Activity 1: Oceans Video (KWL Chart)
~Required
Begin your research by activating your background knowledge. Fill out the KWL chart to show what you know, what you want to find out, and what you have learned. Use these questions to guide you as you fill out the chart.
Download the chart here:
~Required
Begin your research by activating your background knowledge. Fill out the KWL chart to show what you know, what you want to find out, and what you have learned. Use these questions to guide you as you fill out the chart.
- Why is studying the ocean important to us?
- What do you know about the ocean?
- What topics about the ocean would be most relevant to learn about to share with the class?
Download the chart here:
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Now watch the following BBC video introducing the study of the oceans. Refer back to your KWL chart and using a different colored pen fill in the column with items about what you learn from the video. Also fill in any new questions that you may have in column two as you watch the video.
Activity 2: Investigating the Ocean Waves (Lesson and quiz)
~Required
Ocean motions include both currents and waves. If you've ever spent time at the beach you've watched the ocean waves roll in. The waves are continuous, a magnificent force of rhythmic movement, continually coming in. Write down two research questions in your science journals about waves. For example: How are waves formed?
Now click on the following link and read through the mini lesson on ocean waves from the Office of Naval Research Center. Complete the quiz at the end of the readings, print it off and staple it inside your science journal.
http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/motion/waves1.htm
~Required
Ocean motions include both currents and waves. If you've ever spent time at the beach you've watched the ocean waves roll in. The waves are continuous, a magnificent force of rhythmic movement, continually coming in. Write down two research questions in your science journals about waves. For example: How are waves formed?
Now click on the following link and read through the mini lesson on ocean waves from the Office of Naval Research Center. Complete the quiz at the end of the readings, print it off and staple it inside your science journal.
http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/motion/waves1.htm
Activity 3: Surfing the Giants: The Science Behind Big Waves (Create a foldable)
A common water sport the requires a lot of knowledge about how ocean waves work is surfing! If you want to catch some gnarly waves, you have to know where to look! You will watch the following video about the science behind big ocean waves. First create a two part foldable, following the directions below. Turn the paper vertically and label the front tabs as follows: Causes of Ocean Motion, Effects of Ocean Motion. As you watch the video, write what you learn about why the ocean moves and the effects of ocean motion. Some helpful prompts for each label include:
Causes of Ocean Motion
Effects of Ocean Motion
A common water sport the requires a lot of knowledge about how ocean waves work is surfing! If you want to catch some gnarly waves, you have to know where to look! You will watch the following video about the science behind big ocean waves. First create a two part foldable, following the directions below. Turn the paper vertically and label the front tabs as follows: Causes of Ocean Motion, Effects of Ocean Motion. As you watch the video, write what you learn about why the ocean moves and the effects of ocean motion. Some helpful prompts for each label include:
Causes of Ocean Motion
- How are big waves created?
- What conditions make a wave larger or smaller?
- What types of waves are good for surfing?
- Why can you get big waves in one area and small waves right near by?
- What three things do you need when you want big waves?
- What process focuses the energy that feeds the waves? (Vocab word)
Effects of Ocean Motion
- What types of waves do surfers look for?
- How large can the waves at Mavericks get?
- How does the seafloor affect the ocean waves?
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Image taken from:http://www.scribd.com/doc/77370206/Foldables
Now click on the button below to watch the video about the Mavericks surfing spot off the coast of California. This has become a popular surfing location for those brave enough to face these huge waves. As you watch the video record what you learn in your foldables.
http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/science-of-big-waves/
Now click on the button below to watch the video about the Mavericks surfing spot off the coast of California. This has become a popular surfing location for those brave enough to face these huge waves. As you watch the video record what you learn in your foldables.
http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/science-of-big-waves/
Activity 4: Taking Action to protect the Oceans
(Read 2 articles. Interview a family member)
Global warming is a serious issue facing our oceans and we all play a role in it! To begin the activity choose 2 of the 3 links below and read the articles about how global warming is affecting the oceans. Write a one paragraph summary for each article in your science journals. Explain in your summaries how the articles are similar and different. Compare and Contrast. Click on the links to the articles below.
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/dec13/corals.html
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2013/09/what-ocean-heating-reveals-about-global-warming/
http://www.conservation.org/Documents/Climate%20Change%20on%20the%20Ocean.pdf
(Read 2 articles. Interview a family member)
Global warming is a serious issue facing our oceans and we all play a role in it! To begin the activity choose 2 of the 3 links below and read the articles about how global warming is affecting the oceans. Write a one paragraph summary for each article in your science journals. Explain in your summaries how the articles are similar and different. Compare and Contrast. Click on the links to the articles below.
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/dec13/corals.html
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2013/09/what-ocean-heating-reveals-about-global-warming/
http://www.conservation.org/Documents/Climate%20Change%20on%20the%20Ocean.pdf
Now you will determine your global warming "score" by reading and answering the questions from the survey by the EPA. Follow the link below. Print off the 4 pages, including the wheel cards. Answer the questions on the cards to the best of your ability, circling your answers directly on the card. Save the card and interview one of your parents or caretakers tonight and bring the card back to school the following day. After you have determined your global warming score, staple the papers in your science journal. Read the suggestions from the "take action" wheel card and circle at least 2 actions that you could take to reduce your carbon footprint.
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/projects/wheelcard/wheelcard_gw.pdf
Now, write a 1 paragraph summary of how your actions impact the ocean and what you can do to help to protect it!
![Picture](/uploads/1/8/0/2/18021959/371379183.png?146)
Activity 5: Benjamin Franklin and The mystery of the Gulf Stream Current
(Write a lab report)
(Write a lab report)
Throughout history scientists have been asking questions and trying to explain what they see if nature around them. Benjamin Franklin was one such scientist. You probably know him best as being one of the founding fathers of our country, as a well known inventor, and as a musician. He was a regular Jack of all trades! As a scientist he had some of his most shining moments. He made a major contribution to our understanding of the oceans by discovering and explaining an important Current close to the United States known as the Gulf Stream Current.
![Picture](/uploads/1/8/0/2/18021959/915616257.jpg?297)
Do you recognize this picture! If you guessed Benjamin Franklin then you are correct! Trivia question...What is the value of this bill?!!
The Mystery!
In the late 1700s Benjamin Franklin held the important job of Deputy Postmaster General of the U.S. colonies. This meant that he was in charge of the mail coming and going from the U.S. and over the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. He began to receive many complaints from colonists that it took longer to recieve a letter from England that it did to send one there. Benjamin determined to find the answer to this mystery!
In the late 1700s Benjamin Franklin held the important job of Deputy Postmaster General of the U.S. colonies. This meant that he was in charge of the mail coming and going from the U.S. and over the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. He began to receive many complaints from colonists that it took longer to recieve a letter from England that it did to send one there. Benjamin determined to find the answer to this mystery!
Join Benjamin Franklin on his discovery of the Gulf Stream Current! You are his assistant and must help him by creating a lab report to show his question, observations, and results (conclusion). Visit the two websites below and read about Benjamin Franklin's quest to answer the question of the slow mail. Fill in the lab worksheet attached below as you read. Finally write a letter to ship captains, giving them suggestions for how to speed up their routes between the United States and Europe.
http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/history-ocean/franklin.html
http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/gulf_stream.html
http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/history-ocean/franklin.html
http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/gulf_stream.html
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sciexperiment.pdf | |
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Print the lab worksheet pages from the files above. As you read about Benjamin Franklin's experiment, fill in the worksheets. Record:
When you are finished, staple the lab worksheets in your science journal.
- The Question Benjamin Franklin was trying to answer
- Hypothesis: what you thought would happen, or why you think the mail was slowed down
- What methods Benjamin used to find the answer
- What Benjamin concluded was slowing down the mail and what he learned.
When you are finished, staple the lab worksheets in your science journal.
Worksheet taken from:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/freeprintables/ss/scienceforms_6.htm
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/freeprintables/ss/scienceforms_6.htm
Activity 6: Ocean Currents? Where are they going? (Rubber Duck spill Investigation)
Have you ever listened to the song, "message in a bottle"? Maybe you have rocked out to this song while playing guitar hero or been with your parents in the car when the song came on and started dancing to the beat. The song goes, "I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle". What are the chances if you are lost at sea that someone will get your message in a bottle? Understanding Ocean Currents can help us predict where a message in a bottle would end up. Although there is no way for us to pin point an exact location, we can make an educated guess as to a general area that the bottle may end up in.
In this activity you will learn more about ocean currents! Before moving on, enjoy watching a minute of the original performance of "message in a bottle" and get ready to rock n roll for the activity! :)
In this activity you will learn more about ocean currents! Before moving on, enjoy watching a minute of the original performance of "message in a bottle" and get ready to rock n roll for the activity! :)
There are two types of ocean currents that move water, surface currents and deep water density currents. Both help to form the Ocean Conveyor belt, a system of currents that moves water around the globe. Surface Currents move water horizontally- parallel to Earth's surface and are fueled by wind.
Click on the link below to see how wind drives surface currents.
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es2401/es2401page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization
Step 1:
Now look at the illustration below. This picture shows the Ocean Conveyor belt that is caused by differences in water temperature and salinity.The conveyor belt is a system that moves water between the cold depths and warm surface in oceans throughout the world.
Click on the link below to see how wind drives surface currents.
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es2401/es2401page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization
Step 1:
Now look at the illustration below. This picture shows the Ocean Conveyor belt that is caused by differences in water temperature and salinity.The conveyor belt is a system that moves water between the cold depths and warm surface in oceans throughout the world.
Step 2:
Now with your team print out the 8 world mapmaker sheets below. Tape the 8 pieces together to make a table top sized map of the world. Draw the Ocean Conveyor belt on the World Physical Map.
Now with your team print out the 8 world mapmaker sheets below. Tape the 8 pieces together to make a table top sized map of the world. Draw the Ocean Conveyor belt on the World Physical Map.
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worldphys_tbltp_row1.pdf | |
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Step 3:
Now, we will explore an interesting event that will teach us more about currents. Mark the location 44 N, 178 E on your maps. In this location, in 1992, a cargo ship carrying a load full of bath toys spilled nearly 92,000 rubber ducks into the Pacific Ocean. These ducks began a great journey! They traveled thousands of miles on ocean currents, providing new information about the currents as people saw where they landed. For example, the first group of ducks that landed on shore washed up on the beaches of Alaska!
Now, we will explore an interesting event that will teach us more about currents. Mark the location 44 N, 178 E on your maps. In this location, in 1992, a cargo ship carrying a load full of bath toys spilled nearly 92,000 rubber ducks into the Pacific Ocean. These ducks began a great journey! They traveled thousands of miles on ocean currents, providing new information about the currents as people saw where they landed. For example, the first group of ducks that landed on shore washed up on the beaches of Alaska!
Step 4:
With your team predict where the ducks traveled. Use what you know about the Ocean Conveyor belt to help you make predictions! Mark on the map with a different color where you think the ducks washed up on shore.
With your team predict where the ducks traveled. Use what you know about the Ocean Conveyor belt to help you make predictions! Mark on the map with a different color where you think the ducks washed up on shore.
Step 5:
Now, find out if you predicted correctly! Read about where the ducks actually traveled using the link below. Mark these paths on the map with a different colored marker. Discuss with your team the question:
Step 6:
The rubber ducks' journeys show that there are many smaller ocean currents in addition to the ocean conveyor belt. Many of the ducks traveled on these currents. Click on the link below to look at an interactive map of the Ocean Surface Currents. Explore the map. These smaller currents are known as surface currents. Discuss with your team which currents may have influenced the ducks' travel.
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/interactive-map/?lg=19%26b%3D4%26f%3D1a1%26bbox%3D147.51848,-64.01450,120.79973,64.01450%26ar_a%3D1%26ls%3D800017%26t%3D1&ar_a=1
Step 7:
Now click on the link below to watch a video created by NASA satellites of the surface currents. Notice how the water moves along the conveyor belt, but also in circular swirling motions called "eddies".
Now, find out if you predicted correctly! Read about where the ducks actually traveled using the link below. Mark these paths on the map with a different colored marker. Discuss with your team the question:
- How accurate were our first predictions?
- Why do you think they were or were not accurate?
Step 6:
The rubber ducks' journeys show that there are many smaller ocean currents in addition to the ocean conveyor belt. Many of the ducks traveled on these currents. Click on the link below to look at an interactive map of the Ocean Surface Currents. Explore the map. These smaller currents are known as surface currents. Discuss with your team which currents may have influenced the ducks' travel.
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/interactive-map/?lg=19%26b%3D4%26f%3D1a1%26bbox%3D147.51848,-64.01450,120.79973,64.01450%26ar_a%3D1%26ls%3D800017%26t%3D1&ar_a=1
Step 7:
Now click on the link below to watch a video created by NASA satellites of the surface currents. Notice how the water moves along the conveyor belt, but also in circular swirling motions called "eddies".
Step 8:
Now write 1-2 paragraphs in your science journals describing what you learned about surface currents and describing the duck spill. What did the duck spill teach us about surface currents?
Then, look up and define these words in your science journals.
Now write 1-2 paragraphs in your science journals describing what you learned about surface currents and describing the duck spill. What did the duck spill teach us about surface currents?
Then, look up and define these words in your science journals.
- Surface Currents
- Ocean Conveyor Belt
- Eddies