Ocean Current Teacher Resources

How do temperature changes affect ocean currents? Scholars explore convection currents by demonstrating the flow of water in a baking dish. They use ice, heat, and food coloring to see currents. Then, they draw conclusions about their...

Salty sailors in days gone by used to speak of the seven seas. What they didn't know was that their world was one big ocean! Seaworthy scholars climb aboard an adventure that features the major ocean currents during a lesson from PBS's...

Ghost ships are real and are used to map ocean currents. Aye, thar be much to learn for landlubbers, sprogs, and buccaneers as well in a short video that offers scientific explanations for the amazing phenomenon of ghost ships.

Students explore marine life by conducting a rubber duck experiment. In this water currents activity, students practice identifying latitude and longitude coordinates on a map and define the currents of major oceans. Students discuss the...

The instructions for demonstrating ocean turnover are provided in this resource. You could set this up for your earth science class as part of a lecture on convection currents or as an explanation of how ocean currents form. An animation...

Students describe the role of density in driving deep ocean currents and the density layers of the ocean. They determine that the ocean is one continuous body of water with global currents that interact, with water surrounding all...

Learners investigate surface ocean currents. In this oceanography activity, students work in small groups to create models that demonstrate surface currents, the Coriolis Effect, and how surface currents move debris. This activity...

Students examine relationships and interactions between different types of water. They experiment with colored water of different temperature and salinity and discuss how the results relate to real ocean currents.

Stimulate interest in ocean currents with a simulation. The first installment of a five-part middle school series teaches future oceanographers about the forces that interact to cause ocean currents. A simulation shows how wind and...

In the second lesson of a five-part series, young climatologists use provided temperature and precipitation data to create climographs of three different cities. They then analyze these climographs to develop a general understanding...

It's an ocean rescue mission! Groups must find a pilot downed off the coast of the Chesapeake Bay. Rescuers must determine the distance needed to travel as well as the heading to get to the pilot's last known position. Taking...

Young scientists investigate the effects of heating a beaker of ice water by dropping dye into the water and observing how the color circulates.

Students use satellite data to explore sea surface temperature. They explore the relationship between the rotation of the Earth, the path of ocean current and air pressure centers. After studying maps of sea surface temperature and ocean...

Students examine the topics of ocean waves, currents, and tides. They locate and label ocean currents on a world map, conduct experiments, analyze key vocabulary, view demonstrations and record the data, and complete handouts.

Learners interpret data from a three-dimensional array of current monitors to determine an overall pattern of water circulation. They hypothesize what effect an observed water circulation pattern might have on seamount fauna. A very...

What drives the ocean's motion? Get your class moving toward understanding by using this video. Viewers find that thermohaline circulation is caused by the concentration gradients of temperature and salinity. Using adorable animation in...

Be shore to use this drifter resource. The third installment of a five-part series has learners using the NOAA's Adopt-a-Drifter website to track to movement of a drifter (buoy) in the ocean. Graphing the collected data on a map allows...

If you are teaching physical oceanography to middle school earth scientists, here is a terrific multiple choice worksheet. Learners look at a diagram of a landscape created by glacial sediment deposition and the resulting ocean floor....

Get lost at sea amid colorful ocean currents! Learners discover the patterns of movement and temperature in the North Atlantic's currents through a simulation, part of PBS's Weather and Climate series. The resource contains background...

Here on Earth, heat goes with the flow! Young climatologists dive in to the connection between ocean currents and heat distribution during a science lesson plan. Scholars work with interactive and print resources to create a thorough...

How do currents affect weather and climate? This is the focus of a video that explains how ocean currents regulate the earth's climates, and how jet streams affect weather in certain regions.

How do chains of islands form? Young oceanographers explore the mountains of the deep in the final installment in a 13-part series. The interactive compares types of seamounts based on their overall height and height under the water, as...

Students discover the geography of Earth by analyzing water currents.  In this oceanography lesson, students create visual references on a map of the globe where and why major ocean currents are moving water.  Students conduct...

Your introductory lesson to oceanography can be outlined with this apropos presentation. It touches on the physical features of the ocean floor, waves, tides, and currents. One small issue is that some of the graphics are not of the...