Teacher's Notes

. 3 large sheets of paper with backgrounds depicting 3 ocean layers (photic zone, twilight zone, the zone of total darkness) - children may be able to create these if time permits / mount these on the classroom wall

. computers with internet access and a painting program

. drawing and writing materials

STUDENTS WILL:

. use photographs to help them understand the various layers of the oceans

. imagine the things that they might see on a dive into the ocean

. discuss the special adaptations of animals in different parts of the sea

. draw pictures of animals that live in different parts of the ocean and display them in a mural

. write about a few sentences about a sea creature

BODY:

Introduction -

. Use the world ocean map to discuss the position of the world's ocean in relation to our country.

. Ask the children to think about the ways in which people interact with the ocean:

** Ask them how things like ships, boats, fishing lines, waste products might affect the creatures and plants that live there.

** Is it appropriate that people keep doing these things? How can we take better care of the oceans?

Step One -

. Create a dot-pointed list (board or computer) of the things that the children think that they may see in the ocean (animals & plants).

** What might it be like to dive into the ocean? (keep a list words & phrases the children use for later reference)

. Have the children visit the photographs of undersea creatures and using the visual clues from the photos see if they can determine where the photos were taken.

. At this point discuss the various layers of the ocean

. Have the children justify their reasoning.

Step Two -

. Have the children view the webpage of the different ocean layers. Talk about each layers using the following ideas:

~~ as the water gets deeper it gets colder and darker

. Ask the students to think about the following points:

** What things would animals need to be able to survive at the various ocean depths (how would it breathe in deep ocean, how could they find their prey at dark depths, how do they stop from drying out on the exposed rocks at low tide)

. Deduce with the students that sea creatures all have adaptations to suit the layer of the ocean in which they live.

. Use the internet links to find out about creatures that live in the various ocean layers.

Conclusion -

. Ask the children to choose a creature from an ocean layer. Using the drawing tools in a program such as Kidpix have the children draw and possibly label a creature from that ocean layer. When complete have the children attach their work to the chart depicting that layer.

. As an extension the children could write a sentence or two under their work pointing out any special adaptations that that creature has to enable its survival in that particular layer.

. The children, as another extension, could imagine that they are diving and photographing their creature. They could write about their imagined experience.

. An alternative way of displaying the children's work could be to save their Kidpix drawings in a slideshow - mount the images on an appropriate background and then export the material into a quicktime movie and place on the school's website for all to view.

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