How big and how deep is the ocean?

Lesson overview

This lesson sets the scene for the whole deep-sea exploration unit. 71% of our blue planet is covered by ocean, with an average depth of 2.3 miles. At least 97% of our biosphere is in the ocean and it produces half the oxygen we breath. The oceans affect people’s food, safety, livelihoods, transport and access to resources, yet we know very little about the deep ocean – we have better maps of the moon! This lesson explores the importance of the ocean and introduces students to some of the strange creatures which inhabit the deep sea.

Learning outcomes

  • Discuss prior knowledge of the ocean
  • Understand the scale of the ocean
  • Describe how the ocean affects our lives
  • Compare, observe and ask questions about the features of deep-sea creatures
  • Review learning and make suggestions for future learning

Lesson steps

  1. Brief and Assessment for Learning (10mins)
    Students are introduced to the unit, lesson title and expected outcomes and discuss what they already know about oceans.
  2. Oceans and us (15 mins)
    Students are guided in discussion about the importance of deep-sea exploration, the scale of oceans and how they affect our lives
  3. Deep-sea creatures (10 mins)
    Students view the Deep-sea creatures gallery, make observations and ask questions about the features of living things.
  4. Deep-sea funnies game (15 mins)
    Students demonstrate their learning by playing Deep-sea funnies though comparing size, depth, weird rating and predator level.
  5. Future learning (10 mins)
    Students discuss what they are interested in finding out about during this unit and share ideas.