ASE Evaluated for Blue Marine Foundation

By ASE Communications Team Monday 05 January 2026

Introduction

Blue Marine Foundation has produced an extensive suite of resources that link to primary and secondary science curriculums in the UK, USA and Australia. These include high quality, interactive experiences, PowerPoints, facilitation guides, lesson plans and learning resources. The resources are high quality with engaging graphics and provide educators with a wealth of options for developing this teaching area. The flexible resources provide educators with complete lessons or individual elements to use in their own teaching.

The Association for Science Education has carried out an evaluation on the following resources (click on the link in the contents below to jump to the resource itself or browse our resource page). The full evaluation of all the resources can be found in the PDF file accessible below:

1. The Sea We Breathe: Immersive Experience
2. The Sea We Breathe Teaching Resources: A Journey to a Healthy Ocean - Slide Deck for Teachers for 8+ Students
3. The Sea We Breathe Teaching Resources: Ocean Champion Guide for Ages 8+
4. The Sea We Breathe Teaching Resources: Journey to a Health Ocean Slide Deck for Teachers for Ages 12+
5. The Sea We Breathe Teaching Resources: Journey to a Healthy Ocean A Student Activity Journal for Ages 12+
6. Ocean Observatories: Your Portals to the Underwater World
7. Convex Seascape Survey: Climate Education

Blue Marine Foundation will be discussing these resources at our Annual Conference on Friday 9th January: Teaching climate through OCEAN with David Attenborough

Using the resources

The lesson plans are clear and easy to follow, giving timings and curriculum links. These link to PowerPoints. Learning outcomes are clearly stated, so teachers can measure progress and success. There are some nice activities to support learning, such as dominos to match up keywords and definitions, that will engage students. There is a clear purpose to the activities that develop knowledge and skills.

The PowerPoints are well designed and visually engaging with detailed content. Examples such as the interactive carbon cycle allows students to see the cycle in full, as well as revealing further details through clickable links. This interactivity supports engagement whilst avoiding cognitive overload by presenting all the information at once.

Encounter Edu also run more challenging live lessons for a narrower age bracket (12 - 18) that schools can attend. These are recorded and can be accessed on demand. These 45-minute-long sessions are a useful opportunity to directly hear from scientists and give students' academic challenge. The structure of the lessons is well considered and engaging, giving shout outs to attending schools, activities through the session, quizzes and a Q & A

Concluding remarks

Overall, the resources are thoughtfully designed, high-quality materials that support effective science teaching across a range of contexts. They combine strong curriculum alignment with engaging, immersive content that helps pupils build knowledge, develop scientific language, and apply learning in meaningful ways. Clear facilitation guidance, flexible delivery options, and well-considered scaffolding enable teachers, including those teaching out of specialism or without a science background to use the resources confidently, while interactive elements and opportunities for reflection support pupil engagement, resilience, and metacognitive development. The inclusion of diverse role models, real-world contexts, and social and environmental perspectives further strengthens the resources.

Resources Reviewed December 2025

About ASE Evaluated

ASE Evaluated’ is a recognised mark of quality assurance that indicates science education resources have been reviewed and evaluated by ASE. ASE can evaluate any type of resource including teaching guidance, lesson plans, practical activities, books and equipment.