Ocean: Day One

Water and Waves

Purpose:
Help children understand the differences between fresh water and sea water and that the ocean has waves.

Materials:
ocean-themed books
globe or map of the earth
water
salt
2 clear containers/bowls
egg
blue paint
white paper
2 small bowls
sponge

Learning Activities:
1. Read an ocean-themed book to introduce lesson. (We read Out of the Ocean by Debra Frasier. It's a great book about all the things that the ocean brings us: from items washed on the shore by the waves, the sun and sand, and even the water itself.) Make sure to point out the water/waves in the ocean, asking questions like: "Where is the water? sun? etc."

2. "This week we are going to be learning about the ocean." Show the globe/map of the earth . "Oceans cover a big part of the earth. Look at all the blue areas on the globe/map. These are areas of water." (You can talk about rivers, lakes, etc and how they are different from the oceans. Point out the oceans cover a majority of our planet.)

3. Salty Ocean
"In the ocean, the water is different from the water in lakes and rivers and the water we drink. We're going to do an experiment to see some of the differences."


Fill 2 clear containers with water. Talk about how they are the same. (taste, if you want.)
Pour a good amount of salt into one container and stir until dissolved. Is the water the same? Why? or why not? (observe differences, smell/taste both) Ocean water is salty and not good to drink. It's different from water in lakes, rivers, ponds, etc.

4. Will it Float?
Using the same fresh/salt water, place an egg into the fresh water and observe what happens (it sinks.)


Now, take the egg and put it into the salt water. What happens? (It floats.) Why do you think it's different in this water? (The salt makes the water denser.) You can continue the experiment with other objects like soap.


5. Ocean Waves
In the ocean, the water doesn't just sit flat like at the swimming pool. Because the earth is constantly rotating (moving) and because of the pull of gravity, the ocean water is moving. We call this movement: waves. (Do actions as you tell this story and get kids standing up and moving like waves, too.)

Sing this song (you will add other verses as the week goes on):
"Waves in the Ocean" (to the tune of "Wheels on the Bus")

Waves in the ocean go up and down,
up and down,
up and down.
Waves in the ocean go up and down,
all day long.

(Have children stand up and make ocean waves with their hands/arms and then move their body up and down with the song.)


5. Squeezing Water Fun
Use 2 small bowls, one empty and one filled with water. Children soak the sponge in the water and squeeze it out into the empty bowl until all water has been transferred.


Conclusion:
Sing the ocean waves song again. Talk about how the waves of the ocean and the salt in sea water make it different from other water on the earth.


Enrichment:

1. Introduce the words for the week:
Ocean
Water
Blue
Fish
Two

2. Waves Painting
Give children large sheets of white paper. Place a dollop of blue finger paint on papers. Show children how to spread the pail all over the papers with their fingers. Then, show children how to make waves, like the waves of the ocean, with their fingers of the side of their hands. Let the papers dry and save them for tomorrow's lesson.