CURRENT DIRECTION

SHORT TERM GOALS:

  1. To help students understand how currents could be one of the possible reasons for the disappearances of a ship in the Bermuda Triangle.
  2. To allow students to see how currents flow and help move things around in the ocean.

TIME ALLOTMENT: 1/2 hour

CONTENT AREAS ADDRESSED:

  1. Science
  2. Social Studies
  3. Language Arts
  4. Computer Usage

CONCEPTS ADDRESSED:

  1. Research methods
  2. Lab Skills and Journal Reflection
  3. Currents
  4. Group Participation

MATERIALS:

  1. Clear buckets or small aquariums
  2. Cold and hot water
  3. Small Jar with a lid
  4. Blue Food Coloring

PROCEDURE:

  1. Introduce students to the concept of currents by asking if they know what a current is or what one looks like. Relate the information they give to the disappearance possibilities in the Bermuda Triangle. Make a connection to The Voyage of Odysseus by relating currents as a reason why Odysseus got lost in the ocean and got carried away from his home land.
  2. Ask students to predict what might happen when warm water meets cold water. After listening to a few answers, divide the students into groups of three. Hand out the following materials to the each group:

    1 aquarium

    1 jar (make sure the lid fits tight over the top)

    1 bottle of blue food coloring (groups can share if not enough to go around)

  3. Explain to the students that they will now get the opportunity to see what happens when a cold and hot water current collide. Let students get things ready by handing out to each group a lab procedure sheet that gives instructions about how to conduct the lab experiment. Refer to the lab sheet included in this lesson for an example.
  4. After students have observed what happens when warm water meets cold water, each group should work on their lab sheets.
  5. Finally, students can hand in their lab sheets, and a class review of the sheets and the experiment can take place. Allow time for any questions that the students might have from the experiment.

ASSESSMENT:

  1. Group Participation Rubric
  2. Experiment Rubric
  3. Observation Checklist
  4. Journal Rubric

EXTENSION:

(1) Let students research currents and make up a list of vocabulary words that can help them throughout the unit and a test.

REFERENCE LIST:

Cousteau, J. (1975). The ocean world of jacques cousteau. Danbury, Connecticut: Danbury Press. [ISBN: 0-8109-0579-5]

Ganeri, A. (1994). The ocean's atlas. New York: Dorling Kindersley Books.

[ISBN: 1-56458-475-5]

Ganeri, A. (1990). The usborne book of ocean facts. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Educational Developmental Corporation Publishing. [ISBN: 0-7460-0621-7]

Macquitty, M. (1995). Ocean. New York: Dorling Kindersley Books.

[ISBN: 00-679-87331-1]

Mallinson, G.G., Mallinson, J.B., Froschauer, L., Harris, J.A., Lewis, M., & Valentino, C. (1991). Science horizons - The teacher edition. Morristown: Silver Burdett & Ginn, Inc. [ISBN: 0-382-17257-4]

Mariner, T. (1990). Earth in action: Oceans. New York: Marshall Cavendish Books. [ISBN: 1-85435-190-7]

Go to:

Magnetism and the Compass

Wild Whirlpools

Table of Contents

St. Norbert College Ocean Voyager's page