In 2020, the Taiwan Marine Education Center (TMEC) screened lesson plans on marine protection to encourage the curricular integration of marine education. The selected examples of high-quality lesson plans are expected to provide a reference for teachers across Taiwan in the implementation of marine education courses.

    Competition participants were divided into preschool, elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school groups. After receiving the applications, the TWEC preliminarily reviewed their data and formats. Experts and marine education practicum instructors reviewed the lesson plans for accuracy, comprehensiveness, appropriateness, and feasibility. Innovation and thematic specificity were also considered. In contrast to that of general lesson plan preparation, the emphasis of the competition was on teaching practice in the classroom, and designers were required to present suggestions for the future within their lesson plans. In short, these considerations are indicative of the feasibility and reference value of the winning lesson plans.

    Many of the competition groups that formulated the winning lesson plans were composed of two or three teachers, ensuring the comprehensive delivery of educational content through cooperation. Aside from general education and art, in many of the lesson plans, marine education was incorporated into Chinese, English, and social studies curricula. In practice, some of the teachers took full advantage of the proximity of their schools to the ocean. For example, teachers at the New Taipei City Yehliu Elementary School led students to the seashore to clean up the beach and observe organisms in the intertidal zone. The activities furthered students’ understanding of marine environments and allowed them to experience ecosystems. After the courses, the teachers guided the students through a discussion of how to resolve the problems identified during field trips. Many other winning lesson plans formulated by teachers at nonseaside schools used videos, as well as news reports and briefings, to pique students’ interest and learning motivation. The course content and activities, which were separately conceived, focused on effecting changes in students’ daily habits. Marine education does not necessarily have to be implemented only in seaside schools, and the distance between schools and the ocean is not an obstacle to its promotion.

Marine Education 2020: Excerpt from the List of Winning Marine Protection Lesson Plans