This page tells you what El Nino is, provides links to animations and videos on El Nino, explains how to recognize El Nino, and discusses the history of significant El Nino events.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is an interesting and somewhat publicized environmental problem. A swirling soup of trash up to 10 meters deep and just below the water surface is composed mainly of non-degradable plastics. These...

This collection contains more than 250,000 maps covering all areas of the world, and ranging from political and shaded relief maps to the detailed and the historical. Select from a region of the world or an area of highlighted interest.

A map of the United States and Pacific Ocean showing the development of American interests in the Pacific from the early exploration of Oregon Country in 1791 to the formal annexation of the Midway Islands and the Panama Strip in 1903....

Flip over this interactive OLogy flash card to read about the Ring of Fire, a series of volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean along the Pacific Plate.

Learn about forests under the Pacific Ocean! Giant kelp is a forest under the ocean that is divided into layers based on the kind of animal life found there. Kelp is useful in making adhesives, dairy products, and pharmaceutical...

Provides statistics, history, politics, and demographics for the island nation of Kiribati located in the Pacific Ocean.

"American Explorers" is a one page, non-fiction, reading passage about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They traveled from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean with the help of Native Americans and made maps along the way. It is followed by...

"American Explorers" is a one page, non-fiction, reading passage about the Lewis and Clark Expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean. Along the way they drew maps for future travels. It is followed by constructed-response questions...

Much of China, a country slightly larger than the continental United States, is hilly or mountainous. To its east lies the Pacific Ocean; to its south thick jungles. Mountains in the southwest connect in the west with the Himalayas,...

A short biography of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a Spanish explorer, who is credited with sighting the Pacific Ocean while crossing the isthmus of Panama.

Discover statistics, history, economy, culture, politics, and demographics for Vanuatu in the Southern Pacific Ocean.

Through data analysis and observations of patterns, students learn about normal seasonal sea surface temperature variation as well as extreme variation, as in the case of El Nino and La Nina events, in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Provides statistics, history, politics, and demographics for the island country of New Zealand in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Discover statistics, history, economy, culture, politics, and demographics for the country of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean.

Interesting destination guide that takes you on a virtual trip to Vanuatu located in the South Pacific Ocean. Background details are given on its art, culture, people, environment, geography, history, economy, and government. There are...

Discover statistics, history, economy, culture, politics, and demographics for the island nation of Palau in the Pacific Islands.

The Ring of Fire is a region of volcanic and earthquake activity that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. In this project you can explore the connection between plate tectonics and volcanic activity by mapping historical data.

A great lesson plan that has your students exploring the interaction between the people of the Corps of Discovery and the Indian tribes they met on their journey to and from the Pacific Ocean. Web site resources, worksheets, and...

These images from the Smithsonian Institution depict Nancy Knowlton's work with snapping shrimp in Panama. Knowlton found that the closing of the isthmus -- dividing the Pacific Ocean from the Caribbean -- resulted in new species of shrimp.

This site gives you information on the Masks from the Sepik river, east Sepik Province, and Papua New Guinea. The information regards the origin and purpose of the masks.

[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about scientists who explore the ocean. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

Information on the Ring of Fire, what caused it, where it is located, and the active volcanoes.

"Kamchatka, a peninsula comparable in size to Japan, is washed by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering and Okhotskoe Seas." This site provides good geographical information about Eurasia with clickable links for maps and more related pages.