Looking for a quick mini lesson and kids project on the Ocean Floor? Check out this quick lesson and activity you can do with any student who is around age 8 and up. We are lucky enough that we live by the ocean, but if you don’t readily have a beach available, you can use dirt, sand, kinetic sand, or clay to complete this project. You will also want to have some natural materials nearby, such as shells, sticks, leaves, etc.
This mini lesson contains three parts: watching a video on the ocean floor, creating a model of the ocean floor, and finishing with a labeling worksheet. Always please screen vidoes before showing to children!
Video
Recommended video on The Ocean Floor
Project
After watching this short video, your student can then construct their own model of the ocean floor using natural materials. If indoors you could use clay, Playdoh, or kinetic sand. Some items they would want to include in their model:
- Continental Shelf: the part of the Ocean floor closest to the coastline. Gradually the continental shelf declines until the the drop off point at the continental slope, about 100 meters from the shoreline.
- Continental Slope: located at the edge of the continental shelf, this is a steep inclined drop off, towards the deeper parts of the ocean floor.
- Continental Rise: the transition area between the continental slope and the abyssal plains.
- Abyssal Plain: vast and flat areas of the deep ocean floor.
- Mid-Ocean Ridge: a long chain of underwater mountains, often with a large rift, or gap, in the center due to the spreading of the plates on the Earth’s crust.
- Seamount: an underwater volcano or mountain.
Parts of the Ocean Floor Labeling
Third (and this is totally optional) you could complete a labeling worksheet on the parts of the ocean floor. I created this resource and used it for my children.
For more lesson and projects about the Earth, check out our section on Rocks & Minerals.
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