National Geographic
National Geographic: Encyclopedia: Ocean Trench
Comprehensive information about deep-ocean trenches. Includes maps, a video [1:29], and a vocabulary list.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Geology: Deep Sea Trench
Detailed information about oceanic trenches, their structure, and how they are formed. Discusses the twenty trenches that exist around the world. Includes several labeled illustrations.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: Trenches
Explains what ocean trenches are and why they are important. Includes links to videos, additional articles, and information about some deep-ocean submersibles.
Science Struck
Science Struck: What Are Ocean Trenches and How Are They Formed?
Around 72 percent of the Earth's surface is found under the oceans. It has always been contributing to the dynamically changing face of the Earth through the tectonic phenomenon occurring at its depths. Such a naturally occurring...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: Ocean Planet
Detailed website that was a companion to a 1995 traveling exhibit of the Smithsonian. Links to lesson plans and other educational materials are at the bottom of the page. Enter the exhibition to explore the world of the ocean.
US Navy
Office of Naval Reasearch: Ocean Floor
A comprehensive site that provides information on the characteristics of the ocean floor, continental margin and rise, deep ocean basin, and the mid-ocean ridge. A quick quiz follows at the end of this site.
Extreme Science
Extreme Science: Challenger Deep
A short description of the world's deepest ocean trench. Includes diagram and map.
Indiana University
Indiana University: Evolution of Continents and Oceans
A course lecture on how the Earth's geological features have evolved through the movements of tectonic plates. Explains the different types of plate boundaries and how they manifest in geological formations. Also describes the structure...
National Geographic
National Geographic: Adapting Under Pressure
Students learn about James Cameron's Challenger Deep dive and about the marine animals that live in different layers of the ocean. They then study the characteristics of the hadalpelagic zone at the bottom of the ocean, and imagine and...
Other
San Andreas fault.org: Tectonics
Provides a good overview of plate tectonics with embedded links to related information.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Bathymetric Evidence for Seafloor Spreading
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Describes features of the seafloor and how they are mapped by echo sounding. It touches upon the continental margin as well.
Curated OER
Xenotran.com
A short description of the world's deepest ocean trench. Includes diagram and map.
Read Works
Read Works: A Club for Explorers
[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.