Unit Overview

Students learn how unequal heating, Earth's rotation, and ocean circulation determine regional climates worldwide. Through solving drift pattern mysteries or investigating current dynamics and formation, conducting six discovery days testing latitude heating, ocean currents, density, geography, and heat capacity effects, and engineering ocean current energy harvesting devices choosing optimal locations, students discover oceans act as climate regulators distributing heat globally.

  • Lesson 1
    Lesson 1: Lesson 1: The Solve

    Lesson 1: The Solve

    Secret nuclear plans hidden in garden gnomes spill overboard near the Philippines—now they're floating across the Pacific! Mosa helps Interpol agents track down the "Air-Quote Gnome" by investigating ocean current dynamics. Students discover that ocean currents follow predictable patterns influenced by: Earth's rotation (Coriolis effect), wind pushing surface water, land masses redirecting flow, and density differences (cold salty water sinks, warm fresh water rises). General pattern: cold water moves from poles toward equator, warm water flows from equator toward poles. By combining these factors accurately, they locate and recover the missing gnome with nuclear plans.

  • Lesson 2
    Lesson 2: Lesson 2: The Lab

    Lesson 2: The Lab

    Six discovery-based investigation days exploring factors affecting ocean movement and regional climate. Day 1: Latitude—Test how sunlight angle affects heating at different latitudes (equator receives direct rays, poles receive angled rays). Day 2: Ocean and Wind Currents—Map how wind patterns drive surface currents, creating global circulation. Day 3: Density—Investigate how temperature and salinity affect water density, causing cold salty water to sink and drive deep ocean currents. Day 4: Geography—Examine how land masses redirect ocean currents and create regional climate patterns. Day 5: Heat—Compare how land vs. water absorbs and releases heat (water changes temperature slowly, land changes quickly). Day 6: Assessment—Students present comprehensive understanding of how all factors interact.

  • Lesson 3
    Lesson 3: Lesson 3: The Engineer

    Lesson 3: The Engineer

    Harness clean energy from ocean currents! Students review forces impacting ocean circulation, brainstorm energy capture methods, then choose optimal locations for devices based on maps showing surface temperatures, current speeds, and wind patterns. They design either surface current generators (capturing energy from fast-moving Gulf Stream, Kuroshio Current, or Antarctic Circumpolar Current) or deep water current devices (harvesting energy from density-driven thermohaline circulation). Final presentations include either physical models or technical diagrams showing device placement on world maps with engineering explanations of why their chosen location maximizes energy capture.

  • Next Generation Science Standards
    MS-ESS2-6
    Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how patterns vary by latitude, altitude, and geographic land distribution. Emphasis of atmospheric circulation is on the sunlight driven latitudinal banding, the Coriolis effect, and resulting prevailing winds; emphasis of ocean circulation is on the transfer of heat by the global ocean convection cycle, which is constrained by the Coriolis effect and the outlines of continents. Examples of models can be diagrams, maps and globes, or digital representations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the dynamics of the Coriolis effect.]
  • Inquiry Scale
    • Each lesson in the unit has an Inquiry Scale that provides directions on how to implement the lesson at the level that works best for you and your students.
    • “Level 1” is the most teacher-driven, and recommended for students in 4th-5th grades. “Level 4” is the most student-driven, and recommended for students in 7th-8th grades.
    • For differentiation within the same grade or class, use different inquiry levels for different groups of students who may require additional support or an extra challenge.
  • Common Misconceptions
    • Students may think that oceans have no effect on a region’s climate. Emphasize that many factors affect the temperature and movement of the oceans, which ultimately impact climate around the world.
    • Learners initially think that the oceans move but do not realize what drives their motion. There are four main factors that affect the movement of the ocean: latitude, wind, the Coriolis effect, and density. Emphasize to students that it is a combination and the influence of all of these factors that drive ocean currents thus determining a regions climate.
    • Relatedly, students initially think that ocean currents may all be the same or that the ocean flows in one direction. Emphasize that the oceans of the world vary in direction of currents as well as type of currents formed due to the main factors that influence them.
    • Students may think that Earth’s oceans are separate and not connected. Students will learn that Earth’s oceans are all connected and part of one global ocean system.
    • Students may initially think that oceans have the same salinity everywhere. Emphasize to students that salinity can vary by location or season. In the Arctic and Southern Oceans, the formation of sea ice results in a layer of highly saline water.
    • Students may initially think that icebergs are made of saltwater. Emphasize to students that most icebergs are made from calving glaciers (breaking of ice chunks from edge of a glacier). They are actually made of freshwater.
  • Vocabulary
      • Climate
      • Latitude
      • Coriolis Effect
      • Density
      • Ocean Currents
      • Salinity
  • Content Expert
    • Joanna Pelc
      NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Global Modeling and Assimilation Office Expertise: Earth Science, Applied Mathematics
  • Leveled Reading

    * To give our users the most comprehensive science resource, Mosa Mack is piloting a partnership with RocketLit, a provider of leveled science articles.

    • The Story of The Boad Full of Rubber Duckies

      Once upon a time, an entire cargo boatload of rubber duckies dumped into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Over time, the duckies appeared on shores all across the world, and this gave scientists an idea of how the ocean currents flow all across the world!

    • The Ocean Moves Stuff Too

      If you've ever been to the beach, you know that in no way does the water sit still. Currents and waves slowly move sand, rocks and sediment around, while catastrophic events (like hurricanes) can change the face of a beach in a matter of hours. Whenever the sand moves to places that get in the way of our ships, we can dredge the sand up and move it somewhere else. But no matter how hard we try, it'll be back...

Mosa Mack Science

It looks like you don't have a Mosa Mack account.


Create a free account