Ocean Surface Currents in the Classroom

The Ocean Motion web site provides (http://oceanmotion.org) classroom ready materials for high school teachers and students to investigate ocean surface currents. The story of humankind's interest in surface currents has an adventuresome background in early seafaring and exploration and their patterns of movement impacts the weather, climate, commerce natural disasters and sea life. Lesson one encourages students to learn why Columbus landed in the Caribbean and not New York City and how Captain Bligh survived the mutiny on the Bounty. Satellites that monitor the sea surface environment are emphasized. Investigate a multi-year record of global data for sea surface temperature, height, winds, and ocean color. These global data are made available to teachers and students through an easy-to-use interface. The range of topics covered by the Teacher and Student Guides, their stand-alone style and focus on traditional science concepts will promote their use in traditional science and mathematics classrooms