Sea Turtle Unit (4 Lessons)
Unit Title & Subject Area – Sea Turtles
State Standard – Science
Grade Level – Mid-Late Elementary
Unit Rationale – The rationale behind the three units provided is for children to learn
about ocean issues through the use of sea turtles as flagship species.
Goals & Objectives
 Species & Distribution: The goal is for students to learn and be able to identify
each species based on color, key features, and diet preference.
 Life Cycle: The goal is for students to become familiar with the life cycle of a sea
turtle and to begin thinking about the threats they could potentially face in each
stage of life.
 Human-induced Threats: The goal is for students to become aware of
anthropogenic threats sea turtles are faced with and identify actions they can
pursue to mitigate those threats.
 Working with Coastal Communities in Brazil: The goal of this unit is for students
to begin to understand the sea turtle conservation in a specific context using
Brazil as a case study. Students will learn about cultural programs that integrate
coastal communities and sea turtle conservation and think critically about how
they would integrate their local communities in marine conservation.
Instructional Procedures
 Species & Distribution:
o PowerPoint: The notes provided within the PowerPoint guide instructors
to teach students about all seven species (types) of sea turtles including
their colors, special characteristics, and diet.
o Activity: Students should be divided into seven groups and assigned a
species to color (See coloring book pages here:
http://www.widecast.org/Resources/Docs/Srodes_2010_TurtleTalks_EN
G.pdf). In addition, the instructor should provide/have students create
images/props (i.e. sponges, jellyfish from construction paper, etc.)
depicting the variety of diet items for all species and have students match
up their assigned species with the diet items.
 Life Cycle:
o PowerPoint: The notes provided within the PowerPoint guide instructors
to teach students about the life cycle of a sea turtle. Instructors should
emphasize the variety of environments (oceanic, near shore, coastal) that


sea turtles inhabit throughout their lives. This can allow students to think
about the interconnectivity of the species with other parts of the world.
o Activity: The instructor can lead a brief and informal discussion asking
students what is the ‘hardest part of being a sea turtle’ (i.e. threats).
Most students will focus on natural predators such as sharks; the
instructor should break down their thoughts into the variety of
environments. In the next lesson, students will learn about concrete
examples of human-induced threats and think about how they can help
mitigate these threats.
Human-induced Threats
o PowerPoint: The notes provided within the PowerPoint guide instructors
to teach students about human-induced threats to sea turtles. The
threats are filed under five broad categories.
o Activity: Instructors can create ‘sea turtle eggs’ using white construction
paper and have students think about how they can help mitigate threats
to sea turtles. Students can write their ideas inside the egg and tape
them to a wall. The instructor can then go through each one with the
class and place them under one of the five categories described in the
PowerPoint presentation. This will reiterate the lesson and students will
be able to learn from their peers.
o Field trip activity: Organize a beach clean up. If the lesson is taught in
September or October it could coincide with the Ocean Conservancy’s
Coastal Cleanup. See http://www.oceanconservancy.org/ourwork/marine-debris/international-coastal-cleanup-6.html for more
information.
Working with Coastal Communities in Brazil
o PowerPoint: The notes provided within the PowerPoint guide instructors
to teach students about sea turtles in Brazil, the threats they face, and
the communities who care and work to preserve these species.
o Activity: The instructor will divide the class into several groups. Each
group will be asked to design an activity (i.e. dance, song, poem, afterschool program, radio show, tv show, etc.) that they would use to get
their local community thinking about sea turtle conservation.
List of Materials – Internet, copier/printer, crayons/markers, tape, ability to project
PowerPoint presentations
List of Sources
Ackerman, R. A. (1997). The Nest Environment and Embryonic Development of Sea
Turtles. In P. L. Lutz & J. A. Musick (Eds.), The Biology of Sea Turtles: CRC Press.
Bjorndal, K. A., Bolten, A. B., & Lagueux, C. J. (1994). Ingestion of marine debris by
juvenile sea turtles in costal Florida habitats. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 28(3),
154-158.
Bugoni, L., Krause, L., & Petry, M. V. (2001). Maine Debris and Human Impacts of Sea
Turtles in Southern Brazil. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 42(12), 1330-1334.
Bowen, B. W., & Karl, S. A. (2007). Population genetics and phylogeography of sea
turtles. [Invited Review]. Molecular Ecology, 16, 4886-4907.
Campbell, L. (2003). Contemporary Culture, Use, and Conservation of Sea Turtles The
Biology of Sea Turtles, Volume II (pp. 307-338): CRC Press.
Hawkes, L. A., Broderick, A. C., Godfrey, M. H., & Godley, B. J. (2009). Climate change
and marine turtles. Endangered Species Research, 7, 137-154.
International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved May 2012, from
<www.iucn.org>
IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group. Retrieved May 2012, from
<http://iucn-mtsg.org/about-turtles/hazards>
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. Retrieved May 2012, from
<http://www.iucnredlist.org>
Lohmann, K. J., Witherington, B. E., Lohmann, C. M. F., & Salmon, M. (1997). Orientation,
Navigation, and Natal Beach Homing in Sea Turtles. In P. L. Lutz & J. A. Musick
(Eds.), The Biology of Sea Turtles: CRC Press.
Marcovaldi, M. Â., G.G. dei Marcovaldi. 1999. Marine turtles of Brazil: the history and
structure of Projeto TAMAR–IBAMA. Biological Conservation 91:35–41
Marcovaldi, M.Â., V. Patri, J.C. Thomé. 2005. Projeto TAMAR-IBAMA: Twenty-five years
protecting Brazilian sea turtles through a community-based conservation
programme. MAST 3: 39–62
Marcovaldi, M. A., & Thome, J. C. A. (1999). Reducing Threats to Sea Turtles. In K. L.
Eckert, K. A. Bjorndal, F. A. Abreu-Grobois & M. Donnelly (Eds.), Research and
Management Techniques for the Conservation of Sea Turtles (Vol. 4, pp. 165168): IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group / SSC.
Meylan, A. B., & Meylan, P. A. (1999). Introduction to the Evolution, Life History, and
Biology of Sea Turtles. In K. L. Eckert, K. A. Bjorndal, F. A. Abreu-Grobois & M.
Donnelly (Eds.), Research and Management Techniques for the Conservation of
Sea Turtles (Vol. 4, pp. 3-5).
Srodes, Zander. “Turtle Talks Activity Book.”
The State of the World's Sea Turtles. Retrieved May 2012, from
<www.seaturtlestatus.org>
The State of the World's Sea Turtles Report, Volumes I-VII. 2005-2012.
Wallace, B. P., Heppell, S. S., Lewison, R. L., Kelez, S., & Crowder, L. B. (2008). Impacts of
fisheries bycatch on loggerhead turtles worldwide inferred from reproductive
value analyses. Journal of Applied Ecology, 45, 1076-1085.
Wallace, B. P., R. L. Lewison, S. L. McDonald, R. K. McDonald, C. Y. Kot, S. Kelez, R. K.
Bjorkland, E. M. Finkbeiner, S. Helmbrecht, and L. B. Crowder. "Global Patterns
of Marine Turtle Bycatch." Conservation Letters 3, no. 3 (2010): 131-42.
Wibbels, T. (2003). Critical Approaches to Sex Determination in Sea Turtles. In P. L. Lutz,
J. A. Musick & J. Wyneken (Eds.), The Biology of Sea Turtles Volume II (Vol. II):
CRC Press.