Color the Currents!
Temperature Effects & Surface Currents
Surface waters of the earth’s oceans are forced to move, primarily by winds. In some
areas, winds blow in the same direction for long periods of time. Ocean currents in
these areas transport surface water over long distances. In this activity you will identify
some of these surface currents and determine their effect on the temperatures of the
continents they border.
The chart lists some of the ocean’s surface currents. Each current is identified with a
number and classified as a cold or warm current. The same currents are represented
by arrows and identified by numbers on the map on the next page.
Number
Name of Surface Current
Temperature
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
California Current
Canary Current
Gulf Stream
Kuroshio Current
East Australian Current
Benguela Current
Brazil Current
Peru Current
Antarctic Circumpolar Current
Cold
Cold
Warm
Warm
Warm
Cold
Warm
Cold
Cold
Procedure:
1. Locate each ocean current on the map.
2. Write the name of the current inside the arrow that shows the direction the
current flows.
3. Color each arrow either red to indicate warm water or blue to represent cold
water. Make a key below the map.
4. After labeling and coloring the currents on the map, answer the questions that
follow.
Questions:
1. What could be said about the temperature of the air above a warm ocean
current?
2. Cold-water currents tend to have a cooling effect on the continental coastlines
that they border, while warm-water currents tend to have a warming effect.
Describe the effects of the following Northern Hemisphere currents on the
temperature of the coastal areas they border.
a. Gulf Stream (#3)
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b. Canary Current (#2)
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3. What seems to determine whether a current carries warm or cold water? (Hint:
Look at the map!!)
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4. What would happen to Europe if the Gulf Stream Current stopped?
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