Whether you're on vacation by the coast or back at school hundreds of miles inland, every day you probably eat foods and use health products made with organisms from the ocean, especially seaweed. Seaweed isn't really a weed, but a kind of ocean algae that helps food and cosmetic scientists create smoothness in things like ice cream, salad dressing, chocolate milk, toothpaste, and skin moisturizer.
Ocean algae known as kelp grows very large. The SMILE activity Is there kelp in your cupboard? takes learners on a kelp treasure hunt. Try it at home or in a supermarket, and you'll be amazed at how many products you find that have algae mixed in.
Then take a look at which Kelp Critters depend on big algae in the ocean for their survival.