.
Staying in? Keep learning with science activities that kids and families can do at home
Press Release # State
With lots of kids home from school, you might be looking for educational activities* that can be done without leaving the house. Here’s a quick roundup of NOAA’s most popular educational resources to help you safely hunker down while learning about the ocean and atmosphere.
Skip to:
- Explore your world through data, visualizations, and virtual expeditions
- Engage the youngest learners
- Meet role models, chart your own career path
- Become an expert in Earth science
- Watch, listen, and learn
- Bookmark NOAA’s educational websites
Explore your world through data, visualizations, and virtual expeditions.
- Use Data in the Classroom. These interactive, map-based lessons and investigations use real data and are appropriate for middle through high school students.
- Dip your toes into NOAA’s data with our tiny tutorials or see our entire Data Resources for Educators collection if you're ready for a deep dive.
- Hold Science On a Sphere® the palm of your hand with the SOS Explorer mobile app.
- Take a (virtual) trip to the central Arctic with the MOSAiC expeditionoffsite link. Hear from scientistsoffsite link on the expedition, create and submitoffsite link your own Arctic art, and even enroll in an Arctic-themed Coursera courseoffsite link.
- Immerse yourself in virtual dives in National Marine Sanctuaries.
Engage the youngest learners.
- At home with younger students? Check out our elementary resources. Depending on the supplies you have at home, you might be able to try your hands at some hands-on activities.
- Educate and entertain kids with videos and activities in NOAA’s Octonauts corner.
- Is your local zoo or aquarium closed? With the NOAA and the Octonauts podcast, you can learn about the science behind The Octonauts while meeting some amazing aquarium educators.
Meet role models, chart your own career path.
- Learn about what it's like to be a scientist at NOAA with these 2019 Women's History Month panels featuring NOAA researchers.
- See our career resources to meet inspiring award winners like the Black Engineer of the Year awardees and recipients of Women of Color in STEM Awards.
- Explore a new NOAA story mapoffsite link for Women’s History Month.
- Encourage students to check out NOAA's student opportunities. It’s never too early to start thinking about your next steps.
Become an expert in Earth science.
- Join a webinar and learn the latest science directly from the experts. Check out webinars for kids in second through eight grade from Woods Hole Sea Grantoffsite link.
- Become a weather expert with JetStream: The online school for weather.
- Discover Your World With NOAA and Discover Your Changing World With NOAA by diving into these free activity books for educators and students!
- Learn the science of climate change with Climate.gov's Teaching Climate resources and the NOAA-funded Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN)offsite link.
- Dive into the deep ocean with ocean exploration-themed lesson plans.
- Discover how NOAA uses satellites to predict the weather with NOAA SciJinks.
Watch, listen, and learn.
- Watch educational videos on NOAA Ocean Today.
- Connect with ocean experts and explore topics from corals to coastal science with the NOAA Ocean Podcast.
- Learn more about the real-life versions of The Octonauts sea creatures and the ocean they call home in NOAA and the Octonauts, a podcast from the Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center Network.
- Delve into the archives and celebrate NOAA’s 50th anniversary with oral histories and interviews from our storied past.
- Get answers to popular student questions like, “Why don’t satellites fall out of the sky?” with educational videos from SciJinks in a Snap! or meet a GOES-R series weather satellite.
- Learn on demand with archived webinars from NOAA Planet Stewards, the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, the Coastal Ecosystem Learning Network, and Woods Hole Sea Grantoffsite link.
Make, create, and contribute.
- Participate in citizen science without leaving your home: review our volunteer opportunities for projects that can be done online, indoors, or on your smartphone.
- Submit artwork to the Marine Endangered Species Art Contest and the Stellwagen Bank Marine Art Contest. Looking for inspiration? Browse our virtual art gallery.
- Create and submitoffsite link Arctic art in conjunction with the MOSAiC expeditionoffsite link.
- Learn about how you can prevent marine debris with lessons and activities for first through 12th graders.
Bookmark NOAA’s educational websites.
- NOAA Education
- Climate.gov
- Data in the Classroom
- Estuary education
- Fisheries
- Marine Debris Program — with special resources for at-home education
- National Marine Sanctuaries — with special resources for at-home education National Ocean Service — including activities just for kids
- National Weather Service
- Ocean Exploration
- Ocean Today
- SciJinks
- Sea Grant — with special resources for at-home education
- Satellite and Information Service
- Teacher at Sea
- The Bridgeoffsite link, brought to you by NOAA Sea Grant
We will continue to update this list, so stay tuned, and most importantly, stay well.
*Note: These activities can be completed at home, but please be sure to follow the latest social-distancing and other health safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and your local health authorities.