1. Lesson 4: Thank you ocean
Photo: Morguefile/matthew_hull

2. What can you hear?
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.

3. What can you see?
We are going to fly to the Pacific Ocean using Google 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’.

4. 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 (
Use Google Earth to ‘rotate’ the earth and see how vast the oceans are.
Photo: NASA

5. Can you find these oceans on a globe or map?

6. What else can you think of?
Thank you ocean!
Watch the Thank you ocean video:
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?

7. Useful websites
Wordle – generates word clouds: Thank you ocean – website dedicated to the ocean, with a section for children: Imax Under the Sea – watch a free trailer for the film: Whale banner – a slow moving Whale creeps across your screen: Activity using A Different View – focused upon a photo of a surfer Explore a virtual ocean – Poisson Rouge website: Deep Ocean videos – watch on the BBC website: Whales and dolphins quiz – an online quiz for children on the BBC website: Sound of the ocean – downloadable audio clip: Experience whales and dolphins – song and video clips: Blue whales – BBC videos about the largest animals ever to have lived: Google Earth – allows you to ‘fly’ around Earth: