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Description

To learn about how water moves around the planet and the importance of ocean currents (science experiment).

Resources

- Cold water
- hot water
- ice/icepack
- blue & red food colouring (water based)
- clear baking dish/container
- Ocean currents (attachment/printout)

Instructions

The ocean is important to all life on earth. Oceans are an important source of food for many people around the world and they are also home to as many as 2 million different types of species of animals. We use the ocean for transport and fun activities like swimming, boating, and surfing.
But the ocean is also important at producing the air we breathe (producing over 50% of the world’s oxygen) and by regulating climate (long term weather patterns).

Instructions in italics are for leaders’ reference only

Ask the group if they’ve heard of ocean currents before? Can they name any of them?
Have they seen Finding Nemo? If so, they’ve probably heard of the EAC (East Australian Current).

There are many ocean currents around they world and they play an important role in the lives of all animals all over the world. (See attached printout) Does anyone know what is the role and importance of ocean currents?

• They regulate climate by moving heat from the equator toward the poles
• They carry nutrients and food. This is important to sessile (non-moving) animals likes barnacles and corals
• They carry animals & their reproductive material (like coral eggs and sperm) to new areas.

To create your own ocean, pour your cold water into the container until it is around 3cm deep (or 1/3 of the depth). Add blue food colouring and your ice/icepack. In four cups of very hot water mix in the red food colouring.

Once the ‘ocean’ water is very cold (the colder the better) carefully pour the hot water into the corner of the container.

This YouTube video shows thermoclines (layers of different water temperatures) and is similar to what we would expect from this experiment: https://youtu.be/C57P7ncqeQY

You will see the red and blue water move around the clear container, similar to how the warm and cool waters of the ocean move.

Eventually, the hot and cold water will mix and become purple, as it does in the ocean.

Tags

• experiment
• GCE
• Global Citizen
• global citizenship education
• Ocean
• Ocean current
• SDG 14 Life below Water
• SDG14
• water

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