The Ocean Biome

Did you know that the ocean covers about 70% of the Earth’s surface? Or that there’s enough salt in the ocean to completely cover all the Earth’s land surfaces? The ocean is an amazing place! In this blog post, we’ll “dive into” ideas to support a unit study of the vast ocean biome. We’ll give an overview of the ocean biome, including some fun (and sometimes surprising) ocean facts. We’ll also provide a list of recommended books and materials. Finally, we’ll share ocean-themed curriculum resources, printables, hands-on activities, and craft ideas. Whether you’re an early childhood teacher or you’re simply looking for engaging educational activities, this post has a little something for everyone interested in exploring the wonders of the ocean!

The Ocean Biome: An Overview

A biome is a large geographical region that is characterized by its unique climate, plants, and animals. Wetlands, grasslands, and temperate forests are all examples of biomes. Learning about different biomes can help us develop a deeper understanding of the natural world and how it works. Biome studies also provide an opportunity to learn about our planet’s many species and how they interact with one another.

The ocean biome is one of the most fascinating and diverse biomes on our planet. Oceans are large, deep bodies of salt water, found all over the world. The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean. Oceans are found from the frigid waters of the Arctic and Antarctic to the warm tropical waters near the equator. Home to a wide array of marine life, from tiny plankton to massive whales, the ocean contains a variety of unique habitats, including coral reefs, kelp forests, and deep-sea trenches.

In addition to these varying ocean environments, the ocean includes different zones based on depth, such as the sunlit surface layer, the twilight zone, and the abyssal zone. Marine animals have developed many adaptations to survive in these different regions, such as thick blubber to insulate against the cold or the ability to produce bioluminescence to attract prey in the dark depths of the ocean. 

Learning about the ocean and the living things that inhabit it can help children appreciate the complexity and diversity of this biome and begin to grasp the importance of protecting our oceans and the life within them.

 

Ten Fun Facts About the Ocean Biome

1. The ocean is so vast that we have only explored about 5% of it.
2. The deepest part of the ocean is about 7,000 feet deeper than the height of the tallest mountains on land.
3. The ocean has a salty taste because it contains about 35 grams of salt per liter.
4. The ocean is home to about 230,000 different species of marine life. But those are just the ones we know about! Some scientists think there could be millions more ocean species that haven’t been discovered yet. 
5. Some whales can communicate with each other across thousands of miles.
6. The blue whale is the largest animal on Earth and can grow up to 100 feet long. That’s longer than the height of fifteen adult humans put together!
7. Surprisingly, some sea turtles can hold their breath for as long as two hours while they sleep underwater.
8. Octopuses can change the color and texture of their skin to blend in with their surroundings.
9. Sea otters hold hands while sleeping so they don’t drift away from each other.
10.  Sharks have been around for more than 400 million years. Jellyfish have been around even longer – they’ve been on earth for more than 500 million years. That means these creatures were alive at the same time as the dinosaurs!

 

 

Curriculum Resources for the Ocean Biome

In the Trillium Shop

• ​Oceans Phonological Awareness Pack includes an assortment of activities for developing phonological and phonemic awareness skills.
• ​Oceans Preschool Pack includes a set of simple activities for early learning skills such as concept development, matching, cutting, counting, and more.
• ​Marine Invertebrates Mini-Unit – bored of the same sharks, whales, dolphins and fish over and over? Try marine invertebrates! These interesting creatures are often overlooked in ocean unit studies but children really love to learn more about them. Great for  helping your older primary students and Kindergartners learn more about marine invertebrates while practicing reading and writing skills.
• ​Marine Invertebrates Preschool Pack This pack includes simple activities for early learning in the areas of literacy, math, sensorial, and fine motor skills building. 

On the Trillium Blog: Beach Ideas

• ​The ocean and the beach go hand in hand. If you’d like to incorporate some beachy ideas into your ocean unit, then Check out this post with inspiration for your practical life/fine motor shelves, including lesson ideas for:
  • shell scrubbing
  • sorting shells by size
  • spooning “beach sand”
  • and more!
• Also, be sure to check out this lovely guest post by our friend Virginia Lozuke about incorporating learning activities during a trip to the beach. These ideas could be adapted for a classroom (or camp) beach or ocean unit. 

Trillium Resource Library: Whales

• Whales can be fascinating ocean residents to study! Be sure to grab these free whale-related printables from the Trillium Resource Library.
  • Whale Identification Cards (Cut out a length of string to see how big some whales can get!)
  • Types of Whales Three-Part Cards
  • Parts of a Whale Three-Part Cards

 

Materials, Books, and Printables to Support an Ocean Biome Unit

Materials

• Zones of the Ocean Wooden Puzzle This beautiful puzzle from Mirus Toys shows the layers of the ocean and gives examples of animals found at each level. The included control chart makes this an engaging matching activity for younger primary students, and the scientific labels add interest for older students. 
• Ocean Animals Memory/Matching Game These wooden tiles are durable and attractive, featuring full-color, realistic illustrations. 
• Water Vehicles Miniatures & Three-Part Cards While studying living things in the ocean biome, your students might also enjoy learning about the ways that humans move across and through the ocean! This fun set from Montessori Services includes full color three-part cards as well as miniatures of each vehicle. 

Books

• Life in an Ocean (Living in a Biome) by Carol K. Lindeen and Carol Ji In Lugtu – this is an accessible nonfiction book for young readers, including useful tools like a table of contents and an index.
• First Big Book of the Ocean from National Geographic, by Catherine D. Hughes – this book includes more than 100 beautiful photographs of marine life from all over the world. 
• Shark Lady by Jess Keating and Marta Álvarez Miguéns – the true story of Eugenie Clark, a scientist whose tireless persistence helped change public opinion about sharks while also breaking down barriers for women in science. 
• Over and Under the Waves by Kate Messner and Christopher Neal – this beautifully-illustrated book shows the relationships between living things in one particular ocean ecosystem.

Printables

• Shark Unit Printable Pack from Every Star is Different includes 18 different printables for shark-themed math, literacy, and science lessons. 
• Ocean Theme Activities from Welcome to Mommyhood – I love the “ocean animal close up cards” in this pack! This post includes photos of the materials in action, and includes a link to purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers. 
• Food Web Building Kit by Nyla’s Crafty Teaching – this would make a fun activity to explore with the older students a primary class. (Bonus – this set includes food web building kits for multiple biomes!)

 

 

Ocean Biome Hands-On Activities and Crafts

• Salt Dough Sea Star Craft from Little Bins for Little Hands – this project is easy to put together with inexpensive supplies, and makes great fine motor skills practice! If you don’t have an oven to bake the finished sea stars, this project can also be air-dried. 
• Layers of the Ocean Painting Project from Pinay Homeschooler – we’ve mentioned this project in a previous post, but it’s cool enough to share again! I love the tie-in with the graded set of blue color tablets. After the paint dries, the layers could be left as is, or decorated with pictures of animals that are commonly found at each level. Finally, children could label the layers with their own writing, or with pre-printed labels they cut themselves. 
• Here’s a Kelp Forest Collage Activity from the University of Alaska. To learn more about this unique ecosystem within the ocean biome, check out this Kelp Forest info from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (By the way, did you know that kelp is not a plant, and is actually a huge type of algae? Or that kelp forests can grow to be over 100 feet tall? Amazing!)