Category: Science: Ocean Unit

0

Ocean Unit Science Experiments on Salinity and Water Temperature

Salinity and Water Temperatures Influence the Oceans’ Currents We just love hands-on activities! They are what make our units come alive! In this portion of our Ocean Unit, we did a number of experiments to show how salinity and water temperatures influence the oceans’ currents. Salinity Our first experiment was on salinity.  In this experiment we talked about how salt changes the density of water.  One jar had no salt...

0

Latitude and Longitude Worksheets and Activities

In this post, I thought I’d share some of the activities my daughter did as she learned about latitude & longitude, the Prime Meridian and other geography terms. My daughter is doing a unit on oceans and we’re talking about ocean navigation at the moment. I wanted to be sure to slip in this information about latitude, longitude, the prime meridian and so forth  (even though we covered it in...

Coral Reef Worksheets - Interactive Notebook Page Activity 0

Coral Reef Worksheets and Interactive Notebook Activities

Coral Reef Worksheets & Activities These new Corals and Coral Reef worksheets, notebook pages and the lapbook/interactive notebook activity have been added to our 100+page Ocean Unit. In this part of our ocean unit, my daughter learned all about coral and coral reefs: What is coral? What do corals eat? (And what is the relationship between the algae, zooxanthellae, and corals.) How does a coral colony begin? (coral reproduction) What...

Ocean Unit - Marine Habitats Coral Reefs Tide Pools Tides Currents Ocean Zones Bioluminescence Worksheets and more 0

Ocean Unit Packet: Marine Habitats, Tides, Currents, Ocean Floor, Ocean Life, Bioluminescence and More!

I created this Ocean Unit because I could not find any curriculum that tackled all the topics I wanted to cover. In our ocean studies we explored Marine Habitats Coral Reefs Tide Pools Water Form Words (bay, estuary, lagoon, fjord, etc.) Features of the Ocean Floor (trench, seamount, guyot, etc.) Ocean Navigation (early navigation with astrolabes & the constellations, modern SONAR) Salinity Tides Ocean Currents (Surface & Deep Sea Currents)...

Bioluminescence-Worksheets 0

Bioluminescence – and Ocean Zones: Ocean Unit Activities

In this part of our unit we talked about the ocean zones and spent quite a bit of time talking about the creatures that live in these different zones.  Some organisms spend the day in the darker zones and then travel up into the upper zone at night to feed. We also talked about bioluminescence in quite a bit of detail. We found it fascinating that because there are so...

0

Features of the Ocean Floor Projects

I have two really neat hands-on activities to highlight as we learned about the features of the ocean floor. Over the past few weeks, we learned about the basic features of the ocean floor: the continents shelf, continental slope, seamounts (and islands), guyots, and trenches. The pages below are in our ocean packet. We also learned a *ton* from the Blue Planet (affiliate link – available on DVD and Amazon...

0

Ocean Navigation Hands-on Activity

Over the course of our ocean unit, the kids discovered how much our knowledge about the ocean has changed over time. Little was known about the ocean even just fifty years ago — let alone hundreds of years ago when explorers were first venturing out. We talked about early navigation techniques and in talked quite a bit about how the stars can be used for navigation.  The kids can recognize...

0

Ocean Activities: The Moon and Tides (Spring and Neap Tides and more!)

Last week we talked about the moon and ocean tides.  We talked about the phases of the moon and went into detail, not only about daily tides, but what causes spring tides and neap tides. First, we talked about the effect gravity has on Earth’s waters.  The moon pulls the Earth’s waters creating a bulge on one side. But, the moon also pulls on the Earth itself creating a bulge...

0

Surface Currents vs. Deep Sea Currents: Ocean Unit

Cold Water Currents Experiments: We’ve been continuing on with our ocean unit. Ocean currents are affected by water density — salinity and temperature. We talked about salinity a week or so ago. Last week, we talked how temperature affects water density and movement.  Let me share a couple of our activities: For our first activity, you need a paper cup or water bottle, duct tape, dye, and a clear plastic...

Comma rules and practice pages 0

Comma Rules and Practice Pages (Free Grammar Worksheets)

Today I’m sharing some free comma rules grammar worksheets.  The first page has the 11 common comma rules we’ve covered.  There are various practice sentences on the next two pages. The kids have to place the missing commas in each sentence and must write down the rule that goes along with it.  Some sentences have more than one missing comma (and so might have more than one comma rule that...

0

Ocean Unit: 5 Salinity Activities & Why the Ocean is Salty

Ocean Unit: Today, we have five hands-on activities about salinity to share with you. What is salinity?  It is the measure of salts in the ocean. Why is the ocean salty? • Salts found in rocks and minerals that are washed to the sea. • Underwater volcanoes. With these experiments we explored what salinity is and why salinity is important to our understanding of the ocean and ocean currents. Why do...

0

Hands-On Homeschooling – Video Post (with DD and ED!)

Last week we did some pretty fun science experiments for our ocean unit.  We always get so pumped up doing hands-on activities & the salinity experiment was especially impressive. I thought I’d talk a little bit what a big impact these kinds of experiments add to our day… the kids get excited and engaged they ask a lot of good questions the activities and projects are memorable so they often...

Water Cycle Notebook Pages 0

Water Cycle Review, Divides and Watersheds (Drainage Basins), Aquifer Notebook Pages

Last week we spent time learning about the water cycle, divides and watersheds and underground water. We have just started a big unit on they hydrosphere (ie. oceans), so it’s important the kids understand the water cycle because of the profound impact it has on our world’s oceans and vice-versa. We used many of the same materials we used a few years ago.  You’ll find links to these beautiful posters...

Ocean Seas Straits Pin Map printable 0

Ocean, Seas and Straits – Pin Map Printable

Last week we started on our ocean unit — the hydrosphere. We were pretty busy with other things, so we spent most of the week simply going over some of the major oceans, seas and straits.  I made a pin map and the kids worked on about a dozen places.  You’ll find the free printable below.   For those of you who may be interested in making your own pin...