The Artistic Oceanographer Program (AOP) was designed to engage elementary school students in ocean sciences and to illustrate basic fifth-grade science and art standards with ocean-based examples. The program combines short science lessons, hands-on observational science, and art, and focuses on phytoplankton, the tiny marine organisms that form the base of the marine food web. This article describes one of the AOP's multidisciplinary lessons that promotes ocean literacy while capturing students' interest. (Contains 1 resource and 3 online resources.)