Lesson Plan: Spotting Harmful Algal Blooms

The lesson plan and demo was developed by the North Carolina Center for Coastal Algae, People, and Environment to learners connect with local waterways, recognize harmful algal blooms, and respond safely to concerning changes. The goal is to encourage and deepend connection to local waters. on Sept 10, 2026, we released version 2. Major changes include the formatting for readability as a print out and the inlcusion of a set of a waterway and mricroscopy photoset for use with the demo. This publication was developed with funding from the National Science Foundation (OCE-2414792) and the National Institutes of Health (1P01ES035542-01). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders. This project/publication is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-ND) license, which allows for reuse and distribution, including commercial use, but does not permit adaptations or derivatives. Attribution is required.