Team Activity Descriptions
Activity 1: How Large are the Oceans?
(make a model)
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
Crosscutting Concept: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
In this activity students will work together to create a physical model using paper squares to compare the size of the world’s oceans to the size of the continents. The students will use standard units, inches, to measure the specified size for the paper squares and cut the squares out. They will show all work in their science journals and discuss the order of the sizes of the continents from largest to smallest. They will learn that the world’s oceans, is greater than the area of the world’s continent combined.
In addition to the math activity, students will read an article published by the NOAA that details whether the number of oceans and the controversy over this number. Students will be asked to think critically by answering the questions in their science journals about whether there is a majority consensus on the number of oceans today. The primary goal of the activity is for students to understand the massive size of the world’s oceans. While you are walking around, encourage students to think deeper about the oceans. While there are 5 oceans, they all form one global ocean. The activity is hands-on and visual and will help ELL students to tangibly see the concept of size difference. The vocabulary words continents, and oceans should be defined.
Activity 2: Ocean Waves, Build a Jetty
(make a model)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
For this activity students are working together to build a model of a Jetty and learn how these structures are used and interact with ocean waves to affect the shape of the shoreline. The activity begins by asking students preview questions about ocean waves such as, what causes ocean waves? How are they formed? Why are they important?. These big questions are meant to direct students attention back to the big questions of the expedition and to think about why ocean waves are important. Students will answer these questions loosely as they see how water interacts in the hands-on model activity.
Students will record their observations either during or after creating the model, paying close attention to how the waves interact with the sand and jetty. The second set of questions are more specific to this activity and guide students to think about the engineering concepts building a jetty. At the end of the model, students will search two links that give them more information about jetties. They will obtain the information and apply it to the questions they have asked throughout the creation of the model. ELL students should refer directly to answering the questions when reading the articles online. This will give them clear guidance as to what to focus on when reading. Other students may expand and complete a summary that includes more details and connections.
Activity 3: Ocean Currents
(perform an experiment)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
Activity 3 is a multistep activity that calls students to pay careful attention to directions. First of all students will read an introduction and begin with questions to focus their attention on the topic. The opening questions are structured to be discussion based, with students talking about the questions as a team, rather than writing them down. This modification will aide ELL learners in attaining the concepts and practice developing oral language use of key terms. Students will carry out the lab activity as directed on the site and compare their results with accurate results. They will then discuss these results, and explain why they saw what they saw. They will record these observations in their science journals.
In the final portion of the activity students will read a chapter on the topic of ocean currents from a textbook in class. This will help to solidify the concepts and properties of currents that they saw illustrated in the lab model that they just performed. They will refer back to the three questions from the beginning of the activity and answer these as they read. Closely monitor students’ results during the lab model, and listen to their discussion of the results. Ask guiding questions to focus their results and encourage them to apply the vocabulary terms as they learn them in the readings to the lab.
Activity 4: Marine Habitats
(Make an Ocean Adaptation Wheel)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
In this activity students will perform research on a marine animal or organism of their choosing and develop a wheel to display what they learn about the organisms- prey, predators, habitat, and adaptations. The focus is to show how the oceans support a variety of organisms, and that it is the interaction between earth’s systems (sunlight, salinity, land) that affects where and how these organisms live. Students will work as a team to each select a different organism to research. They will then research individually and create the adaptation wheels. This activity will serve as a graphic organizer as well to aide in organization of ideas for ELL students. Also the activity can be adapted to allow ELL students to create illustrations to supplement their writing to solidify and convey ideas.
Finally, students will join together with their team to create an ocean food web, showing where their organisms would fall on the food chain. They will join their adaptation wheels together and hang them as a mobile in the classroom. Throughout the activity, guide students back to the main idea, what do marine animals need to survive? How do they interact with the marine environment, and the atmosphere to survive?
Activity 5: Climate Change
(Perform an Experiment)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
This activity focuses on directing student attention to the ideas of how the increasing impact of humans on earth’s atmosphere through CO2 emissions is affecting our world’s oceans. The activity will allow students to see how increasing CO2 causes the acidity of the oceans to rise, negatively affecting marine organisms. Students will begin the activity by brainstorming what they already know about global warming by creating a wordle page as a team. This activity will be especially helpful to ELL students as they are able to think of key vocabulary that they know and may contribute words in their native tong to the wordle as well. Encourage ELL students to share global warming words in their native language or to look up the equivalent word in English in the dictionary or through asking a team member. This activity also addresses the foundational levels of Bloom’s taxonomy by asking students to remember what they have already seen and heard about global warming. Look at student’s wordle page and ask them questions that will spark critical thinking and help them to determine how their prior knowledge could interfere with accurate learning. For example, ask the students if they see a trend in their understanding of global warming. What do they hear most about global warming? Are all of these things true? These questions will segway nicely into the discussion of what constitutes a “reliable” source when researching!
Next students will perform the lab experiment where they create a CO2 indicator out of red cabbage. They will then test to see how CO2 emissions affect the indicator and change the color as they are absorbed into the solution. This lab will require careful monitoring and explanation by the teacher. Read the background information on the lab link worksheet aloud with the students. Explain clearly what the lab set-up and purpose is. Guide students through the lab and debrief, guiding them to connect what they saw to how CO2 emissions increase ocean acidity levels.
Activity 6: Turning Tides
(Act it out!)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
For this activity students will learn about ocean tides. They will be presented with questions at the beginning of the activity and be directed to answer them in their science journals as they read. Students will follow a link to an article that describes how the tides work. They will answer the questions above. They will then look at a case study of tides at work in a specific city in Spain. This will allow them to see in photos how tides work and apply this knowledge to the real world. Also the case study will give them a small picture into another culture and the country of Spain, integrating geographic and social studies concepts.
Finally students will complete the activity by “acting out” or “role playing” the tides. Students will form a circle and sit on the ground. They will number off 1-4 and roll a dice. Whatever person has the number of the dice gets to be the moon. They will then follow the script for how to act out the motion of the tides. If there is enough time, students may switch roles. Watch students role play the tides and ask guiding questions to the moon or the ocean. For example ask the ocean- why are you moving towards the moon when it passes by you?
This activity will be especially helpful to ELL learners as it will allow motions to be associated with vocabulary words, enhancing word-picture association.
(make a model)
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
Crosscutting Concept: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
In this activity students will work together to create a physical model using paper squares to compare the size of the world’s oceans to the size of the continents. The students will use standard units, inches, to measure the specified size for the paper squares and cut the squares out. They will show all work in their science journals and discuss the order of the sizes of the continents from largest to smallest. They will learn that the world’s oceans, is greater than the area of the world’s continent combined.
In addition to the math activity, students will read an article published by the NOAA that details whether the number of oceans and the controversy over this number. Students will be asked to think critically by answering the questions in their science journals about whether there is a majority consensus on the number of oceans today. The primary goal of the activity is for students to understand the massive size of the world’s oceans. While you are walking around, encourage students to think deeper about the oceans. While there are 5 oceans, they all form one global ocean. The activity is hands-on and visual and will help ELL students to tangibly see the concept of size difference. The vocabulary words continents, and oceans should be defined.
Activity 2: Ocean Waves, Build a Jetty
(make a model)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
For this activity students are working together to build a model of a Jetty and learn how these structures are used and interact with ocean waves to affect the shape of the shoreline. The activity begins by asking students preview questions about ocean waves such as, what causes ocean waves? How are they formed? Why are they important?. These big questions are meant to direct students attention back to the big questions of the expedition and to think about why ocean waves are important. Students will answer these questions loosely as they see how water interacts in the hands-on model activity.
Students will record their observations either during or after creating the model, paying close attention to how the waves interact with the sand and jetty. The second set of questions are more specific to this activity and guide students to think about the engineering concepts building a jetty. At the end of the model, students will search two links that give them more information about jetties. They will obtain the information and apply it to the questions they have asked throughout the creation of the model. ELL students should refer directly to answering the questions when reading the articles online. This will give them clear guidance as to what to focus on when reading. Other students may expand and complete a summary that includes more details and connections.
Activity 3: Ocean Currents
(perform an experiment)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
Activity 3 is a multistep activity that calls students to pay careful attention to directions. First of all students will read an introduction and begin with questions to focus their attention on the topic. The opening questions are structured to be discussion based, with students talking about the questions as a team, rather than writing them down. This modification will aide ELL learners in attaining the concepts and practice developing oral language use of key terms. Students will carry out the lab activity as directed on the site and compare their results with accurate results. They will then discuss these results, and explain why they saw what they saw. They will record these observations in their science journals.
In the final portion of the activity students will read a chapter on the topic of ocean currents from a textbook in class. This will help to solidify the concepts and properties of currents that they saw illustrated in the lab model that they just performed. They will refer back to the three questions from the beginning of the activity and answer these as they read. Closely monitor students’ results during the lab model, and listen to their discussion of the results. Ask guiding questions to focus their results and encourage them to apply the vocabulary terms as they learn them in the readings to the lab.
Activity 4: Marine Habitats
(Make an Ocean Adaptation Wheel)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
In this activity students will perform research on a marine animal or organism of their choosing and develop a wheel to display what they learn about the organisms- prey, predators, habitat, and adaptations. The focus is to show how the oceans support a variety of organisms, and that it is the interaction between earth’s systems (sunlight, salinity, land) that affects where and how these organisms live. Students will work as a team to each select a different organism to research. They will then research individually and create the adaptation wheels. This activity will serve as a graphic organizer as well to aide in organization of ideas for ELL students. Also the activity can be adapted to allow ELL students to create illustrations to supplement their writing to solidify and convey ideas.
Finally, students will join together with their team to create an ocean food web, showing where their organisms would fall on the food chain. They will join their adaptation wheels together and hang them as a mobile in the classroom. Throughout the activity, guide students back to the main idea, what do marine animals need to survive? How do they interact with the marine environment, and the atmosphere to survive?
Activity 5: Climate Change
(Perform an Experiment)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
This activity focuses on directing student attention to the ideas of how the increasing impact of humans on earth’s atmosphere through CO2 emissions is affecting our world’s oceans. The activity will allow students to see how increasing CO2 causes the acidity of the oceans to rise, negatively affecting marine organisms. Students will begin the activity by brainstorming what they already know about global warming by creating a wordle page as a team. This activity will be especially helpful to ELL students as they are able to think of key vocabulary that they know and may contribute words in their native tong to the wordle as well. Encourage ELL students to share global warming words in their native language or to look up the equivalent word in English in the dictionary or through asking a team member. This activity also addresses the foundational levels of Bloom’s taxonomy by asking students to remember what they have already seen and heard about global warming. Look at student’s wordle page and ask them questions that will spark critical thinking and help them to determine how their prior knowledge could interfere with accurate learning. For example, ask the students if they see a trend in their understanding of global warming. What do they hear most about global warming? Are all of these things true? These questions will segway nicely into the discussion of what constitutes a “reliable” source when researching!
Next students will perform the lab experiment where they create a CO2 indicator out of red cabbage. They will then test to see how CO2 emissions affect the indicator and change the color as they are absorbed into the solution. This lab will require careful monitoring and explanation by the teacher. Read the background information on the lab link worksheet aloud with the students. Explain clearly what the lab set-up and purpose is. Guide students through the lab and debrief, guiding them to connect what they saw to how CO2 emissions increase ocean acidity levels.
Activity 6: Turning Tides
(Act it out!)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
For this activity students will learn about ocean tides. They will be presented with questions at the beginning of the activity and be directed to answer them in their science journals as they read. Students will follow a link to an article that describes how the tides work. They will answer the questions above. They will then look at a case study of tides at work in a specific city in Spain. This will allow them to see in photos how tides work and apply this knowledge to the real world. Also the case study will give them a small picture into another culture and the country of Spain, integrating geographic and social studies concepts.
Finally students will complete the activity by “acting out” or “role playing” the tides. Students will form a circle and sit on the ground. They will number off 1-4 and roll a dice. Whatever person has the number of the dice gets to be the moon. They will then follow the script for how to act out the motion of the tides. If there is enough time, students may switch roles. Watch students role play the tides and ask guiding questions to the moon or the ocean. For example ask the ocean- why are you moving towards the moon when it passes by you?
This activity will be especially helpful to ELL learners as it will allow motions to be associated with vocabulary words, enhancing word-picture association.
Individual Activity Descriptions
Individual Activities
Activity 1: Oceans Video
(KWL Chart)
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Direct all students to begin with this required activity. This activity will set the stage for the unit and preview many big concepts and vocabulary that the students will learn throughout the unit. Students will fill out what they already know and what they want to know in the KWL chart before watching the video. Encourage students to fill in more ideas of what they want to know that may be sparked as they watch the video. Also encourage students to add anything they learn from the video to the “what I learned column” of the chart.
The video gives a general overview of the oceans. If students complete the activity within 20 minutes direct them to watch another segment in the series. Note that the narrator of the video has a thick British accent. If this is a challenge for students to follow along, stop the video occasionally and summarize key ideas with them. The subtitles are in Portuguese.
Activity 2: Investigating the Ocean Waves
(Lesson and Quiz)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
In this activity students will follow a link to an online mini lesson on Ocean Waves. They will be directed to read and follow along in the lesson and complete and print off the quiz at the end of the lesson. As an extension encourage discussion of the section on the Navy and the waves. Direct students to research about the Navy on the web. What does the Navy do? What would be your job as a Navy officer?
This activity connects student knowledge about waves to the characteristics of waves, types of waves tsunamis, as well as a focus on how wind drives waves. The concept of wind is highlighted in showing students the Beaufort wind scale. This helps students to see how earth’s atmosphere and the oceans directly interact and how the oceans and weather are affected by each other.
Activity 3: Surfing the Giants. The Science Behind Big Waves
(create a foldable)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
In this activity students students learn about waves in a real world context, surfing. They will learn how a knowledge of waves is essential to being a good surfer and what causes big waves. They will learn how the land below the ocean water affects the types of waves that are created. For this activity students will create a two part foldable and will label one flap, “causes of ocean waves” and the other flap “Effects of ocean waves”. They will watch a video on how big ocean waves are created, set in the context of the well know Maverick surfing location off the coast of California.
Throughout the activity encourage students to fill in their foldables and to also write down any questions that they may have while watching the video. The foldables will act as a graphic organizer, especially helpful for ELL students to write down ideas. Also included in the direction are question prompts to aide ELL learners in thinking of the vocabulary involved in causes and effects of ocean waves. Encourage students to extend their learning by thinking about how big ocean waves are created around the world and where would be the best places to find them.
Activity 4: Taking Action to Protect the Oceans
(Read 2 articles. Interview a family member)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
In this activity students will be directed to read about the affect of global warming on the oceans on the web. This is an independent activity designed to encourage research and the development of literacy skills. Students will be directed to read two of the three articles and to write a 2-3 paragraph summary of what they learned in their science journals. This writing portion will connect reading and writing, to encourage students to convey science ideas in a paragraph “mini essay” form. If this is challenging for ELL students, encourage them to bullet point ideas first and then to write a paragraph based on these bulleted ideas.
After reading the articles, students will be directed to a link on the NOAA website that where they will print a three page wheel card. Have students interview their family members at home to determine their families global warming score. Then have students talk with their family members about ways on card 3 that they could reduce their score. They will circle these options and bring it back to class. For ELL students, encourage them to discuss the ideas in their native language at home with their families. Help them to translate the wheel sentences into their native language.
Activity 5: Benjamin Franklin and the Mystery of the Gulf Stream current
(Write a lab report)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
For this activity students will read about Benjamin Franklin’s investigation into and discovery of the Gulf Stream Current and format his ideas into a lab report template. This will require critical thinking skills as students think of how to pull out the main ideas of an article and fill these in the appropriate areas of the lab report template. This activity will also integrate social studies concepts with science, as students see how scientists across time learn by asking questions, making observations, and drawing conclusions based on evidence.
Activity 6: Ocean Currents. Where are they going?
(Rubber duck spill investigation)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
This final activity will be conducted partially as a team but will also have individual components. Students will follow an investigation of the 1992 rubber duck spill in the Pacific Ocean and try to determine where the ducks ended up. They will make predictions, draw on a large map, and then see if their predictions were right by reading an article. They will then draw where the ducks actually ended up on the map. The students will learn primarily about ocean surface currents and how winds cause many small currents (swirl currents known as eddies) to form. This will extend student understanding to see that ocean currents are complex systems and do not simply follow the ocean conveyor belt alone.
To finalize the activity students will write 2-3 paragraph explanations in their science journals and define key vocab from the activity.
Activity 1: Oceans Video
(KWL Chart)
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Direct all students to begin with this required activity. This activity will set the stage for the unit and preview many big concepts and vocabulary that the students will learn throughout the unit. Students will fill out what they already know and what they want to know in the KWL chart before watching the video. Encourage students to fill in more ideas of what they want to know that may be sparked as they watch the video. Also encourage students to add anything they learn from the video to the “what I learned column” of the chart.
The video gives a general overview of the oceans. If students complete the activity within 20 minutes direct them to watch another segment in the series. Note that the narrator of the video has a thick British accent. If this is a challenge for students to follow along, stop the video occasionally and summarize key ideas with them. The subtitles are in Portuguese.
Activity 2: Investigating the Ocean Waves
(Lesson and Quiz)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
In this activity students will follow a link to an online mini lesson on Ocean Waves. They will be directed to read and follow along in the lesson and complete and print off the quiz at the end of the lesson. As an extension encourage discussion of the section on the Navy and the waves. Direct students to research about the Navy on the web. What does the Navy do? What would be your job as a Navy officer?
This activity connects student knowledge about waves to the characteristics of waves, types of waves tsunamis, as well as a focus on how wind drives waves. The concept of wind is highlighted in showing students the Beaufort wind scale. This helps students to see how earth’s atmosphere and the oceans directly interact and how the oceans and weather are affected by each other.
Activity 3: Surfing the Giants. The Science Behind Big Waves
(create a foldable)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
In this activity students students learn about waves in a real world context, surfing. They will learn how a knowledge of waves is essential to being a good surfer and what causes big waves. They will learn how the land below the ocean water affects the types of waves that are created. For this activity students will create a two part foldable and will label one flap, “causes of ocean waves” and the other flap “Effects of ocean waves”. They will watch a video on how big ocean waves are created, set in the context of the well know Maverick surfing location off the coast of California.
Throughout the activity encourage students to fill in their foldables and to also write down any questions that they may have while watching the video. The foldables will act as a graphic organizer, especially helpful for ELL students to write down ideas. Also included in the direction are question prompts to aide ELL learners in thinking of the vocabulary involved in causes and effects of ocean waves. Encourage students to extend their learning by thinking about how big ocean waves are created around the world and where would be the best places to find them.
Activity 4: Taking Action to Protect the Oceans
(Read 2 articles. Interview a family member)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
In this activity students will be directed to read about the affect of global warming on the oceans on the web. This is an independent activity designed to encourage research and the development of literacy skills. Students will be directed to read two of the three articles and to write a 2-3 paragraph summary of what they learned in their science journals. This writing portion will connect reading and writing, to encourage students to convey science ideas in a paragraph “mini essay” form. If this is challenging for ELL students, encourage them to bullet point ideas first and then to write a paragraph based on these bulleted ideas.
After reading the articles, students will be directed to a link on the NOAA website that where they will print a three page wheel card. Have students interview their family members at home to determine their families global warming score. Then have students talk with their family members about ways on card 3 that they could reduce their score. They will circle these options and bring it back to class. For ELL students, encourage them to discuss the ideas in their native language at home with their families. Help them to translate the wheel sentences into their native language.
Activity 5: Benjamin Franklin and the Mystery of the Gulf Stream current
(Write a lab report)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
For this activity students will read about Benjamin Franklin’s investigation into and discovery of the Gulf Stream Current and format his ideas into a lab report template. This will require critical thinking skills as students think of how to pull out the main ideas of an article and fill these in the appropriate areas of the lab report template. This activity will also integrate social studies concepts with science, as students see how scientists across time learn by asking questions, making observations, and drawing conclusions based on evidence.
Activity 6: Ocean Currents. Where are they going?
(Rubber duck spill investigation)
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Engineering Practices: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
This final activity will be conducted partially as a team but will also have individual components. Students will follow an investigation of the 1992 rubber duck spill in the Pacific Ocean and try to determine where the ducks ended up. They will make predictions, draw on a large map, and then see if their predictions were right by reading an article. They will then draw where the ducks actually ended up on the map. The students will learn primarily about ocean surface currents and how winds cause many small currents (swirl currents known as eddies) to form. This will extend student understanding to see that ocean currents are complex systems and do not simply follow the ocean conveyor belt alone.
To finalize the activity students will write 2-3 paragraph explanations in their science journals and define key vocab from the activity.