Gazing from shore at the gently swaying surface of a kelp forest canopy, it's difficult to imagine the activity below. But from holdfast to blade this algal forest is home to bizarre invertebrates and fish of every imaginable color, size, and form. It's also the unique home of the endangered, yet recovering, sea otter.

At MARE's request, naturalist Robin Milton Love wrote this accessible background essay on the natural history of the Kelp Forest.

MARE's Teacher Background for the Kelp Forest. .pdf

You can now search for Habitat specific web links through the Resource Materials search. Click on "Resource Materials" in the right-hand menu.

To find general web links about ocean sciences, to the Leader section of the MARE web site.

The 4th grade MARE curriculum includes themes of Light and Color Underwater, Fish Adaptations, Sea Otters, Seaweed, and Human Uses of Seaweed.

Contribute your ideas and ask questions of other people teaching about the Kelp Forest. New features of this website and professional development opportunities will also be shared on this e-mail list.

More information about MARE e-mail lists.

Mrs. McGibbon's fourth grade at Grant Elementary in Eureka, CA transforms their classroom into a kelp forest!

Whether you visit a real or a virtual kelp forest, balance the need to identify what your students see with the need to observe it. Help them get more out of seeing an organism than just its name!