Ocean Floor Lesson

 

Start with a PRETEST!!!

 

Ocean Floor lesson Materials

Until recently, no one knew how the ocean floor looked.  It was believed to be flat and sandy, much like the seashore.  Now, through the wonders of science and technology, we know it has many wonderous features and mysteries.  As you work through this unit, you will learn about some of these features.  Take a good look at the picture below and you will find the names of some of the features found on the ocean floor. Read about each feature and make sure you have included information about it in your lesson. Draw a picture and write down some information about it. You also need to make a page discussing each of the oceans. There are also other terms and features listed below the picture. Your lesson must cover these also. 

1. Work through these assignments and websites

2. You should be able to create lesson materials to share with other groups.

 

RESOURCES!

1. Read Kudzuacres Ocean Floor Features

 

2. Study and copy these notes. Also, make a quick sketch in your journal.

 

11. Brain Pop Oceans

12. Brain Pop Ocean Floor Features

3.

 

13. The Ocean Basins

6. Complete this writing assignment!

7. Ocean topo practice quiz

 

14. Ocean Floor Practice Quiz

 

7. Create a drawing of the ocean floor with labels.

8. Ocean Floor Notes and Drawing

 

Your lessons should include the following terms and defintions:

1. World ocean

2. Sonar

3. Sediment -read "Some Facts about sediment" at the bottom of this page.

4. continental slope

5. seamount

6. abyssal plain

7. Mid-Ocean Ridge/Rift Valley

8. volcanic island/island

9. Continental shelf

10. trenches or deep sea trenches

11. Guyot

12. Cause of ocean salinity

13. What causes mid-ocean ridges and trenches

14. subduction zone

Here are some suggestions for your lessons:

1. Flashcards

2. Create a detailed poster

3. Create a model showing the features

4. Brainstorm some ideas with your team.

5. Create your own practice tests.

6. Invent a study activity/game

7. Make a Flip-Flop

8. Quick-Book, 4 page

Mapping the Ocean Floor video

Ocean Floor Spreading video

Some facts about sediment- The ocean floor is covered by an average of 550 feet of sediment, but the sediment can be more than 4 miles thick in the Argentine Basin in the South Atlantic. Some regions, particularly the central parts of the midocean ridges where new crust is formed, have little, if any, sediment on them. The sediments are studied by dredging and by deep-sea exploration projects such as the ocean drilling program, which obtains core samples of seafloor sediment from all the world’s oceans.

The sediments are made mostly of rock particles and organic remains(dead critters and their shells and bones); the compositions depend on depth, distance from continents, and local variants such as submarine volcanoes or high biological productivity. Clay minerals, which are formed by the weathering of continental rocks and carried out to sea by rivers and wind, are usually abundant in the deep sea. Thick deposits of such detrital material are often found near mouths of rivers and on continental shelves; fine particles of clay are spread through the ocean and accumulate slowly on the deep-ocean floor. Imagine how much sediment must be dumped into the ocean everyday by the mighty Amazon River.