EPA’s Video: What is an Estuary? This video teaches students about estuaries: places where rivers meet the sea. In Long Island Sound, freshwater from rivers, runoff, and groundwater mix with saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean. Watch and learn why these vital waterways of life, culture, and economic growth should be protected and restored.
Life Under the Surface: Two scientists take us on a photographic journey of the undersea life of Long Island Sound.
In 2001, two experienced divers who are also scientists at the University of Connecticut in Groton created a photographic journey of Long Island Sound. A limited number of copies of “An Underwater Tour of Long Island Sound” are available for free upon request by using our contact form. You can also view an abridged version of the tour that appeared in the Long Island Sound Study’s Sound Health 2003. The photos were taken by scientists Peter J. Auster and Robert DeGoursey, and the text was written by Auster and Sara Schaub. (No reproduction of photography or text is permitted without the prior consent of authors).
In the early 1990s, Connecticut Sea Grant published a popular guidebook of Long Island Sound called Living Treasures: The Plants and Animals of Long Island Sound. Accompanying the book, the Sea Grant educators also developed a slide presentation, which provides a great overview of the plants and animals who live in the underwater and shoreline habitats of the Sound. This photo tour was produced by Nancy Balcom of Connecticut Sea Grant. Download the following sections of the tour here:
Or download the complete presentation for printing:
More information for kids and teachers:
Glossary of Long Island Sound-related terms
More websites for kids and teachers:
www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/kids/ Learn more about estuaries.
www.epa.gov/kids Home to US EPA’s Explorer’s Kids Club.
www.education.noaa.gov/ Learn about oceans and coasts, climate change and our planet, and weather in the “especially for kids and students” sections.
www.oceanconservancy.org/ The website for the largest and oldest organization dedicated to protecting oceans has information on fish and wildlife, and threats to our oceans, including pollution, polluted runoff, and invasive species.
www.nwf.org/kids Home of “Ranger Rick”; site features information about conservation and wildlife for all children’s age groups.
http://www.sea.edu/academics/k-12 K-12 lesson plans created by the Woods Hole Sea Education Association. The lesson plans are listed by grade level and topic. Several of them were designed by teachers who have participated in the Sea Education Association Experience program.