Curated OER
Unit 5 - Food
Students study the biodiversity existing in the Amazon rainforest. In this Amazon biodiversity lesson, students study diagrams, maps, and information about the biodiversity in the Amazon.
Curated OER
Estuaries, Estuarine Habitats, and Adaptations
Students conduct research on estuaries. They design and construct an estuary, describe the physical characteristics of an estuary, and create a diagram illustrating an estuarine food web.
Curated OER
Lesson #6: Sea Surface Temperature and Coral Bleaching
Fifth graders examine the concept of coral bleaching and sea surface temperature. They view a teacher demonstration, interpret sea surface temperature data, explore a website, and complete worksheets.
Curated OER
Saltwater Science
Students conduct an experiment that shows them how salt water allows things to float. In this salt water lesson plan, students mix ingredients together to create salt water and observe how it makes the oceans dense. They then interpret...
Curated OER
Observing Brine Shrimp
Students observe brine shrimp eggs, create an appropriate environment for their survival, and observe their growth.
Curated OER
Telemetry
In this telemetry instructional activity, students will read about how telemetry works and the different ways that scientist use telemetry to gather data. Students complete 2 short answer questions based on the reading.
Curated OER
Jeannette
Middle schoolers develop hypothesis about what might happen when salt water is frozen. In groups, they freeze ice samples with different salt concentrations. They use the internet to research the situation of the Jeannette to discover...
US Navy
Office of Naval Research: Ocean Water
This highly informative site delves into salinity, pressure, density, temperature acoustics, and optics associated with ocean water. A quick quiz follows the information presented.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Ocean Water: Density
For this lesson students will learn about the stratification of the ocean by using a simulation to show the different densities. The simulation explores how temperature, salinity, and wind affect the development of water stratification.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole Oceanography Institute: Deep Ocean Circulation
What causes the circulation of ocean waters that are too deep to be affected by wind? Find out how salinity and temperature drive the deep sea currents. This resource has several videos and an online quiz.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: One World Ocean
In this activity, students learn about ocean currents and the difference between salt and fresh water. They use colored ice cubes to see how cold and warm water mix and how this mixing causes currents. Also, students learn how surface...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Chemical Oceanography
Students study the chemical characteristics of the World Ocean, water chemistry, element cycles, and chemical resources in this multi-media learning module.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Can Water Float on Water?
Of course it can, you say: ice is water and ice floats. And you're right. But we're talking about water in the liquid phase Can liquid water float on water? The goal of this project is to investigate what happens to layers of water with...
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Sea and Ice Salinity
Students investigate the effects of salinity on the formation of sea ice, and whether salt water freezes more quickly or more slowly than fresh water.
NOAA
Noaa: Ocean Explorer: Hot, Cold, Fresh and Salty
Young scholars simulate ocean water characteristics in order to recognize that the effects of salinity and temperature are the drivers of thermohaline circulation.
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: O Logy: Stuff to Do: Density of Salty Water
An experiment to test what happens when ocean water hits a freshwater estuary. Each step is demonstrated with photographs and the difference between salinity and density is explained.
University of California
University of California: Seawater Density & Salinity [Pdf]
Describes the properties of seawater and the variations depending on its location, e.g., near a shoreline, in an estuary, or as sea ice. Discusses the instruments scientists use to measure the density of water and explains other...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: Ocean Planet
Detailed website that was a companion to a 1995 traveling exhibit of the Smithsonian. Links to lesson plans and other educational materials are at the bottom of the page. Enter the exhibition to explore the world of the ocean.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Physical Oceanography
A student learning module with a focus on the relationship of temperature and salinity with density, ocean-influenced weather patterns, and how light and sound move through ocean water.
NOAA
Noaa: More Than Salt in Salt Water [Pdf]
Realize that there is more in ocean water than just salt. Find out about the salinity of water and how changes in salinity may affect organisms living in the water.
US Geological Survey
Usgs: Water Science for Schools Uses of Saline Water
This U.S. Geological Survey website explains a variety of uses for saline water. Pie graphs and bar graphs are used to illustrate the various uses. Click Home to access the site in Spanish.
Encyclopedia of Earth
Encyclopedia of Earth: Atlantic Ocean
Information on the features, size, salinity, temperature, ocean floor, currents, and tides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Other
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences: Salinity and Deep Ocean Currents
For this activity, students will investigate how temperature and currents affect the salinity of ocean water, making predictions after studying ocean maps. It is recommended that teachers do the experiment themselves before presenting it...
US Geological Survey
Usgs: Water Science for Schools Why Is the Ocean Salty?
This U.S. Geological Survey website offers one explanation of why the ocean is salty. Click Home to access the site in Spanish.