OCEANS

EARTH'S OCEANS

VOCABULARY TO KNOW:

• Sea level = the level of the ocean's surface halfway between high and low tides.
• Ocean floor = Earth's surface underneath the ocean floor.
• Bathymetric map = A map of the bottom of the ocean showing the ocean floor.
• Echo sounding = determanation of the depth of water using sound waves.
• Continental shelf = the area where it is shallow and then slowly becomes ocean.

Earth is full of ponds, streams, creeks, lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans. Earth has 5 oceans. The world is covered by 71% water.The Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean, and the southern ocean are the major oceans.

OCEAN CURRENTS

VOCABULARY TO KNOW:

• Ocean current = is a directed movement in an ocean.
• Salinity = the quantity of salt the body of water has.
• Gyre = a whirl.

An ocean current is any more or less permanent or continuous, directed movement of ocean water that flows in one of the Earth's oceans. The currents are generated from the forces acting upon the water like the earth's rotation, the wind, the temperature and salinity differences and the gravitation of the moon.

THE OCEAN SHORE

VOCABULARY TO KNOW:

• Shore = land along the edge of the sea, lake, or body of water.
• Shoreline = the line where along which a body of water meets the land.
• Longshore current = an ocean current moves parallel to the shore.
• Longshore drift = a movement of water the moves by the shore but moves directly away from it.
• Rip current = swift currents that moves away from the shore.

Sand isn't just an ordinary word for those particles that you find at the beach. It's a term to describe rocks that are 0.0625 mm and 2.0 in diameter.

LIVING ON THE CALIFORNIA COAST

VOCABULARY TO KNOW:

• California current = a cold current along the california coast
• Davidson current = warm water current near california current.
• Habitat = a place which an animal lives in.
• Marine = refers to anything that is related to the ocean.

An ocean is full of marine life. They can be really tiny or humongous. Some of these animals you can keep at home and some you can't. Some you can eat and others you can't.