This lesson is taken from NASA's Phytopia: Discovery of the Marine Ecosystem written in partnership with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Students learn how to estimate the "energy efficiency" of photosynthesis, or the amount of energy that plants absorb for any given location on Earth. This is the ratio of the amount of energy stored to the amount of light energy absorbed and is used to evaluate and model photosynthesis efficiency.

In this activity, you will use an inexpensive spectrophotometer* to test how light at different visible wavelengths (blue, green, red) is transmitted, or absorbed, through four different colored water samples.

Teachers, are you looking for resources to help you engage students in data analysis related to Global Phytoplankton Distribution?

Check out the monthly 2018 images featuring two science variables related to Phytoplankton Distribution: Chlorophyll Concentration (milligrams per cubic meter)  & Monthly Flow of Energy into Surface by Shortwave Radiation (watts per square meter)

In this activity, students make a claim about the cause of ocean currents and then develop a model to explain the role of temperature and density in deep ocean currents.  This lesson is modified from "Visit to an Ocean Planet" Caltech and NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

My NASA Data has recently released several new resources, StoryMaps, for use in educational settings.

Explore and connect to the GLOBE Oceans protocol bundle.