Curated OER
Sampling the Ocean Floor
Learners sample goodies from an unseen ocean floor and try to accurately describe their composition. This simulation helps students explain the limitations of sampling and the problem of obtaining representative samples of sea floor...
NOAA
Sediments
Calcareous ooze ... what an interesting name! The 15th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on sediments found on the ocean floor. After viewing the slideshow lecture,...
Curated OER
The Ocean Floor
Fifth graders discuss the process of sedimentation and the continental drift theory. They locate major structures on the ocean floor and they identify life forms at each level of the ocean.
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...
NOAA
Ocean Geologic Features
Sediment samples from the ocean bottoms tell scientists about climate change, pollution, and changes in erosion for the area. Groups of learners focus on sediments and their movement through water. During a hands-on activity, they...
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
Oceans Socratic Questioning
High schoolers participate in a whole class discussion of ocean-floor structures and plate tectonics. They respond to prompts in a structured sequence that lead them to conclusions about the role of plate tectonics in the creation of...
NOAA
Currents
A deep ocean current circles the globe at a force that is greater than 16 times all the world's rivers combined. Groups analyze the effects of submarine topography on deep ocean current speed. They then determine how this speed affects...
Curated OER
Entering the Twilight Zone
Students describe major features of cold-seep communities and the process of chemosynthesis as it relates to organisms in each habitat. In this deep-sea habitats instructional activity, students study the categorization of ocean...
Curated OER
Sedimentation
Students are introduced to the various types of sedimentation. In groups, they define the term and research what causes it to happen. They compare and contrast the different types of sedimentation and research how it occurs off of Cape...
Curated OER
Deep Sea Drilling
Students explore ocean vessels that drill the ocean floor. In this ocean drilling lesson, students watch videos about drilling the ocean floor and discuss. Students get into groups, go outside and use string to mark off the amount of...
Curated OER
Deep Sea Vents
Learners study the vent and non vent deep sea and see the differences in habitats. In this investigative lesson students complete a worksheet and work in groups.
Curated OER
Winds Over Land vs. Ocean
Students explore friction and the way it impacts wind over the ocean compared to over land.
Curated OER
Diatom Ooze
High schoolers explore seafloor sediment. In this ocean environment lesson plan, students describe the characteristics of different types of seafloor sediment and oozes. They compare and discuss locations of sediments and oozes by...
Curated OER
Entering The Twilight Zone
In this lesson sixth grade young scholars get into groups and research a given ocean habitat. The major features of cold-seep communities are the objective but plenty information is given about other habitats which could be assigned to...
Curated OER
Sea Secrets
Students study the following: For centuries, people have been challenged by the mysteries that lie beneath the blue depths of our ocean planet. Very little was known about the ocean until late in the nineteenth century, although nearly...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: Recycling the Seafloor
Students classify earth's layers and plates using Ocean Seismicity data. In this plate tectonics lesson, students outline where the plate boundaries are on the world map. They then compare these predicted boundaries with USGS map of the...
Curated OER
The Rocks Under Illinois
The goal of this fine geology lesson is to have learners create a map that shows how the rock layers are arranged far underground where they can't be seen. The ambitious lesson plan requires high schoolers to learn the law of...
Curated OER
A Bit of Engineering
Students discuss the drilling process. In this engineering lesson plan, students get into small groups and drill their own core samples in a sandwich using a plastic tubing, a jumbo straw, a slim straw and a offee stirrer predicting...
Curated OER
This Old Tubeworm
Students plot data to construct and interpret a graph about vestimentiferans at cold-seep sites in the Gulf of Mexico. In this deep sea lesson, students plot data provided for the growth of tubeworms. They use the graphs to determine...
Curated OER
Reading Maps of the East Pacific Rise
Young scholars make qualitative and quantitative observations and use various maps to investigate the features of the East Pacific Rise The study actual bathymetric maps of the EPR region. They identify key features of the ridge and...
Curated OER
Island formation
Students explain what an island is, and distinguish islands from similar landforms. They compare and contrast the different ways in which islands are formed.
Curated OER
Monsters of the Deep
Students describe major features of cold seep communities and list the organisms that are typical in these communities. In this deep sea environment lesson students work in groups and research their given cold seep group.
Curated OER
One Tough Worm
Young scholars explain the process of chemosynthesis and its relevance to biological communities. In this investigative lesson students discuss chemosynthetic communities, then in groups they are assigned a species and are to calculate...