Activities, lessons & resources
Books and Videos
Deeper Than Light" (book) : A beautifully illustrated book written for the public with stories from the deep. Written by 7 scientists from the CoML deepsea groups, to be printed in 7 different languages. English version available for purchase on Amazon.co.uk.- "Deep-Ocean Journeys - Discovering New Life at the Bottom of the Sea" (book) by C.L. Van Dover. An excellent introduction to the natural history of hydrothermal vent ecosystems. Suitable for high school readers.
- "Volcanoes of the Deep-Sea" (film/DVD) : Filmed for the giant screen, "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea" brings to life the astounding sights that lie 12,000 feet below the surface of the ocean at hydrothermal vents. The film is available on DVD through Amazon.
- "Aliens of the Deep" (film/DVD) : "An incredible underwater adventure that offers extraordinary glimpses of unbelievable creatures that live in an alien world in the deepest depths of the sea." The film also explores parallels with life in outer space.
Activities
- Ridge 2000 Data Tips are individual student lessons built around real mid-ocean ridge datasets to help students develop analytical skills. Each Data Tip consists of: a dataset; a description of how data were collected and why; guidance on how to analyze and interpret data. Data Tips are developed by scientists working closely with educators.
- Diversity of the Deep. Examine the diversity of organisms living near deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean.
- The Seafloor Below. Use oceanographic data to create a 3D plot of a volcano submerged off the coast of Oregon.
- Discovering plate boundaries. A data-rich exercise from Rice University, for grades 5-12.
- A variety of activities are outlined in the Teachers Guides accompanying each of two IMAX films about the deep ocean. Download the pdfs (each about 2MB) from the “Educators” section of the Volcanoes of the Deep Sea website, and the "Educational Materials" section of the Aliens of the Deep website.
Lessons
- SEAS. A Ridge 2000 program for middle and high school students offering deep-sea curricula and a Classroom-to-Sea laboratory with deep-sea data.
- Dive and Discover from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Includes “Infomods,” stand-alone modules on a range of topics, including plate tectonics, hydrothermal vents and mid-ocean ridges.
- NEMO. Curriculum for middle and high school students, from the NEMO project of the National Atmospheric and Oceanographic Administration (NOAA).
- Lesson plans and curriculum from NOAA’s Ocean Explorer.
- American Museum of Natural History’s Resources for Learning: Deep Sea Vents. Two units, “Explore the Deep Oceans” and “Journey to the Deep Sea Vents” provide activities that help students understand the deep sea environment and the technologies that allow scientific discoveries to be made there.
- Puna Ridge. An activity developed in 1998, but still relevant for “science factoids” and lessons (on the scientific method and understanding maps).
Resources
- Venture Deep Ocean: Find out more about the extraordinary deep-sea creatures and landscapes investigated by Ridge 2000 researchers
- Sea Vent Viewer: Explore the seafloor and hydrothermal vent environment with NSF's interactive Sea Vent Viewer.
- Video footage of the seafloor and animals around hydrothermal vents, from
