Did you know that 97% of all of the water on Earth is in the oceans?
There are five named oceans around the world and these are all connected to form the global ocean. These are home to millions of species of animals and plants, which are adapted to living in the wide array of habitats.
Teach your children about the seas and oceans using our handy topic guide!
Teaching Ideas
- Use the incredible picture book Flotsam in a wide range of curriculum areas.
- Test your children’s knowledge of the oceans by playing our Ocean Explorers game.
- Challenge your children to create their own food chains based on different ocean habitats.
- Learn about the layers of the ocean with this science project.
- Can your class draw a life-size blue whale?
- Find out how human activity affects life in the oceans. What can we do to protect the oceans and the plants and animals living in them?
Resources
- Remember to download our popular Oceans Mini Pack.
- Ask your children to match the continents and oceans on this activity sheet.
- Use these ‘Under the Sea Inspiration Posters‘ as the starting point for a wide range of ocean-themed activities.
Oceans Knowledge Organiser
Members of Teaching Packs can download a comprehensive knowledge organiser to accompany this topic. It includes key information that your children can use for reference and research, along with topic vocabulary, a labelled map of the world’s oceans and photographs to illustrate the topic.
Not a member yet? Join us today!
Ocean Facts
- The Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest and deepest ocean. It covers more than 30% of the Earth’s surface.
- The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system and it is over 2,600km in length.
- The average depth of the oceans is 4km.
- The phytoplankton living in the world’s oceans produce between 50% and 85% of the oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere.
- Only about 5% of the oceans have been explored by humans.
Videos
Oceans of the World for Kids
This video teaches children about oceans of the world, ocean animals, how people use the oceans, related vocabulary, useful facts and much more.
Running time: 8:43
Ocean Animals for Kids
Teach your children about a range of ocean animals (including sea lions, coral, orcas, manta rays and clams) with this short movie. It includes a huge collection of images, videos and facts to explore.
Running time: 13:13
Oceans 101
This video from National Geographic helps children to learn about the oceans and how climate change is impacting them. It also discusses some potential solutions to the changes.
Running time: 2:53
Coral Reef and Aquarium Relaxation Video
This beautiful video shows fish and a variety of other sea creatures swimming around a coral reef. It has relaxing music playing in the background and could be a useful starting point for descriptive writing, poetry or discussion.
Running time: 2:00:05
Books
Flip Flap Ocean
This rhyming book lets you create endless combinations of ocean creatures.
Sharing a Shell
This underwater tale from popular children’s author Julia Donaldson helps children to learn about sharing.
Commotion in the Ocean
Introduce your children to a number of sea creatures using this rhyming picture book.
Tiddler
Every day, Tiddler is late for school, and every day he has another tall tale for his teacher. But who will believe him when he really does get captured in a net?
The Rainbow Fish
The most beautiful fish in the entire ocean discovers the real value of personal beauty and friendship.
Flotsam
Explore this beautiful picture book with the children in your class and use it as the starting point for a wide range of learning opportunities.
The Big Book of the Blue
This beautiful book answers questions about the oceans and the creatures living in them.
Ocean: A Children's Encyclopedia
This fantastic reference resource features high quality photos to teach children about the oceans.
Ultimate Oceanpedia
This reference book includes facts, photos, illustrations and tips to help your children learn about the creatures, science and ecology of the oceans.
Links
- If you have VR headsets, watch this 360º wild dolphin experience and then write a diary entry about your adventure!
- Write a report about the topic, using the following sites for reference:
- This article from BBC Bitesize offers a great overview of the topic. It also has videos and a game to play.
- Ducksters has a useful reference page about oceans that children can use independently.
- Learn about the oceans with these interactive pages from DK Find Out!
- Find out about some very unusual ocean creatures on this page from National Geographic Kids.
- Try this quiz to test your knowledge of oceans.
- World Oceans Day takes place on 8th June every year. The official site has a number of resources and activities to try.
Are you teaching your children about other topics? Explore our full collection of guides!
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