The California Coastal Commission's Science Activity Guide
Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds is a
classroom and community activity guide for teachers that addresses issues such as endangered
species, marine debris, coastal geology, water use,
and much more. It is carefully aligned to the California State Science Content
Standards for grades 3 through 8, and includes “Community Action” lessons adaptable
for all ages up to and beyond 12th grade. The guide is available to California
educators for free from the California Coastal Commission, or it can be downloaded as a
PDF.
PDF Format Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds is available in PDF format. You may
download the entire document, or download it by chapter. PDFs will open in an new window.
Please note: Due to copyright agreements, three activities are not available
in the PDFs below.
If you would like to participate in an orientation workshop for Waves,
Wetlands, and Watersheds, please
send an e-mail to afrankel@coastal.ca.gov
which includes your contact information, as well as the name of your school or
program and the grade level that you teach. If you would like to volunteer your
location (e.g. school, museum, visitor center) for a workshop, please use the
same contact.
When
Where
Wednesday,
October 1
4-6pm
American River Watershed Education Center, Folsom
Friday,
October 31
12-1pm
(abbreviated workshop)
California Science Teachers Association Conference, San Jose
Since 2003, workshops have been held in Alameda,
Alhambra, Auburn, Berkeley, Cambria, Castroville, Chula Vista, Eureka, Fremont, Huntington Beach,
Loleta, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Marina, Newport Beach, Oakland, Pescadero, Riverside,
Roseville, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, San Rafael, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz,
Santa Rosa, Seaside, Stockton, Tustin, and Van Nuys.
Download a Black-footed
Albatross supplement to Waves focusing on this bird's life history, satellite
tracking, lab-based scientific investigations and plastic pollution prevention.
This supplement for grades 8 through 12 was developed by
Oikonos-Ecosystem Knowledge.
Download a four-page primer on coastal bluff erosion, containing informative diagrams and vocabulary for further investigation into coastal processes.
For advanced students, use a webpage of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's Coastal Services Center to investigate
three alternatives
for developing a coastal site. The scenarios presented allow students to explore
the specifics of each development plan and to consider
the environmental and economic consequences of the choices.
For advanced students, download a factsheet from the California Water and Land Use
Partnership to learn how urbanization affects the water cycle.
Errata
A page of corrections and updates (in PDF) for Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds
is now available. This errata sheet should be used for the books with a black wire binding, copyright 2003.