Sqworl Page of Student Links

Here is a small selection of student links chosen from the sites below. 

World Book for Kids

WBFK has a link for ocean that contains information about the world oceans, the importance of the ocean, and life in the ocean.  The sidebar on the left links to several activities and interactive games.There are additional links for names of specific oceans and ocean animals and topics such as navigation, coral, tides, etc. 

World Book for Students

WBFS has a link for ocean which contains an exploring the ocean subsection.  Another entry on ocean drilling programs describes a series of scientific expeditions to map the ocean's floor.

National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Website

The NOAA website kid's site contains a wealth of information on a variety of ocean and space-related topics.  Contains links to two photo libraries of marine animals and life on a coral reef.

The Ocean Exploration technology page contains information and pics (which are also links) on various technologies used for ocean exploration including vessels, submersibles, diving, and data collection instruments.   The submersibles section contains pictures and links to a number of technologies including Canada's remotely controlled ROPOS and the Alvin and Deep Worker mentioned in Science Probe 6.  Requires grade level reading but students could also learn a great deal just by viewing the photos. 

NOVA Into the Abyss

This fascinating site chronicles a mission conducted jointly by Canada and the US to explore an underwater volcanic ridge off the Pacific Coast.  Contains information and pictures of a Canadian technology called ROPOS used to investigate underwater.  Also has sections on Deep Sea Machines, strange creatures that live in hydrothermal vents, and a timeline of ocean exploration facts.  Requires grade level reading.  Caution:  this site is very creatively written and will appeal to kids but contains some expressions such as "vampire squid from hell".  There are also a few ads.

Smithsonian:  How Deep Can They Go?

Clickable chart of ocean exploration technologies and ocean life shows how deep they can go.  Students can click on each technology or life form to learn more.  Requires grade level reading.  Creating a similar chart with depths marked and giving students a selection of technologies and animals to research and place on the chart would make an excellent activity, especially on the SMARTBoard.

NewtSuit

Link to Vancouver Maritime Museum page on the NewtSuit developed in North Vancouver.  Th.is is one of the Canadian technologies mentioned in Science Probe 6

Don Johnston Start-to-Finish Books

The Start-to-Finish series features classic novels that have been rewritten in easier language.  The books come in both paper and CD format.  The CD's will read aloud and contain cloze activities to check students' understanding.  You are welcome to have a look at the following titles which I have in my office:  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Moby Dick, Treasure Island, and Captains Courageous.

Classic Comics Online

The classic comics versions of Moby Dick and 20,000 Leagues under the sea are available at this site. 

Harcourt Science Up Close Ocean Floor

It takes a while for this to load but it is well worth the wait.  In this interactive, students click on a diagram to learn more about parts of the ocean floor.  Has both text and speech and can be navigated with keyboard shortcuts. 

NOAA Sea Floor Mapping Interactive and Hands-On Activity

This interactive from NOAA starts out very simply but quickly becomes more technical, providing detailed information about different kinds of techniques used to map the ocean floor.  Contains great movie simulations of different types of sonor scanning and explains the meaning of rainbow colours used to indicate depth on maps of the ocean floor.  Requires grade level reading.  At the end of the interactive activity there is a link to a hands-on activity for students to create their own sounding box to simulate measuring different levels on the ocean floor.

National Geographic Submersible Simulation

In this simulation students "dive" below the surface in Monterey Bay to visit a Kelp Forest.  Students can click on the various underwater plants or creatures to learn more about the Kelp Forest.    Use the scroll bars to read all of the information.  Use the yellow triangles to dive up or down.  Requires grade level reading to get full information but would still be interesting without reading.  Ask students to record the names and information about the levels of the Kelp Forest and the creatures they find at each level.  Click on "full version" to test the activity.  I didn't have to install any additional plug-ins.

Students can also view the Monterey Bay live web cam of the real Kelp Forest and use the spotting guide in the sidebar to the right to identify creatures they see.  Feeding times are posted.

Sheppard Software Games: Extremely Easy (Modified Objective)

A series of 4 Sheppard Software Games could be used for students who are working on IEPs to learn the names of, learn simple facts about, or count creatures that live in the ocean.  These are found on the pre-school page.

Sheppard Software Games: Average Difficulty

In Deep Sea Strangers students can click on ocean creatures (e.g. tube worms, dumbo octopus, vampire squid) that live at great depths to learn more about them.  Two sidebars lead to information about bioluminescence and levels of the ocean.  From the sidebar, you can click on the individual animals, on Home at the bottom of the sidebar to return to the main screen or use the back buttons on the browser.  Requires grade level reading.

BBC Games: Challenging

There are several challenging games on this page.  In Dive to the Abyss students must collect samples of ocean life that match pre-set categories within 10 minutes.  In Journey to the Deep students explore 3 levels of the ocean, collecting 5 examples of ocean life at each level before their 9 lives expire.  In Under Pressure students hover the cursor over a choice of 3 creatures, decide which one can withstand the pressures of the deep ocean, and drop a weight on its head to test their hypothesis.

Scholastic StudyJams

Scholastic has three StudyJams about the ocean in the Science:  Weather and Climate section.  These include a slideshow and quiz about landforms on the ocean floor, an overview of ocean characteristics such as salinity and pressure, and tides.  The slideshows have excellent pictures and information, a musical background and require grade level reading of the captions.

NOAA's Aquarius Underwater Station (5:06)

Great video of the Aquarius, the planet's only underwater research station and habitats.  The video shows aquanauts at work, technology used to explore the underwater environment, and how scientists working underwater stream live footage to classrooms.

Neok12 Videos

The neok12 page on Oceans contains 15 videos about the ocean.  Exploring the Deep 1,2,and 3 show an ocean research vessel and the Quest diving robot used for underwater viewing and collecting samples.  Exploring the Deep 3 describes a voyage to the North Pole aboard a ship equipped with a drilling station to take core samples below the ice. 

Explore the Ocean in Google Earth (2:02)

This video gives a brief overview of what's available to view in Google Earth's new ocean section.  Has both audio and captioning.

Exploring Extreme Environments Places

This Clicker5 grid contains a reading and writing activity.  This gridset covers a variety of extreme environments including oceans.  It was created by Kathy Ryan to address grade 6 plos.   

Exploring Extreme Environments Technology

This Clicker5 grid contains a reading and writing activity.  This gridset covers a variety of technologies including those used to explore oceans.  It was created by Kathy Ryan to address grade 6 plos. 

Exploring Extreme Environments

This Clicker5 grid contains a reading and writing activity.  The gridset deals with the benefits and costs associated with exploring extreme environments.  It was created by Kathy Ryan to address grade 6 plos.

SMARTBoard Lessons

There are several jeopardy games in the SMART Exchange that review an entire Extreme Environment unit.  There are also lessons on ocean geography, marine life, coral reefs, etc.  I was not able to locate any lessons specifically on the ocean as an extreme environment.

Gallery Pictures

The Gallery contains an ocean folder with pictures of marine life and a drilling platform.  There are also folders for boats and ships and individual pictures of particular marine life.