United Nations (UN, 2005) state that “education in addition to being a human right, is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development and an essential tool for good governance, informed decision-making and the promotion of democracy. Therefore, education for sustainable development strengthens the capacity of individuals to make judgments and choices in favour of sustainable development” (in Zografakis et al., 2008). However, global change education in South Africa, and in particular the role that the oceans play along with the effects on the marine ecosystems, has been acknowledged but not viewed as very urgent and therefore not adequately addressed. This may be a due to other imperatives (job creation, poverty alleviation, environmental security, i.e. housing, food security and the AIDS pandemic) taking precedence when juxtaposed against global change. Another plausible explanation for the lethargy in driving global change education may be because what has been communicated thus far has been fragmented, vague and biased and hence not readily accepted. This could stem from the fact that the debate around global change and its effects are controversial, amorphous in nature, evolving and lacks scientific consensus. Hence the translation and communication of global change science into global change education has been slow, uncertain and plagued with misconceptions. A classic example of a misconception is when learners at the annual Grahamstown Science festival are asked, “What is global warming?” Their response is that it is the “hole in the ozone layer” that is causing the average temperatures to increase – hence global warming. Another example is “What will be effect of global change be on the oceans?” Their response is very often – “not much, the sea will just absorb the coolness from the melting ice and the marine life will not be affected”. Clearly then the current global change education being passed on to learners is inaccurate, inadequate and thus would have no result in terms of awareness let alone behaviour changes. This paper aims to assess the knowledge and attitude of learners (Grades 9-11) on the marine environments, global change and how these two factors interact and react and identify the gaps in the current school curriculum. Then the study will consolidate scientifically sound information on global change and the marine ecosystems and make recommendations for the inclusion into the South African natural sciences school curriculum and the teaching syllabus.