This on-line expedition focuses on the flow of ocean water along with its climatic impact and environmental consequences. Learning objectives include an awareness that ocean waters are constantly on the move, that ocean currents influence climate and living conditions for plants and animals, even on land, and that currents flow in complex patterns affected by wind, the water's salinity and heat content, ... Full description.

This site allows teachers to use data from ocean drifting buoys to integrate ocean science into their classroom science and math instruction. It offers educational activities and curriculum materials developed and tested by teachers. Lesson plans on currents, moving water, building and tracking drifters are also available. Alternatively, educators may opt to use only the data, background information ... Full description.

In this lesson plan students learn about ocean waves. They will begin by learning the components of a wave and will then discuss the meaning of wave height and wavelength. A demonstration will spark discussion about how to make waves, and an activity with the National Geographic Wave Simulator will allow students to experiment with creating waves of varying sizes. Full description.

This concentrated, in-depth resource provides access to recent information on El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and La Nina in the Pacific Ocean, including data, graphics, forecasts, historical perspectives, in-depth analyses, prediction benefits, impacts on human life, and information on the 1997/1999 El Nino and La Nina events. Links to relevant data include Tropical Atmosphere Ocean Project (TAO) ... Full description.

This web page is a tide and current predictor provided by Dean Pentcheff from the University of South Carolina. The site allows you to select a region, choose the location, and then prepare a customized table of tidal height and/or current speed and direction. Full description.

This resource offers information on the history and current management of sanctuaries, scientific and educational programs, and continuing efforts to conserve U.S. ocean and coastal treasures. The sanctuaries featured include: the Channel Islands, Cordell Bank, Fagatele Bay, Florida Keys, Flower Garden Banks, Grays Reef, Gulf of the Fallarones, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale, Monitor, Monterey Bay, ... Full description.

Project Oceanography is a live television program designed for middle school science students. Each week during the school year, students can learn about a variety of ocean science topics. Some of the topics covered include: Antarctic oceanography, marine debris, tsunamis, plankton, hydrodynamic flow through seagrass beds, channel islands, kelp forests, cold seeps, pollution, and water quality. Programs ... Full description.

The New Millennium Observatory (NeMO) is a seafloor observatory off the coast of Oregon, which studies the relationships between submarine volcanic events and the chemistry and distribution of hydrothermal vents and the biologic communities that depend on them. The research activities at NeMO provide an extraordinary educational opportunity, both from the daily reports from expeditions at sea and ... Full description.

Tropical Twisters explains how hurricanes are created, why they move, and the damage they can do. There is information on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale to rate intensity and destructive power; the wind, storm surge and flood damage due to hurricanes; how scientists use the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission to understand hurricane rainfall; and the Geostationary and Operational Environmental ... Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the DiscoverySchool.com lesson plan library for grades 6-8. It focuses on glaciers and icebergs, specifically, glacial scraping and landforms left behind by glaciers, and information about icebergs in the oceans. Students do a lab simulating glacial scouring. It includes objectives, materials, procedures, discussion questions, evaluation ideas, extensions, suggested readings, ... Full description.