The Ocean & Deep Dark Holes | A Quick Science Unit Study
Let’s start the week off with a bit of mystery and fun.
Take a look at how deep and dark the hole that is our water-filled ocean goes…
You could use this as a fun aside, or the start of a unit study on oceans or marine life, or simply a “Hey, Kids! Come over here and look at this utterly cool thing!”
This is great for any age kid, and homeschooling moms too!
Ocean Art Activity
And art always goes better with music to go with it. You could put the music on and get some markers and pencils and paint out and let your kids draw and paint the deep dark ocean and all the creatures they imagine could be there.
Investigate Whale Songs
Here is a link to whale song recordings at the Ocean Mammal Institute:
http://oceanmammalinst.com/songs.html
Learn about Orca
When I was a teenager, I spent a summer at Friday Harbor in the Pacific Northwest, learning how marine biologists were studying the Killer Whale groups. It was probably the most fantastic thing that happened to me during high school.
The Center for Whale Research website has lots of information if your kids are interested in orca…
https://www.whaleresearch.com/
Make a Mural of the Ocean
My kids loved doing these when they were younger…
This link has an ocean theme mural that is free to print.
http://www.shirleys-preschool-activities.com/ocean-theme-mural.html
Red Sea Fishes Are Unique
There is something amazing about the fishes in the Red Sea: They are the same as fishes in surrounding bodies of water but their colors are all wrong. Why? No one knows. For me it was always an extra reminder of how special that area of the world is historically.
Here is information about the geography surrounding the Red Sea and links to information about the life living in it
http://www.bbc.co.uk/oceans/locations/redsea/rare_fish.shtml
And here is a wonderful directory of the fishes in the red sea, with lots and lots of pictures… (this fish directory is searchable to find fish all around the world as well)
https://seafishes.wordpress.com/?s=red+sea
Now, Surfing
Surfing the Mavericks off the California coast
And a wonderful documentary about a stupendous surfer and his story that reaches far beyond surfing and delves into character development.
So there you have it… a short unit study on the ocean.
What are your favorite ocean animals?
6 Responses
I love the ocean 🙂 It’s so familiar yet so foreign. Hmmm, my favorite ocean animals? hard to narrow down, but I do think that sea cucumbers are really cool, so are tubeworms and so many other species!!
Me too! And when you are in the ocean, one of your senses (hearing) is muted and somehow that makes what you see seem all the more vivid. I love sea cucumbers too! When I was a high school volunteer at a nearby aquarium, the best part of manning the touch tank was explaining the wonderful sea cucumber with its ‘spit out your stomach’ defensive move!
Lots of great ideas – this would make a great unit study.
Thanks so much! I love the ocean, so it was an easy one.
Great ideas here. I’m bookmarking it for later use. Thanks!
Thank you, I am really glad you can use some of it!