Oceans and Climate
By Aubrey DeJonghe and Jenna Cummings
GLCE: ES.07.73 Explain how the temperature of the oceans affects the different climates on Earth
because water in the oceans holds a large amount of heat.
Time Allotment: 2-3 class periods
Engage: (Send Flat Stanley out 1 week before lesson)
The engage portion of our lesson will be using the educational paper doll named “Flat Stanley.” Flat
Stanley would have already been implemented into the class during previous units because we would
have already been sending Flat Stanley to students that we contacted in other parts of the U.S. or world.
He is an educational tool where students are able to send him all over the world, in order for them to take
pictures with him and write to the students about where Flat Stanley has visited.
For this lesson, we would have had the students send Flat Stanley to a student near the West coast of
the U.S. that is affected by the westerlies the week before we started this lesson. We would ask those
people to take pictures of Flat Stanley outside and talk about the climate he is in, then send the
information back to the student. It is our hope that some people take pictures near the ocean, for the
students to be able to compare and contrast the difference in climates. They would use their own
experience with the climate in Michigan for this specific activity to contrast with.
The purpose of this activity is to see that the climate on in Michigan is much different from the climate on
the West coast.
Explore: (1 class period)
Materials for each group: soil, water, two heat lamps with clamps, two lab stands, four thermometers,
timer and two deep pans.
The students will complete an activity that exhibits the high specific heat of water as compared to soil.
This activity can be done as a class or in small groups, but it will be more effective and beneficial in small
groups. In this experiment, the water represents the ocean and the soil represents a continent.
First, the students should hypothesize, in an “if/then” statement, what they think that they are going to
observe and discover. This should be done individually. Once this is completed, then the class will start
the experiment.
For the experiment, each group should get all of the materials provided to them. The water should be
placed in one pan and the soil in the other pan, with the heat lamps positioned approximately six inches
above the pans. In order to do this, the heat lamps will be clamped to the lab stands. They will then place
one thermometer in each pan, out of the direct light from the heat lamps. There will be a table provided to
them on their worksheet to record their data so it is easy to see and compare later.
When the experiment is started, the students will take the initial temperature of both the water and soil
before turning on the heat lamps, and record them on their table. Next, have the students turn on the
lamps and record the temperature of the water, soil and the air above the water and the soil, every five
minutes, for a total of 35 minutes. They will record all of their data on the data chart provided.
Through this experiment, the students will see that it takes longer for the water to heat up than the soil
does. They can then infer that since it is taking longer for the water to heat up, it will take the water much
longer to cool down, understanding that water maintains a specific temperature much longer than the soil
does. They will also see that the water and soil are maintaining their temperature, which is what heats up
the air above the water and the soil.
Explain: (The day after experiment)
As a class, we will discuss the results while asking questions such as “why do you think the water took
much longer to heat up than the soil?” Then we will talk about what specific heat is by giving the students
the definition and also explain the specific heat of soil and water. Water has a specific heat of 4.18J/g,
and soil has a specific heat of 1.26 J/g. This information shows that water (ocean) has a much greater
specific heat than soil (continent) does.
Another important concept to discuss is that since water has such a high heat capacity, it maintains a
specific temperature much longer than most substances. We will also introduce the idea that the high
heat capacity, due to the high specific heat of water, causes the oceans around the world have an effect
on the climate. The students would have already learned about the Westerlies before this lesson and we
would explain that the ocean heats up the air directly above the surface of the ocean, then the Westerlies
move the heated air across a portion of North America, which affects the climate in part of the U.S. We
would also be referring back to upwelling, which is something that they would have already talked about
in a previous unit.
Relating back to the Flat Stanley activity the students did in the “engage” portion of this lesson, we would
talk about the differences in the climates between Michigan and the West coast location that Flat Stanley
visited. This would lead us into talking about how the ocean surface currents also help to transport the
heat from the equator to the poles, which helps to understand if the temperature of the air that is being
blown onto land is cold or warm air. If it the ocean surface currents are warm, then the air blown onto the
continent will be warm, helping to warm up the air above the continent. If the ocean surface currents are
cold, then the air blown onto the continent will be cooler, cooling down the air above the continent.
Elaborate: (After talking about everything in the “explain”portion)
The students will be given a map with labeled currents that show the temperature of the ocean surface
currents; red for warm, blue for cold. Also, there will be points labeled on the maps labeling two different
cities; One on the West coast with a maritime climate and one on the East coast with a continental
climate. The students will be predicting what kind of climate that the cities will have, based on their
location, using the information that they gained in class about how the oceans, wind and ocean surface
currents work together to affect the climate.They will also be filling out questions provided to them on a
worksheet that is given to them with the map on it.
Evaluate:
In order to evaluate the students, we will be grading their lab activity from the “explore” section of this
lesson, as well as the map worksheet that they complete in the “elaborate” section. From both of these
activities, we will be able to see if they understand all of the concepts that we explained in the lesson.