NMEA is excited to feature multiple opportunities at the 2026 National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) National Conference in Anaheim, California!
Our Marine Education Pathway will offer a curated series of presentations designed to highlight innovative approaches in ocean and aquatic science education. The ever-popular Whale of a Share-a-Thon will showcase NMEA members and chapters sharing engaging lessons, hands-on activities, and classroom-ready resources with hundreds of educators right on the exhibit floor. And you can also find NMEA in the Exhibit Hall all week, where we’ll be connecting with participants, sharing resources, and spreading the word about NMEA and ocean literacy.
Themed “Growing Together: Collective Insights for Lifelong Learning,” NSTA 2026 will bring together educators from across the country for four days of collaboration, inspiration, and professional growth. Be sure to make NMEA part of your conference experience!
NMEA Whale of a Share-a-Thon
Friday, April 17 | 2:00–4:00 PM
Make time to stop by NMEA’s Whale of a Share-a-Thon in the NSTA exhibit hall and discover a vibrant collection of hands-on activities, classroom-ready lessons, and take-home resources created by NMEA members and chapters from across the country.
Throughout the Share-a-Thon, educators will find interactive tables featuring ocean and aquatic science ideas that are practical, engaging, and easy to bring back to classrooms, museums, aquariums, and informal learning settings. It’s a great place to explore new approaches, ask questions, and connect directly with educators who are passionate about marine and freshwater education.
Whether you’re looking for fresh lesson ideas, innovative outreach tools, or inspiration for integrating ocean literacy into your teaching, the Share-a-Thon is a must-visit destination during NSTA. Stop by, explore, and leave with ideas you can use right away!
NMEA Marine Education Pathway
Friday, April 17 | 8:00–11:40 AM | Room 212A
Join us for a specially curated Marine Education Pathway at NSTA 2026! This focused block of programming brings together three hand-selected presentations designed to deepen your understanding of ocean and aquatic science education.
Pathways are curated tracks that help you maximize your conference experience by highlighting sessions connected to a specific theme. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, informal educator, or researcher, this pathway offers fresh ideas and practical strategies to bring marine science to life for your learners.
8:00 AM
Explore the WHOI Ocean Learning Hub and experience underwater waterfalls
Grace Simpkins, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) website has a wealth of ocean resources but was previously difficult to search and use. We cataloged the content based on alignment with NGSS and Ocean Literacy Principles as well as topic and type of media and created a searchable database. This “Ocean Learning Hub” is now a searchable database that provides easy and fast access to the content as well as a bookmarking system so you can collate your resources for future reference. We will walk you through this updated website as well as provide an overview and demonstration of one of our available lesson plans developed with a WHOI researcher that explores ocean currents and specifically “underwater waterfalls”, i.e., overflows in the North Atlantic. I will share editable slides that include a quiz, instructions for a hands-on experiment, and two videos. The slides are annotated with teacher notes to help with narration, background information, and conduction of the experiment.
9:20 AM
Global Ocean Biogeochemical Profiling Floats (GO-BGC) and the data that they provide (with a focus on your coastline)
Jennifer Magnusson, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
George Matsumoto, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
The Global Ocean Biogeochemical Array (https://www.go-bgc.org/) provides researchers and educators access to over 400 floats that are profiling the water column from 2000 meters to the surface collecting biogeochemical data (pH, oxygen, temperature, nitrate, CO2, fluorescence, Chl, and salinity). Educators also have the option to adopt a float (https://www.go-bgc.org/outreach/adopt-a-float) providing a sense of ownership and pride in the float and the data being gathered. Tutorials and lesson plans are available on the website but this presentation will demonstrate and enable educators to see how easy it is to access the data. Lesson plans are linked with both the Ocean Literacy Principles and the Next Generation Science Standards.
10:40 AM
Finding New Deep Sea Habitats
David Christopher, Delaware Sea Grant College Program
Tami Lunsford, Newark Charter School
Through hands-on investigations and activities developed by NOAA Ocean Exploration, participants will experience how students can think and work like ocean scientists. Educators will engage in lessons that use mapping technology, water column investigations, and underwater robotics to gather and analyze data, revealing the patterns scientists use to locate hydrothermal vents. These classroom-ready experiences show how students, no matter where they live, can explore the ocean and contribute to understanding new habitats and species. The session will also highlight a recent real-world example from researchers and educators at the University of Delaware and collaborators aboard the R/V Atlantis, who captured the first-ever observations of an underwater volcanic eruption in progress.
Highlight Your Session!
Are you presenting at NSTA 2026? If your session features marine or aquatic science resources, we’d love to help amplify your work! Send us the details of your session, and NMEA will include it in our highlights so other attendees can find and support your presentation.
Please remember that all session proposals must be submitted directly to NSTA by October 7, 2025 at 11:59 PM ET. Once your session has been accepted, share the details with us so we can help spread the word. You can find the NMEA session sharing form in the Forms tab in the NMEA Member Portal.