1. San Diego Coastkeeper®
Teacher Resources
My name is Julie and I work for San Diego Coastkeeper. At San Diego Coastkeeper our job is to keep the ocean clean and since the ocean is such a big place, it’s a really big job! So we do a lot of different things to keep the water clean, one of which is Project SWELL which are lessons we teach students like you so you know what’s making the ocean dirty and how we can all help.
Today we’re going to be talking about a few different habitats we have in San Diego, we’re going to talk about pollution, and we’re going to take a walk outside to look for a couple things. Sound good?
Okay. So I mentioned a couple words that you may not know yet. Has anyone ever heard the word “habitat” before? Who can tell me what a habitat is?
A habitat is a home for animals, it’s where an animal lives. We have some very special habitats in San Diego because of the ocean!
Contact: Sandra J. Lebrón #125
Education Manager
San Diego Coastkeeper®

2. Tide pool
One of the habitats we have in San Diego are tide pools. Tide pools form when we have high tide and the water comes further into shore and then we have low tide and the water leaves these puddles or pools behind.
Has anyone ever seen a tide pool before or looked in a tide pool? Even though they are very small they can be a habitat or home to many different animals!
Photo by Sandra Lebron, False Point, La Jolla.
More animal pictures:

3. One of the animals you might see in a tide pool is this animal right here. Who can tell me what animal you see? Sea Star. Can you see anything else? (Point out the mussels and anemones)
Photo Sandra Lebron-Ochre Sea Stars (Pisaster ochraceous) eating mussels.
Sea stars adaptations:
Is it a fish or a sea star? Sea stars are not fish because they don’t have fins to swim, or gills to breath. Instead they have arms with feet to crawl and seawater inside the body to help them breath.
Sea stars have 5 arms, (some species have up to 10, 20, or even 40 arms). How and what do sea stars eat?
Under the arms they have hundreds of tube feet with suction cups (“suckers”) to hold on tight.
Can you find the open mussel shell? Look below the sea star (circle).
They use their tube feet to open up the mussel shells, then they pull out their stomach outside their mouth (tiny hole in the middle) and eat the mussel inside its shell. (show next slide).
Can you see more animals in this picture?
Also in this picture mussel clumps (circle).
Sea anemones (Arrow)

4. Here are at least three different anemones

5. Another habitat we have in San Diego because of the ocean is the Kelp Forest. This big plant you see in the picture is called Giant Kelp and when you have a lot of them growing in one place it is a forest. Lots of different animals like to swim around in the kelp forest including…
Giant Kelp photo downloaded April 28, 2014 from
California, Channel Islands NMS. Photographer: Claire Fackler, CINMS, NOAA. |Source=[ sanc0063] |Date= :14 |
Brown Algae. Giant Kelp, common name. Scientific name, Macrocystis pyrifera.
Giant kelp is common along the coast of the eastern Pacific Ocean, from Baja California north to southeast Alaska, and is also found in the southern oceans near South America, South Africa, and Australia.
It is the largest seaweed in the world. It could grow 150 feet long at a rate of 2 feet per day.
Habitat for more than 700 species (i.e. fishes and invertebrates).
In a study near San Diego, California (USA), maximum lifespan recorded for a Macrocystis pyrifera was about five years (Dayton et al. 1992).
At the beginning of World War I, kelp was harvested in Chula Vista for gunpowder production. The building is now the Living Coast Discovery Center (
You can find alginate, and other brown algae compounds in ice cream, salad dressing, chocolate milk, shampoo, and other edible and cosmetics products.
More info here:
Kelp Forest

6. What animal is this. A seal
What animal is this? A seal. Seals love to swim around in the kelp forest looking for food and playing with their friends.
Photo of Seal in Kelp Forest courtesy of

7. Wetland
The third habitat I want to show you is the wetland. This picture is where the San Diego River meets the ocean by dog beach in OB. Wetlands are really special because what kind of water is in the ocean? (salt water). And what kind of water is in a river? (freshwater). The wetland, unlike other habitats has both freshwater and salt water in the same place. So the animals and plants that live there are really special.
One animal you might see flying overhead in the wetland is…
Photo Sandra Lebron. San Diego River Mouth.
The wetlands are home for lots of animals.
Birds use wetlands to find food and rest. Fishes use wetlands as nurseries.
For more information about San Diego River Mouth trail birds visit:

8. Who knows the name of this bird?
This is the California Brown Pelican. They are really awesome because they’re so big and have a giant beak to catch fish!
So we’ve talked about some of the animals that we might find in these habitats, can anyone tell me the name of an ocean animal that we didn’t talk about? (the students will definitely have lots of animals to volunteer).
You guys just named a ton of different animals that live in the ocean and there are still hundreds more we didn’t even name! The ocean is the home for lots of different plants and animals and that is part of the reason it is so important that we keep it clean—so the animals that live there can have a nice safe home.
Photo by Julie Earnest, Ocean Beach Pier

9. Sometimes things get in the water that don’t belong there.
How do you think this tennis ball might have gotten into this tidepool? (take one or two responses)

10. Sometimes things like trash get in the water too.
How might this trash, this soda can, have gotten into the water?
Trash can get into the water a lot of different ways. Sometimes people put trash in the ocean on purpose, sometimes the wind blows it, sometimes people drop things. When something gets into the water that doesn’t belong, it is called pollution. Pollution is when something makes the land, air, or water dirty because it doesn’t belong there.

11. When you think about outside, there’s lots of dirty stuff out there
When you think about outside, there’s lots of dirty stuff out there. Mud, dirt, leaves, sticks, etc. Is that stuff pollution? No, because that stuff belongs outside. If that stuff gets on the ground or into the water, it will break into really tiny pieces and disappear. Things like plastic, trash, etc. doesn’t disappear like that because it isn’t natural, it isn’t from nature. So when I say pollution is when something makes the land, air, or water “dirty” it’s dirty in a special way because it isn’t natural.

12. Now I want you to use your scientific observation skills to really look at this picture. Look at all the different parts of it and then I want to hear some of the things you notice, whether it’s something you think is important, interesting, or just something you see.
**Biggest thing to make sure you cover is that Storm drains are for rain water (outside) and the water that goes through them does NOT get cleaned. The sewer system deals with water we’re using inside and it DOES get cleaned.
Now we’re going to go outside and find a storm drain.
Picture courtesy of Think Blue.
Storm Drains
What happens to the water when it rains and turn into runoff (water that runs down the street)? The water from the rain enter the storm drains and then goes straight into the ocean without being clean.
Do you see anything wrong with the picture on the left? Have you heard the word pollution? Can you give examples?
Sewer System
The water from sinks, toilets, shower goes to a place where is cleaned before is dumped into the ocean.

13. Storm Drains are for the Rain
This is what a storm drain looks like in real life. The one on the left is usually what you’ll see on the side of the road, the one on the right is most likely what we’ll find in the schoolyard.
We’re going to go outside now and look for a storm drain. (then look for and pick up pollution)
The storm drains are only for the rain.
San Diego has a separate sewer system; sewage is directed to a treatment plant via one pipe while untreated rainwater that enters the storm drains is discharged into water bodies via another.
The runoff is the number 1 threat to the water quality in San Diego County. All the trash that is left abandoned on the streets can enter the ocean through the storm drains.

14. Solutions to Pollution
Some solutions!
Pick up trash when you see it.
Throw your trash away when you have it.
Recycle, but first, reduce and reuse!
Recycled materials art projects!
Posting signs to remind people not to litter (and telling your friends).
Creating less waste by using reusable bags and water bottles.