Order a Copy   |  Standards Alignment   |  Download the PDFs   |  Spanish Supplement
Upcoming Educator Workshops   |  Extensions & Resources   |  Errata

The California Coastal Commission's Science Activity Guide Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds is a classroom and community activity guide for teachers that addresses issues such as endangered species, marine debris, coastal geology, water use, and much more. It is carefully aligned to the California State Science Content Standards for grades 3 through 8, and includes “Community Action” lessons adaptable for all ages up to and beyond 12th grade. The guide is available to California educators for free from the California Coastal Commission, or it can be downloaded as a PDF. Order a free copy of Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds. Standards Within Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds, the applicable State Content Standards are clearly stated next to each activity. A matrix of the standards addressed in each activity is available as a downloadable PDF document, or by request. (To view the PDFs, you must have Adobe Acrobat. For information on how to download this free software, click here.) •  3rd Grade Standards Alignment •  4th Grade Standards Alignment •  5th Grade Standards Alignment •  6th Grade Standards Alignment •  7th Grade Standards Alignment •  8th Grade Standards Alignment PDF Format Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds is available in PDF format. You may download the entire document, or download it by chapter. PDFs will open in an new window. Please note: Due to copyright agreements, three activities are not available in the PDFs below. Entire Guide (6.64 MB) Title Page, Table of Contents, Foreword (189 KB) Introduction and Orientation (77 KB) 3rd Grade Activities (1.69 MB) 4th Grade Activities (783 KB) 5th Grade Activities (1.06 MB) 6th Grade Activities (799 KB) 7th Grade Activities (1.09 MB) 8th Grade Activities (796 KB) Community Action Activities (936 KB) Appendices (190 KB) Spanish Supplement A supplement containing Spanish translations of the student handouts in Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds is now available in PDF format. •   Spanish Language Student Handouts (1.7MB) Upcoming Workshops for Educators If you would like to participate in an orientation workshop for Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds, please send an e-mail to afrankel@coastal.ca.gov which includes your contact information, as well as the name of your school or program and the grade level that you teach. If you would like to volunteer your location (e.g. school, museum, visitor center) for a workshop, please use the same contact.   Future workshops will be announced here. Since 2003, workshops have been held in Alameda, Alhambra, Auburn, Berkeley, Cambria, Castroville, Chula Vista, Eureka, Fremont, Huntington Beach, Loleta, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Marina, Newport Beach, Oakland, Pescadero, Riverside, Roseville, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, San Rafael, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Seaside, Stockton, Tustin, and Van Nuys. Extensions and Resources Take part in Coastal Cleanup Day. Adopt a Beach. Check out our "For Youth" page for web-based activities. Browse the Marine, Coastal & Watershed Resource Directory for educational resources and for volunteer and internship opportunities. Visit our "How Can I Help?" web page. Take the Coastal Stewardship Pledge. Download a Black-footed Albatross supplement to Waves focusing on this bird's life history, satellite tracking, lab-based scientific investigations and plastic pollution prevention. This supplement for grades 8 through 12 was developed by Oikonos-Ecosystem Knowledge. Download a four-page primer on coastal bluff erosion, containing informative diagrams and vocabulary for further investigation into coastal processes. For advanced students, use a webpage of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coastal Services Center to investigate three alternatives for developing a coastal site. The scenarios presented allow students to explore the specifics of each development plan and to consider the environmental and economic consequences of the choices. For advanced students, download a factsheet from the California Water and Land Use Partnership to learn how urbanization affects the water cycle. Share your comments about Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds. Errata A page of corrections and updates (in PDF) for Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds is now available. This errata sheet should be used for the books with a black wire binding, copyright 2003.