Educator Resources

Permission is hereby granted for the reproduction, without alteration, of the activities below on the condition that proper attribution is given to the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve as the source.

Lesson Plans

• A House for a Hermit Crab (grades PreK-4)
• Life in a Fishbowl (grades PreK-4)
• Ocean Movements (grades K-3)
• Water Babies (grades 1-4)
• Exploring the Estuary (grades 1-5)
• Fish Forms (grades 2-6)
• Growing Oysters (grades 2-8)
• Salt Marsh Players (grades 3-6)
• Water, Water Everywhere (grades 3-5)
• The Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System: Birds & Habitats (grades 3-5)
• Funky Food Chains (grades 3-5)
• Cool Crabs (grades 4-8)
• ECO-logical: A Coastal Logic Problem (grades 4-8)
• Estuary Keeper (grades 4-10)
• Marsh Mystery Water (grades 4-12)
• Fishing for Red Drum (grades 5-8)
• Fiddle Facts (grades 5-12)
• Tides of Time (grades 6-12)
• Shore Profiles (grades 8-12)
• Examining a Fish Kill (grades 4-8)

Word search activity 

• Lower elementary

Waters of Life Video

Aquakids TV episode: The Aquakids Visit the Rachel Carson Reserve

Estuary Activity Book

Estuaries: Where Rivers Meet the Sea Coloring Book

Field Guide

A field guide to the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve and other sites of the North Carolina Coastal Reserve:

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The North Carolina Coast
• Chapter 2: Sites of the Coastal Reserve
• Chapter 3: Habitats of the Estuarine Reserve
• Chapter 4: Flora and Fauna