This illustration from an online textbook features a map showing the major ocean currents of the world. A set of links provides access to a study guide with glossary and test questions, additional readings, and links to related sites. Full description.

Users may learn about ocean currents and the role the oceans play in storing heat and influencing global climate. A special introductory section for teachers provides background information and links to classroom activities using the constructivist approach that demonstrate the mechanisms that drive the Gulf Stream, the Mediterranean Outflow, and the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt. For students, an interactive ... Full description.

This Starting Point webpage describes a ConcepTest question that asks students to consider a map of the world and identify which direction a specific ocean current is flowing. The website contains related notes and additional references on ConcepTests. Full description.

Students will make predictions by linking current scientific satellite data to concerns about global climate change. Using maps of sea surface temperature (SST) and ocean surface winds, students will learn how differential heating of Earth results in circulation patterns in the atmosphere and oceans that globally distribute the heat. Students will learn the relationship between the rotation of Earth ... Full description.

This presentation reviews both wind-driven ocean currents which occur within the uppermost 100 meters and the very slow flows in deeper waters produced by density differences caused by salinity and temperature. Students will learn about the Ekman spiral and gyres. They will also discover that surface currents are those parts of the ocean most directly involved with Earth system processes because they ... Full description.

This two-minute sound segment discusses the nutrients produced by phytoplankton, one-celled plants which live on the surface of the ocean and which form the basis of what scientists call biological productivity. A professor explains that the organic matter that comes sinking out of the surface actually sinks very far down into the water column before bacteria are actually able to break it back down ... Full description.

This Classroom Connectors lesson plan covers ocean currents, how they form, patterns, and how they affect the Earth. The site provides goals, objectives, an outline, time required, materials, activities, and closure ideas for the lesson. The Classroom Connectors address content with an activity approach while incorporating themes necessary to raise the activity to a higher cognition level. The major ... Full description.

In this activity, students will make a turbidity current. They will discover how fluids of differing densities interact with one another, learn some ways the densities of fluids can be changed and observe how density currents transport and deposit tremendous amounts of sediment in lakes and in the ocean. Additional options allow students to create and observe different kinds of density currents. Full description.

What's up with that funny plastic duck? Join Natalie, Anna, and Calvin as they get to the bottom of this mystery. Along the way, they learn some cool new things about surface ocean currents, the Great Lakes, and ocean research. This module, intended for grades 3-5, includes a storybook and three classroom activities. In the storybook, the three kids work collaboratively to explore and investigate ... Full description.

When most people think about the movement of ocean water, they think of waves or tides. Ocean surface currents are less visible, but can move water as much as 100 kilometers (62 miles) per day and distribute everything they contain to distant oceans and seas. This interactive feature illustrates the patterns of ocean currents and the global wind patterns that drive them. Cool and warm currents are ... Full description.