Lesson 4: Thank you ocean Photo: Morguefile/matthew_hull

What can you hear? 1. www.soundsnap.com/node/7362 2. www.visualdolphin.com/songs.html 3. www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/Blue_Whale Play some sounds of crashing waves using link 1 and some whale songs using link 2. The video on link 3 is a great introduction to whales.

What can you see? We are going to fly to the Pacific Ocean using Google Earth (www.google.com/earth). When looking at the Pacific Ocean using Google Earth, hardly any land can be seen. Remind pupils why Earth is referred to as ‘little blue planet’.

A view of Earth’s oceans The bright green, yellows and reds in this image show where phytoplankton are blooming in the ocean. Phytoplankton are very small, single-celled plants, generally smaller than the size of a pinhead, that contain a green pigment called chlorophyll. All plants (on land and in the ocean) use chlorophyll to capture energy from the sun for use in photosynthesis. Although individual phytoplankton are microscopic, they can bloom in such large numbers that they can change the colour of the ocean so much that we can measure the change from space. See NASA (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=4097) Use Google Earth to ‘rotate’ the earth and see how vast the oceans are. Photo: NASA http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=4097

Can you find these oceans on a globe or map?

What else can you think of? Thank you ocean! Watch the Thank you ocean video: www.thankyouocean.org Thank you Thank you for the ride Surfboard, boat, hovercraft, tanker, kayak, yacht, submarine Thank you for the job Fisherman, sailor, captain, dock worker, holiday rep, surfer, lighthouse keeper, booking agent, explorer Thanks you for the air For children, adults and animals to breathe Thank you for the water Rain to water the plants, to make rivers and streams, and to give us water to drink and wash Thank you for dinner Fish, crabs, seaweed, shrimps, prawns Thank you for the adventure Fun by the sea, exploring new places, splashing in the waves What else can you think of?

Useful websites Wordle – generates word clouds: www.wordle.net Thank you ocean – website dedicated to the ocean, with a section for children: www.thankyouocean.org Imax Under the Sea – watch a free trailer for the film: www.imax.com/underthesea Whale banner – a slow moving Whale creeps across your screen: www.wdcs.co.uk/media/flash/whalebanner/content_pub_en.html Activity using A Different View – focused upon a photo of a surfer www.geography.org.uk/download/GA_ADVASenseOfPerspective.pdf Explore a virtual ocean – Poisson Rouge website: www.poissonrouge.com/aquarium/index.htm Deep Ocean videos – watch on the BBC website: www.bbc.co.uk/nature/habitats/Deep_sea Whales and dolphins quiz – an online quiz for children on the BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_1700000/newsid_1709300/1709378.stm Sound of the ocean – downloadable audio clip: www.soundsnap.com/node/7362 Experience whales and dolphins – song and video clips: www.visualdolphin.com/songs.html Blue whales – BBC videos about the largest animals ever to have lived: www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/Blue_Whale Google Earth – allows you to ‘fly’ around Earth: www.google.com/earth