Ocean Floor Teacher Resources

Practice reading comprehension by approaching oceanography through 2 pages of informational text. The text compares the ocean floor to the Grand Canyon to gives students perspective, and gives a brief coverage of the earth's crust and...

Elementary schoolers identify the ocean floor in a geological sense. They create a presentation that highlights the key features of the ocean floor. This terrific lesson plan has excellent streaming video segments embedded in it, and the...

Students construct a simulated model of the ocean floor in a shoe box. They determine that the floor of the ocean is composed of hills, plains, ridges, trenches, and sea mounts. They draw out a plan for their ocean floor which includes...

Students sample goodies from an unseen ocean floor and try to accurately describe their composition. This simulation helps students explain the limitations of sampling and the problem of obtaining representative samples of sea floor...

Using "mystery bathymetry" shoeboxes, young explorers simulate sonar action to map out the topography of an un-viewable landscape. This classic activity helps physical oceanography learners understand how sonar works. It would be...

Make textbook reading more engaging using this reading activities worksheet, through which scholars review major features found on the ocean floor and the processes that formed these features. They complete 11 terms in a crossword...

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....

Young scholars create a paper model to illustrate sea-floor spreading.

Who knew that mountain formation could be so entertaining? Leanr how mountains form with a resource on Mount Everest. Activities to guide learning include a simulation, project, videos, coloring activities, and worksheets.

Students build ocean floor structures, then map and model an unfamiliar ocean floor. They are introduced to bathymetry and sea floor features, and discover one of the most widely usd methods for studying the ocean.

Welcome to the deep sea, off the coast of Pakistan! Follow the biologists as they observe the ocean floor and take samples with the help of underwater robotics. Especially interesting is the abundance of methane hydrate which, when lit...

How do you create a map of the ocean floor without getting wet? Middle school oceanographers discover the process of bathymetric mapping in the third installment in a five-part series of lessons designed for seventh and eighth graders....

Ice burns on the ocean floor as climate change continues. That's right ... ice burns! It turns out the burning is actually methane trapped in the crystalline structure of the ice. The video presentation is part of a larger series...

Students draw a quick plan of an ocean floor as seen from the side; including the edge of a continent, a continental shelf, a continental slope, a basin, a trench, and a range. They require their definitions to do this.

Fifth graders discuss the process of sedimentation and the continental drift theory. They locate major structures on the ocean floor and they identify life forms at each level of the ocean.

Follow the path to the sea floor. Pupils play an online interactive board game to reach the bottom of the sea. Participants must match descriptions of creatures to a property of water dealing with oxygen, food, light, or density to move...

Why would water 2700 meters deep suddenly become warmer? Explore this and other ocean floor discoveries through this reading response worksheet. Scholars read information about the organisms discovered by Alvin, a deep-sea submersible....

Earth science learners create a two-dimensional topographic map of the floor of the Aegean Sea. They use it to then create a three-dimensional model of the ocean floor features. This comprehensive resource delivers strong background...

Students participate in an activity that replicates the creation of sea floor bathymetry by taking a simplified form of soundings in the classroom. They discuss sea floor mapping technologies, sonar, soundings, and remote sensing,...

How to oceanographers measure the sea's depth? Your scientists will step into their shoes in this application worksheet, first reading about how the speed of sound and a simple formula give scientists a depth estimation. Students...

Fourth graders plot points on a graph, connect the dots to make the ocean floor profile and label the topographical features. They utilize a worksheet and a website imbedded in this plan to plot the ocean floor.

Fifth graders make a model of the ocean floor.  In this ocean characteristics lesson, 5th graders complete a KWL chart about the ocean floor, use the Ocean Depth Data Sheet to create a graph, and create a 3-D model of the ocean floor.