Jennifer Arnold
4th grade
Oceanography
Concepts: interdependence, organisms, environment, survival, balance
Generalizations:
 Organisms and their environment are interdependent.
 Interdependence within an environment is necessary for an organism’s survival.
 Organisms have a specific role in their environments.
 Balance between organisms and their environment is necessary for the
environment’s survival.
Essential Questions:
 How are organisms and their environment interdependent?
 Why is interdependence necessary for survival?
 In what ways, do organisms play a specific role in their environment?
 Why is balance between organisms and their environment necessary?
Day One:
 Discuss islands. Create a concept web of things associated with islands. Explain
that the students will work in groups. Each group will be banished to an island
and are responsible for researching life on that island. Using the concept web,
have the students create lists of questions/info to find about their island.
 Break into groups and research individual islands. When students are finished,
gather together to share what they’ve learned. Compare and contrast the various
islands. Discuss interdependence and how life on the island is affected by the
island.
Day Two:
 Using candy, replicate the oceanic food chain and discuss. Share a PowerPoint
presentation about plankton. Discuss the different types of plankton and show
pictures of plankton. Discuss their features and how these features help them
survive.
 Discuss floating in salt water and share a demonstration. Provide the students with
various materials and explain that they must use creative problem solving to
replicate a floating plankton. Allow them to work. Then, time their plankton as
they float. Give an award to the longest floating plankton. Then, discuss why
plankton’s floating ability is important to other living things in the ocean.
Day Three:
 Discuss algae. Why is algae important in the ocean? How does it affect ocean
life? Then ask how does algae effect our lives? Present the students with various
common household materials. Explain that algae can be found in many of these

products. Discuss ingredients that are made from or contain algae. Have the
students predict which products contain algae.
Divide into stations. Have the students rotate to investigate each set of products.
Which may contain algae and which do not? Work through each of the stations.
Discuss their results. Compare and contrast to their predictions. Discuss what this
teaches us about interdependence.
Day Four:
 Create a slide show of coral reefs and animals, including bleached or dead corals.
Explain to the students the process of coral bleaching, what happens, and what is
being done to stop it. Explain that there are varying viewpoints about coral reefs.
 Break the students into 5 groups: Nat’l Geographic coral reef protectors, workers
for an oil drilling company, government official from a small island, avid scuba
divers, and fish. Have each group decide if their group would be for or against
stricter snorkeling and scuba laws. Have each group prepare a presentation to
describe how they feel. Share each presentation. Discuss their ideas.
Day Five:
 Draw students attention to a marshmallow dipped in chocolate shell. Ask what
will happen when it’s squeezed? Squeeze it and relate this to plate tectonics.
Show a picture of Yellowstone’s Ole Faithful and explain that there are
hydrothermal vents just like this on the ocean floor. Ask if anything lives learn
these vents?
 Share a slideshow of animals that live near hydrothermal vents. Discuss their
adaptations. Then, explain that the students have just discovered a new creature
that lives near a hydrothermal vent. Have them draw a picture of this creature,
thinking about its adaptations and how it survives in this harsh environment.
Include information that shows the creatures interdependence with other creatures
of its environment. Share and discuss their work.
Day Six:
 Explain to students that the ocean can be over 7 miles deep in some places.
Discuss the environment there. Then, show a slideshow of bioluminescence
animals. Explain that bioluminescence has many purposes. Model communication
by giving students flashlights and Morse style codes. Using their flashlights
communicate until they find their match.
 Talk about other uses for bioluminescence. Break the students into groups and
assign each group a bioluminescent behavior. Using flashlights and glow sticks
create skits to model these behaviors. Have the other students guess their
behavior. Discuss why these are important and how they relate to
interdependence.
Day 7-9:
 Each student will choose one oceanic animal to research. They will research the
animal, create a list of new facts, categorize these facts, and then create a product
to teach the other students about their chosen animal.