NOAA
A Watery World
With about 70% of the earth's surface covered in oceans, it's fair to say that we live in a very wet world. Young scientists gain a better appreciation of this fact as they use maps to identify the world's ocean basins in the first...
University of Southern California
What Is The Ocean?
Go on a tour of the ocean through the lens of a scientist. Learners read maps of the ocean floor, study tide behavior, examine wave motion, and analyze components of soil. Each lesson incorporates a hands-on component.
Curated OER
The Ocean Floor
Practice reading comprehension by approaching oceanography through 2 pages of informational text. The text compares the ocean floor to the Grand Canyon to gives students perspective, and gives a brief coverage of the earth's crust and...
NOAA
Ocean Zones
How can organisms light up in water? Bioluminescence is light produced in a chemical reaction that can occur in an organism's body. First, learners determine what happens to light/color as you move into the deep ocean. In groups, they...
Curated OER
Where Did They Come From?
Give science learners nine questions about the biogeography of hydrothermal vents and turn them loose to research this fascinating habitat. Working in cooperative groups, they prepare a report that addresses each of the questions. A...
Curated OER
Rubber Duckies and Ocean Currents
Students explore marine life by conducting a rubber duck experiment. In this water currents lesson plan, students practice identifying latitude and longitude coordinates on a map and define the currents of major oceans. Students discuss...
Curated OER
The Oceans, Waves, Tides & Currents
Your introductory lesson to oceanography can be outlined with this apropos presentation. It touches on the physical features of the ocean floor, waves, tides, and currents. One small issue is that some of the graphics are not of the...
NOAA
Into the Deep
Take young scientists into the depths of the world's ocean with the second lesson of this three-part earth science series. After first drawing pictures representing how they imagine the bottom of the ocean to appear, students investigate...
Curated OER
What Lives in the Open Ocean and Where Do They Live?
Students explore oceanography by participating in a flash card activity. In this ocean inhabitant lesson, students define a list of ocean related vocabulary terms and answer ocean geography study questions. Students utilize organism...
Curated OER
Ocean Water
In this ocean water worksheet, students use 6 given terms related to ocean water, early Earth and ocean components to complete the sentences. They also answer 4 questions about seawater, the effects of volcanoes on oceans and ocean life.
Curated OER
The Ocean Floor - Science
Learners draw a quick plan of an ocean floor as seen from the side; including the edge of a continent, a continental shelf, a continental slope, a basin, a trench, and a range. They require their definitions to do this.
Curated OER
Plotting the Ocean Floor
Fourth graders plot points on a graph, connect the dots to make the ocean floor profile and label the topographical features. They utilize a worksheet and a website imbedded in this plan to plot the ocean floor.
Curated OER
Ocean Floor Properties and Near Shore Environments
High schoolers explore and model the characteristics of the ocean floor and near shore environments through in-class demonstrations, laboratory activities, and internet research. They use classroom materials to research the...
Curated OER
Atlantic Basin Hurricane Tracking Chart
For this science worksheet, students look for the location of various storms that develop in the Atlantic Ocean with this hurricane tracking map.
Curated OER
Life in the Crystal Palace
Marine biologists research sea ice communities. Assign some groups to construct paper models of sea ice communities in winter, and some to construct models of them in summer. The lesson is simplistic, but the Internet resources provided...
Curated OER
Structure of Earth
Seventh graders study and make a model of the significant formations of the ocean floor. They examine images and illustration and apply their imagination while creating the model. They are challenged to complete further research as an...
Curated OER
Polar Bear Panic!
Students identify the three realms of the Arctic Ocean, and describe the relationships between these realms. They graphically analyze data on sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, and recognize a trend in these data.
Curated OER
The Ocean Floor -- Science
Pupils work together to create a model of the ocean floor. They practice using new vocabulary associated with the ocean floor as well. They share their model with the class.
Curated OER
The Great Ocean Conveyor
Students investigate water density. In this water density lesson, students conduct an experiment with food coloring, water and salt to see how the salt effects bodies of water.
Curated OER
Bathymetry
Students study the topography of the ocean floor and the geological processes of how it is formed. They summarize what bathymetry, describe how islands are formed and illustrate a bathymetric model of the sea floor.
Curated OER
Getting to the Bottom
Young scholars identify taxa in Arctic benthic communities. They discover organisms that live in these Arctic areas. They analyze data compiled for the Canada Basin Benthic Samples, 2002.
NOAA
The Biggest Plates on Earth
The deepest part of the ocean is the Marianas trench where two tectonic plates meet. Scholars explore plate tectonics and their boundary types by completing hands-on activities throughout the lesson. Specific areas, such as the Galapagos...
Curated OER
Hydrothermal Vent Challenge
Give our ocean voyagers the "Hydrothermal Vent Challenge!" It is a worksheet that guides them through an exploration of hydrothermal vents and the chemical reactions that occur when lava meets seawater. Using a collection of websites,...
Global Oneness Project
Highways and Change
What is the cost of change? Roberto Guerra's photo essay "La Carretera: Life and Change Along Peru's Interoceanic Highway" asks viewers to consider the impacts of the 1,600 mile-long highway through Peru and Brazil that connects Pacific...