preschoolers may not have ever seen the ocean and don’t think about it – but our mission is to educate our youngest generation on the importance of healthy oceans and the overall impact the ocean has on the planet, not just people who live coastal.

These activities also include information on watersheds, weather patterns, and many other important lessons to learn about water and our shared environment.

Ocean Debris Science Kit and Activity

This ocean activities kit includes a hands-on Ocean Debris Science Kit with plastic, styrofoam, rope, and other items found on U.S. beaches washed up from the ocean and recovered by Ocean Blue volunteers. In addition, there are four lesson plans versatile for all age groups but we customized these to be best suitable for preschoolers.. This Ocean Debris kit shows the importance of recycling and sustainability, by giving a first hand example of how plastic degrades in the ocean, and what it looks like when it’s found on shore. We included fun and educational activities that are versatile for many age groups. Even just an observation of found marine debris, is such a powerful learning tool.

STEAM Activity: Plastic Down the River

The engineering activity is a fun, interactive and educational exercise that will be focused on marine debris and will highlight the importance of recycling. Materials used will be ones that are free and every child will have access to such as single use items. The focus on this activity will be repurposing items that are commonly found in the household, on school campus or found littered objects such as soft and hard plastics, glass bottles and aluminum. This activity will be engaging, thought provoking and allow for critical discussions around the consumption and disposal of single use items. This thoughtful project will help raise awareness in children about how toxic marine debris can be to the environment and how to live a more sustainable life through critical awareness. Young learners who participate in this activity will become aware on how to protect watersheds and become active environmental stewards both on and off school grounds.

Raindrop in watershed skit

For preschoolers, this activity will be a hands-on, interactive approach to teach our youngest stewards about the components of the watershed cycle and how we are all connected to our one world Ocean. Each student will actively represent a raindrop taking a different path through the same watershed, from precipitation all the way to the ocean. This is a fun, interactive and preformative skit that will teach from a theatrical and immersive style.

Overview

In total, these 3 activities are a great way for preschoolers to get foundational learning on these important topics. We have created this curriculum to enhance the classroom experience in a fun and creative way. No powerpoints or reading, all hands on and interactive activities that will foster awareness and create an understanding for the youngest learners.

More about Blue Schools and how we developed the curriculum and how it can benefit your students:

Blue Schools STEAM Curriculum and Ocean STEM Activities empower our youngest generations to understand the environmental and emotional connection between the watershed under their feet, their drinking water, and the ocean we all share. Through at-home and in-class curriculum, students utilize this curriculum to acquire skills in science, technology, engineering, arts and math. STEAM curriculum unites students and communities to become stewards of the beaches, streams, rivers, and watersheds and our world ocean.

The ecology-based curriculum was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs). In 2022, Blue Schools was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as 1 of 109 Green Citizens Projects.

Blue Schools curriculum is aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and NOAA’s Meaningful Watershed Enhancement Experiences also known as, MWEEs which are science-based activities that increase participants’ environmental literacy and highlight the connection between human activity and environmental conditions.

Utilizing environmental education programs provide many benefits for all students and communities. The content can be customized to meet unique needs of individual classrooms, communities, and watersheds based on your location. The program is provided through scholarships to diverse and marginalized students, including those in Title 1 schools, to make a powerful impact on their environmental awareness in hopes to fuel thoughtful actions moving forward.

We are so excited about your journey with the educational activities we have created, and are here to help if you have any questions. Please contact Ocean Blue Project at education@oceanblueproject.org if you have any questions about these activities!