Scientists study sea ice extent closely because it influences global climate. Follow the decline in Arctic sea ice in this animation adapted from NASA showing the yearly maximum and minimum sea ice extents from 1999 to 2016. Resources...

Click on all the links to find out many interesting facts about the ocean. Why is the ocean blue? Why is it salty? Where do most of the animals and plants live? Which ocean is the biggest? The deepest? How much of the Earth is covered by...

This polar expedition to study the Arctic seafloor took place in 2007, but you can still enjoy following the footsteps of these scientists. The goal of the expedition was to see if there were active hydrothermal vents on the ocean...

An interactive map of the world's oceans allows you to access profiles for each of the four oceans.

Map of the Arctic Ocean region.

Learn what a narwhal is and how climate change may be challenging their existence. Make a poster that demonstrates your understanding.

A lab experiment in a series of experiments that investigates climate and the cryosphere. In this particular lab, students explore how sea ice forms, how sea ice thickness changes over time, and how sea ice can affect ocean currents...

Easy data tables compare the ocean depth of the four oceans, list the deepest point in each ocean, and list how much of different elements are contained in the oceans.

This site provides a very brief overview of the orca or "killer whale."

The planet Earth has more ocean than land, so oceanographers have a lot to work with! Whether they study marine biology, tides, engineering, or water quality, there is always more to learn about the ocean and the life within it. While...

Entry about eighteenth-century explorer Samuel Hearne, from a larger exhibition about the search for a passage to the Orient through Canada. Hearne is credited with surveying the Coppermine River and with being the first European to view...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Find a variety of activities for children to do as they learn to identify varying habitats and biomes. Included are links to an even more extensive list of resources under coral reef, desert, grassland,...

Polar sea ice, its seasonal variability, and the impact of a changing climate are investigated in this activity. Young scholars will also explore the differences between polar regions that result from Antarctica being a continent and the...

These interactive games allow young children to explore the jungle, the oceans and the arctic regions. Children can look for animals in that area of the world.

Flip over this interactive OLogy card and start learning bite-size pieces of useful information about the marine life that lives in polar-sea regions.

One of the ships the United States has stationed in Antarctica is heading to warmer waters for intense cleaning.

The polar bear is native to the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas. Use this resource to discover other unique facts about the largest carnivore found on land.

Learn about the world's five great oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic on this site.

Learn about the five oceans of the Earth, life in the oceans, and why oceans are salty.

Identify the world's oceans through this interactive quiz.

Use this site if you want to find ideas, lessons and activities related to penguins.

This interactive activity, adapted from material provided by the ECHO partners, explores the history of whaling in the Arctic seas and Atlantic Ocean, introducing a landmark study of whale populations spanning from 1849 to 1914.

A sketch map from 1903 of the Russian islands of Nova Zembla (Novaya Zemlya) in the Arctic Ocean. Nova Zembla is an archipelago separated from the continent by the Kara Strait, with the two main islands, the northern Barents Land...

A map from 1920 of the Murman (Murmansk) Coast and Archangel (Arkhangelsk) during World War I. The map covers the area from the Kola Peninsula on the Arctic Ocean south to Petrograd (St. Petersburg), Yaroslavl, and Viatka. The map shows...