Ocean literacy is the understanding of our relationship with the ocean and the crucial services that the ocean provides to society and other living organisms (Cava et al., 2005). In 2004, a number of ocean science and educational communities adopted seven essential ocean literacy principles1 (Cava et al., 2005). These principles were further broken down into concepts, which were designed to teach science standards using an ocean orientation. Most state science standards do not specifically address these ocean principles but they have been categorized according to the National Science Educational Standards by discipline and overlap with the other traditional science disciplines. Hoffman and Barstow (2007) noted that no state addresses more than 20 of the 35 fundamental ocean concepts. Ten of the 35 concepts that were more biology focused were not included in their study. They also noted that more research needs to be conducted to evaluate whether students learn core science concepts and process skills using ocean literacy as the primary curriculum.

Adams, L.G., and G. Matsumoto. 2009. Enhancing ocean literacy using real-time data. Oceanography 22(2):12–13, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2009.55.

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