Shannon Ford
Grade Level/Subject/Topic: 5 th Grade Science Date:
Standards Addressed: SOL 5.6 investigate and understand characteristics of the ocean environment. Key concepts include: a) geological characteristics (continental shelf, slope, rise); b) physical characteristics (depth, salinity, major currents); and c) biological characteristics (ecosystems)
Pre-Assessment: Ocean discussion, web on board
Answer questions on note cards to check for understanding and growth
Defining the Learning Goals: What the student will:
Know (Facts/Vocabulary):
The oceans cover about 70% of Earth’s surface.
-The depth of the ocean varies.
-The basic motions of ocean water are the waves, currents, and tides
-Ocean currents are caused by wind patterns and the difference in water densities.
-continental shelf, continental slope, continental rise, abyssal plain, trench, current, waves, tides
-People and industries pollute the ocean which has many affects on ocean life
-The ocean is home to many organisms which are part of human food chains.
-Light, temperature, and pressure change the deeper you go in the ocean.
Understand (Big Ideas):
-Patterns in the ocean can help us predict future events, such as weather patterns,
tsunamis, volcanoes, etc.
-How we treat pollution has an affect on plants, animals, and even humans.
Do (Specific Skills student is able to do after the lesson):
-Differentiate between the layers of the ocean floor.
-Describe the variation in depths associated with ocean features.
-Explain human effects on oceans
-Describe plant and animal life found in oceans
-Describe habitats and niches found in oceans
-Explain key terminology related to ocean environment
Materials/Supplies: laptop, webquest handout, posters, white paper, thesaurus, dictionaries, science book, binder
Oceans Menu
-appetizer: geological characteristics & pollution
-main dish: physical and geological characteristics
-dessert: biological characteristics
Procedures/Activities (Include Marzano's Strategies and Bloom's Taxonomy):

1.
Complete Oceans Menu by choosing 2 appetizers, 1 main dish, and 2 desserts.
2.
Presentations on Thursday
(If) Differentiated Instruction:
What? content process product
How? readiness interest learning profile
Why (What prompted you to differentiate in this way)?
I have completed whole group instruction, class discussions, and used interactive notetaking while teaching the ocean unit. I chose a menu to give students choices to show their under-standing of oceans. I also wanted to have them present activities to facilitate more student discussion.
Anchor Activities: ocean websites, ocean wordsearch
Post-Assessment: Test Interactive Achievement at the end of the unit
Closure: Why is Earth referred to as a “water planet”? On a card, write one new thing you learned today about oceans.
Teacher Reflection:
(What went well? What would you do differently? Why?)

Name _____________
___1. Rap or Song.
-Write a rap or song about the ocean. Include things like currents, waves, tides, parts of the ocean floor, habitats, plant and animal life.
___2. Wavy Ocean Sentences
-Write 5 descriptive ocean sentences in up and down patterns, depicting the waves of the ocean. Sentences should include descriptions of the ocean floor, waves, currents, tides, and habitats.
___3.) Obituary
-Write the obituary of an animal that died as a result of marine pollution. Explain the animal, family, habitat, and niche. Encourage readers to help prevent pollution so that other animals will not die as your animal did.
___4.) Write a story.
-You are traveling in a submarine over the ocean floor. Explain what you see as you move from layer to layer. Include how light, temperature, and pressure change. Also include habitats you see, and any pollution affecting the habitats .

___1.) Oceans Webquest
-Get the handout titled “Oceans Webquest”. Complete the webquest handout by answering the questions using given websites. You will need a laptop and may only go on the websites given to find the correct answers.
___2.) Design a poster as an advertisement.
-The ad should be titled “Would you live in a place like this?” Illustrate a polluted ocean area. Describe what caused the pollution and how it can be fixed.
___3.) ABC Ocean Book
-Write four letters of the alphabet on a page of computer paper. Do this for all the letters. Choose a word beginning with that letter that you would find in the ocean. (Examples include animals, plants, levels of the ocean floor….) Write a fact about that word and draw a picture.

___1.) Acrostic
-Using the word “OCEAN”, write an acrostic poem explaining ocean features, such as waves, tides, and currents. Include how these affect the ocean.
___2.) Newspaper article
-Write an informative newspaper article describing a clean ocean. Explain how waves, tides, and currents affect the ocean.
___3.) Poem
-Write a poem that explains how an ocean becomes polluted. Include the affects on ocean life and on people. The poem may or may not rhyme. It must have at least 6 lines.
____4.) Want Ad
-Write a want ad for the newspaper. Pretend you are an ocean, you choose which one. You are looking for helpers to clean you up. Explain what happened, who caused the pollution, and how it can be fixed.
You may use your binders, science book, library books, internet, or thesaurus if you need more information.
Below is a schedule for completing this assignment:
Monday
Tuesday
Complete 2 appetizers
Complete main dish and begin on a dessert
Wednesday Complete desserts and prepare for presentations
Thursday Presentations

Mechanics
Presentation
Appetizer
Avg.
Main Dish
Dessert
20
All words were spelled correctly; letters were capitalized, and correct
Student uses a clear voice and correct, precise pronunciation of terms
15
There were between one and three mistakes in the project
Student’s voice is clear. Student pronounces most words correctly
Student stayed on topic, correctly completed the assignment following all directions, gave details to explain
Activity was completed following directions, all questions answered or all parts completed
Directions were followed and all parts were included, details given
Student stayed on topic, correctly completed the assignment following all directions, gave no details
Activity was completed following directions, some info was incorrect or not answered
Directions were followed and most parts were included, details given
10
There were between four and six mistakes in the project
Student incorrectly pronounces terms.
Audience members have difficulty hearing presentation
Student steered from the topic, didn’t complete assignment according to directions, gave a few details
Activity was not completely finished or some info was not answered or left out
Directions were followed and most parts were included, no details
5
There were more than six mistakes in the project.
Student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, and speaks too quietly for students in the back to hear
Student didn’t complete the topic or give details to explain the activity
Activity was incomplete, few details, some info was left out to completely finish the project
Directions were not followed, steered off topic, no details

OCEANS WEBQUEST
SOL 5.6
Name _____________
DIRECTIONS: You will complete a webquest on oceans. The answers to these questions are located on the given websites. Read over the information on each website to find the answers to the following questions. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/earth/ocean_motion/ocean_motion_index.cfm
1. What percentage of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans?
2.
Ocean currents move more ________ than winds and retain more _____ than the atmosphere. http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/sea_otter.php
3. What is the largest member of the weasel family and is also the second smallest marine mammal?
4. What is the average weight of the southern male and female sea otters?
Male - Female -
5. In which ocean would you find sea otters? http://www.mos.org/oceans/life/surface.html
6. What are the most abundant plants in the ocean that are single-celled, minute floating plants that drift throughout the surface of the ocean?
7. What are the three groups of marine animals? http://www.mos.org/oceans/motion/currents.html
8. Who first mapped the Gulf Stream?
9.
What causes currents to flow?

http://www.reefnews.com/reefnews/infopage/oceans/ocean.html
10. Which two oceans cover 56% of the Earth when combined together?
11. Name the oceans that make up the one big ocean. http://www.onr.navy.mil/Focus/ocean/motion/currents1.htm
12. What forces keep our current in constant motion? http://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageseas/deep-side-journey.html
13. What was the name of the “deep boat” that reached the deepest part of the Pacific
Ocean’s Marianas Trench on January 23, 1960?
http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/motion/tides1.htm
14. What two things cause tides?
-
-

Write the answers on index cards.
Ocean Pre-Assessment
SOL 5.6
1. What percent of Earth’s surface is covered by oceans?
2. Which part of the ocean floor do you play on at the beach?
3. What is constantly pushing ocean waters around the planet?
4. What causes tides?
5. What is the deepest part of the ocean floor?
6. What three things change as you go deeper into the ocean?
7. Give one way in which oceans can become polluted.
8. List the oceans.