By Katie, Kayla & Luc

All the oceans together contain about 97% of all the water on the earth. Every living thing needs water to survive. We don’t need salt water, actually it makes humans more thirsty, but the salt water from the ocean can be converted to fresh drinking water, which is essential for survival. L

Over half of the oxygen in the air comes from the ocean. Without oxygen animals wouldn’t survive, and green, non-aquatic plants alone probably wouldn’t produce enough oxygen for everyone. Algae is a type of plant in the ocean that can produce oxygen. K

Minerals and elements can be found in the ocean, actually around 60 important elements have been known to come from the ocean. The ocean floor has oil, which is just one of the important things that humans rely on for many different things. Bromine is just one of many substances that can be found in the ocean. Ka

TRANSPORTATION! We depend on the ocean as a form of transportation because people are constantly shipping things and traveling over seas. Cars, along with other things that aren't able to fit in a plane have to be brought across somehow. The only other way is on a ship. We think the ocean almost acts as an international highway, it takes you wherever you want to go. L

There are a lot of activities you can do that involve the ocean, like water skiing or surfing. We also love to look at the ocean, its eye candy, something pretty to look at. The ocean isn't only there for the important stuff, its there so we can have fun! Ka

How Is The Ocean Studied? The study of the ocean is known as Oceanography or can also be called Marine Science, all meaning the same thing. K

The ocean is studied in a variety of ways, The most popular being Biological Oceanography, which is the study of all the living things among the ocean. Other types of Ocean studies include Chemical Oceanography which studies the chemicals in the ocean and the relationship the ocean has on the rest of the world. Geological Oceanography, which is the study of the ocean floor and Physical Oceanography, the study of the oceans movement, including currents, tides, waves etc. L

In Biological oceanography the biologist studies everything living they can find, ranging from microscopic creatures to marine mammals. As the biologist studies them they are classified based off of their environment. K

Chemical Oceanography (or Marine Chemistry) has to do with all the chemicals found in the ocean. They research things like biogeochemical cycle. Other topics they research include ways of helping out the earth and reducing the impact of global warming, one such way is dumping large amounts of lime into the ocean which reduces its acidity and also increases the rate at which CO2 is absorbed. Mr. Svarc Ka

In Geological Oceanography (also called marine geology) the Geologist studies the floor of the ocean, which includes the movement of tectonic plates. By studying the plates they can get a better sense of when large earthquakes may happen or large volcanic eruptions which can help save many peoples lives. One of the most common uses of Marine Geology is economic reasons, like finding new oil fields or for mining metals. L

The last large branch of Marine Science is Physical Oceanography. In Physical Oceanography the physical processes of the Ocean are studied which means how the water moves around the earth and causes tides, waves, currents etc. K

Works Cited “Biogeochemical Cycle.” Wikipedia,The Free Encyclopedia. 3 November Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 21 September “Chemical Oceanography.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 11 September Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 21 September Clark, Duncan. “Cquestrate: Adding Lime to the Oceans.” The Guardian. 13 July Guardian News and Media Ltd. 21 September “Importance of the Ocean.” Infoplease Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. 21 September “Importance of the Ocean.” The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia on Fact Monster. Pearson Education. 21 September

Joshi, Mohit. “Algae growth in ocean fertilizing test surprises scientists.” 14 February (Online Image.) Top News.In. 19 September “Littoral Zone.” Wikipedia,The Free Encyclopedia. 9 September Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 21 September “Marine Biology.” Wikipedia,The Free Encyclopedia. 19 September Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 21 September “Marine Geology.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 31 August Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 21 September “Ocean Chemistry.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 14 July Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 21 September “Oceanography.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 18 September Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 21 September “Physical Oceanography.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 14 September Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 21 September

“Why are Oceans Important?” Protect Planet Ocean Protectedplanet.net. 19 September