Thinking about teaching ocean currents? You can take a deep dive in just five lessons. First, students read a short passage and watch a video. Then they explore tides. Two labs on water density let them investigate further. Finally, students use a map of ocean currents to answer questions.
Mr. Grow Prepares for Teaching Ocean Currents
Our favorite fourth grade teacher, Ms. Sneed, sat in the conference room with her former student teacher. “Let’s talk about my water science activities,” said Mr. Grow. “Previously, we planned for teaching about properties of water, the water cycle, and waves. Next, I’ll be teaching ocean currents.”
Ms. Sneed opened her laptop. “Let’s start by searching for some supporting resources.”
Mr. Grow looked over her shoulder and pointed out one resource. “This looks like a well-rounded resource on water movement,” he said.
Teaching Ocean Currents
“Right,” Ms. Sneed responded. “Your fifth grade students would begin by watching a video from NOAA. There’s also a sheet with background information.”
Mr. Grow quickly scanned the article. “Ah, first kids learn that currents are caused by differences in density. Colder, saltier water from the poles sinks and moves toward the equator. It’s replaced by warmer water.
“Additionally, wind creates surface currents. The Coriolis Effect makes currents move in a clockwise motion in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere.”
Learning About Tides
“After learning about currents, kids move on to tides,” Ms. Sneed said.
“I never thought about including tides when teaching ocean currents, but I guess it makes sense,” said Mr. Grow. ” And I like the way kids have to graph height above sea level. What a great way to connect math and science.”
Exploring Warm and Cold Water
Ms. Sneed clicked around a bit more. “Next,” she said, “student explore the densities of warm and cold water with some experiments. First, they add dyed hot water to a clear container of room-temperature water. Second, they add dyed ice cubes to a similar container.”
“Simple and straightforward,” said Mr. Grow. “Obviously, hot water rises and cold water sinks. I’ll just have to grab some food coloring from the science supply room.”
Layering Liquids
“You can also use the food coloring for this layering liquids lab,” said Ms. Sneed. The two teachers read over the directions.
“Let me see if I’ve got this right,” Mr. Grow said. “First, kids measure 250 ml of water into each of four plastic cups. Second, they add yellow food coloring and five cc of salt to the first cup, blue food coloring and ten cc of salt to the second, and red food coloring and fifteen cc of salt to the third. They leave the fourth container clear and add no salt.”
Ms. Sneed nodded.
“Then they make an organized list of pairs of the color combinations. For example, yellow-blue, or YB for short.”
Quickly, Mr. Grow made an organized list for all the color pairs: YB, YR, YC, BR, BC, BY, RC, RY, RB, CY, CR, CB.
“Next,” Ms. Sneed continued, they add each pair – in order – to a clear plastic straw and tell if it layers or mixes. You can see in the photo that the student holds their thumb over the top of the straw to form a vacuum. Then they stick the straw into the water, lift their thumb, and replace it quickly.”
“Aha! When they put a water with a higher concentration of salt in first, it will mix. But when they do it the other way around, it will layer.”
“Look at these other pages! If we want kids to take a deeper dive, we can give them the ultimate challenge. After listing all combinations for four colors of water, they try to find one in which all colors layer. Additionally, they use fractions and decimals to tell how many parts salt each cup of water has. I love it!”
Teaching Ocean Currents with Maps
Ms. Sneed scrolled to the next page of the resource. “It wraps up with a map of deep ocean currents. These questions are tricky. Kids must really think.”
Enjoy Teaching
“I can see myself teaching with this resource.” Mr. Grow grinned. “Not only will my kids learn about the hydrosphere, but they’ll also practice other skills.”
