The Magic of Seagrass Elementary Lesson Plan

• This lesson plan and set of materials will help facilitate a lesson on the importance of healthy seagrass ecosystems.
• Students will learn about biodiversity in healthy and unhealthy seagrass ecosystems, discover how seagrass helps sequester carbon, think about why people should care about seagrass ecosystems, and practice scientific thinking.

Positives

• This resource has everything teachers need to deliver a meaningful and well-researched lesson about the importance of seagrass ecosystems. 
• The presentation slides and infographic are engaging and beautifully designed. 
• Teacher notes are included with each slide.

Additional Prerequisites

• Teachers may want to review vocabulary words such as ecosystem, biodiversity, climate change, and carbon dioxide. 
• The third video, which appears on slide 19 of the slideshow, does not have any narration and will be difficult for younger students to read. Teachers should consider pausing the video frequently.

Differentiation

• Cross-curricular connections can be made in social studies classes that are discussing how communities and governments can act to reverse climate change and help unhealthy ecosystems. 
• For younger students, consider breaking this lesson into several small components.
• For older elementary students, be sure to utilize the discussion ideas listed in the Teacher Discourse PDF. 
• The extension slides would make an excellent project for upper elementary students. 
• Other related resources include this video about the importance of biodiversity in ecosystems, this mural that depicts a dying coral reef, and this digital book about a boy and the ocean.