Awesome Oceans

Information for Teachers

Curriculum links

This investigation is linked to the following Grade 4 Next Generation Science Standards.

PS4.A: Wave Properties

Waves, which are regular patterns of motion, can be made in water by disturbing the surface. When waves move across the surface of deep water, the water goes up and down in place; there is no net motion in the direction of the wave except when the water meets a beach. (4-PS4-1)

Waves of the same type can differ in amplitude (height of the wave) and wavelength (spacing between wave peaks). (4-PS4-1) 

LS1.A: Structure and Function

Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction. (4-LS1-1)

LS1.D: Information Processing

Different sense receptors are specialized for particular kinds of information, which may be then processed by the animal’s brain. Animals are able to use their perceptions and memories to guide their actions. (4-LS1-2)

ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

Local, regional, and global patterns of rock formations reveal changes over time due to earth forces, such as earthquakes. The presence and location of certain fossil types indicate the order in which rock layers were formed. (4-ESS1-1) 

ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions

The locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, ocean floor structures, earthquakes, and volcanoes occur in patterns. Most earthquakes and volcanoes occur in bands that are often along the boundaries between continents and oceans. Major mountain chains form inside continents or near their edges. Maps can help locate the different land and water features areas of Earth. (4-ESS2-2)

ESS2.E: Biogeology

Living things affect the physical characteristics of their regions. (4-ESS2-1)

Helpful websites

You may want to direct your students to a website to help with their investigations.

Some helpful places for students to research include:

David Attenborough’s BBC nature series “The Blue Planet” and “The Blue Planet 2” videos or books. This series provides an exceptional opportunity to see right to the bottom of the ocean as well as giving a lot of interesting facts about life in the ocean. Search for “Blue Planet” videos.

Students can visit the kids National Geographic website:

https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/geography/general-geography/ocean-facts/

They can learn some ocean facts and see a camouflaged octopus appear from seemingly nowhere. Search further in this site to find out about a range of interesting marine animals, and even some weird ones.

Students search for a particular animal using its name. They can add focus by using one or more of these terms: food, breeding, defense, habitat, behaviors, threats. For example, octopus+defense.

How to search the internet

1 Keep your request short

Fewer words will give a more accurate search.

2 Choose exactly what you want

For example: Arctic Circle Climate

3 Use quotes

Double quotes around a set of words tell the search engine to consider those exact words in that exact order without any change. For example: “Arctic Circle Climate”

4 Use the plus sign (+)

If you add a plus sign (+) between words, the internet will search for all the words. For example: migrate+birds+whales+mammal

5 Use the minus sign (–) to say what you don’t want

Use a minus sign (–) to show words you do not want to appear in your results. For example: if you search for burrowing animals and do not want mammals in your search,  –mammals will exclude mammals. Note that you need to put a space before the minus sign for the word to be excluded.

6 Be very clear about what you don’t want