1. Global Ocean Conveyor Belt, A Cold Salty Deep
This material is based on work supported by an Environmental Literacy Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Education (NA0909SEC ) and prior work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants ANT and ESI Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NOAA or the NSF.
Global Ocean Conveyor Belt, A Cold Salty Deep
ELF Activity: Hydrosphere 3A
As part of NOAA Environmental Literacy Grant #NA09SEC to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's, ANDRILL Science Management Office.

2. There is only one ocean and the waters are not still.
Give your students an outline of the world and have them draw a continuous line through all the oceans, touching all 7 continents. This will demonstrate that the oceans are all connected.
In the above picture notice how the waters of all the oceans are connected.

3. Due to winds and surface currents, the waters continually move and mix.
Scientists use buoys floating in the ocean equipped with tracking devices to create these maps. The surface water currents are different from the deep water currents driven by temperature and density.
This map shows the movement of surface water due to the action of the winds.

4. Cold, salty, dense water sinks under warmer fresher water.
The sinking of cold water at the poles and its replacement by warmer water from the equator creates a current.
This is called a thermohaline circulation because it is based on temperature and water density due to salt content.
As ocean water freezes to ice, the salt is left behind making the liquid water more salty and dense. As it sinks, warm surface water moving from the equator replaces it. This causes a current to form. Have your students follow the formation of this current cycle in the diagram here.
thermo = temperature haline = salt
Image: national academy of sciences

5. The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt
This large current of the global ocean water moves heat away from the equator and brings nutrient-rich bottom waters to areas where life thrives. Notice the current along the eastern side of the U.S. This current takes warm water to Europe and is responsible for Europe’s mild winter temperatures.
Red = warm surface water Blue = cold salty deep water

6. Warm water carried north away from the Equator provides Europe with mild winters.
You can see satellite images of the ocean’s water temperatures at noaa.gov.
Satellite image showing water temperatures along the eastern U.S.
Images:

7. A Polar View of the Global Ocean Conveyor Belt
An interesting map showing the same current from a polar angle. Here you can see the cold water which completely circles Antarctica. This is one reason Antarctica is much colder than the Arctic.

8. In these two activities (Cold Salty Deep and Global Ocean Conveyer Belt), students create models of ocean currents to demonstrate the thermohaline circulation of water throughout the Earth’s system.

9. This material is based on work supported by an Environmental Literacy Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Education (NA09SEC ) and prior work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants ANT and ESI Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the National Science Foundation.