Ocean Exploration & Protection | Scientific Debate Set | Middle / High School

Studying ocean exploration and protection in middle and high school science helps students understand marine ecosystems, climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and why healthy oceans are vital for life on Earth. A structured debate resource on ocean exploration and protection lets students engage with real world questions about deep sea mining, overfishing, plastic waste, marine reserves, and funding for research in a focused, evidence based way.

With clear general debate guidelines and a suggested schedule, subject specific debate questions, one page primers to support students, a key vocabulary sheet, key evidence cards with short facts and sources, debate roles explained, sentence starters and topic specific sentence starters, graphic organizer templates, and a reflection sheet for after the debate, this ocean science debate pack turns complex environmental issues into organized, student friendly learning.

THIS OCEAN EXPLORATION & PROTECTION DEBATE SET CAN BE USED IN SO MANY WAYS:

• To extend students
• To increase scientific literacy and scientific argumentation (science related speechcraft + logical reasoning) in your class
• A entry point to a unit on this topic
• Great as a lesson filler when class goes too fast
• An exit point to a unit on this topic - for effective review
• Use a sub-topic to focus on a specific part of the unit you are covering

WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THIS OCEAN EXPLORATION & PROTECTION DEBATE SET:

• 1 Set of 15 page Google Slides, Powerpoint & PDF format of materials which contains:
• General debate guidelines + suggested schedule
• 15 proposed subject specific debate questions (on Exploration vs. Cost, Protection & Marine Reserves, Deep-sea Mining & Industry, Pollution & Plastics, Who Decides?)
• 3 one page primers (neutral in tone) on Why explore the ocean?, Marine protected areas and the 30 x 30 goal, Deep-sea mining and ocean industries.
• 1 page general neutral tone primer on this broader topic
• Key vocabulary with student friendly definitions
• A set of 12 short evidence cards for potential student use (1 fact + source)
• Explanation of debate roles
• Sentence starters for effective debate language + Sentence starters specifically on this subject.
• 3 graphic organizers (T-chart (for vs. against), Stakeholders (benefits / risks) & Claim-Evidence-Reasoning template
• 1 page reflection sheet for after the debate
• The 3 graphic organizers in Google Doc & Microsoft Word format with fillable text books for digital use (T-chart (for vs. against), Stakeholders (benefits / risks) & Claim-Evidence-Reasoning template. These Doc versions are images with editable text boxes overlayed on top and this is the most effective way to keep things sleek and well-designed.
• 12 slide evidence cards for printing in Google Slides, Powerpoint, PDF format
• A 24 point rubric for assessment and to support marking and feedback on this activity