June 8^th is National Ocean Exploration Day.

I thought it would be fun to pull together some resources about oceans for you to do a fun Ocean Unit Study adventure and explore the oceans with your kids.

My family loves to visit the Ocean and Ocean Aquariums and Marine Museums.   There is something so fascinating about the wide range of life that lives below the water’s surface.  And there is something incredibly soothing about the sound and the visual picture of waves rolling into the beach in a constant rhythm. 

I was so blessed to have the opportunity as a child to spend two weeks in Hawaii.  That was my first introduction to the ocean and sea creatures.  What a fascinating and inspiring experience it was.  As a pre-teen I went on a three week trip across the USA and seen the ocean from New York and Conneticut, and then all the way across the USA to Los Angeles.  We traveled along the ocean front roads for many miles in Los Angeles.  That summer I don’t think I had ever been any place hotter in my life.   Then as a teenager I visited San Francisco several times, and so enjoyed eating fresh caught seafood on Fishermans Wharf.  I also traveled again to New York and New Jersey and seen the ocean and took a ferry ride.   In college I took a one week trip to Washington and Vancouver Island by ferry, and was again amazed at the vast beauty of the ocean and the beaches and rocky cliffs all around.

When we lived in Indiana, we lived just a little over an hour away from the Newport Aquarium in Newport KY.   That was my children’s first experience with seeing ocean sea life.  We were mesmerized by the amount of see life there was in these vast aquariums holding millions of gallons of ocean water in the middle of the United States.

Now we live in North Carolina and we are close to many ocean learning opportunities.  We live just 2 hours from the Ripleys Ocean Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN.   It has become a favorite place to visit for us.



We have been there four times in three years.  It is a great place to study ocean animals.   Some of our favorite ocean animals to learn about are sharks, octopus, jelly fish, sea turtles, sting rays, and one of our favorite sea birds, penguins.  They have an awesome live penguin habitat and also a baby penguin rearing area that is so much fun for the children to participate in.



And there are several hands on opportunities for children to learn through using all their senses.



And my children love to watch the huge sharks and sting rays as the swim over our heads in the walk through aquarium.



We have also been to the ECCO Marine Museum in Hendersonville, NC.   Last summer, we had friends, with 6 kids, visiting from Indiana.  We took our 5 kids and their 6 kids and we went to the ECCO museum and had a great time learning about ocean life.



It only costs $1 per person, and we spent two hours learning from this fascinating marine scientist.  In addition to running this museum, she also teaches classes, speaks at schools, does educational parties and birthday parties, and takes teens to the ocean for scuba diving and marine scientist excursions.    Her son has gone on to be a marine scientist and he specializes in the study of sharks.



She is fabulous with children.  Everything she does with kids is hands on.



Another favorite excursion for our family is visiting the ocean at South Carolina. 



We live just 3 1/2 hours from Charleston, South Carolina.   This is a world away from living in the midwest.  Visiting here is almost unexplainable and you just have to experience it yourself.



The ocean views from Charleston and the surrounding areas are amazing.  We especially enjoy staying at the Isle Of Palms and spending a few days enjoying the beach and traveling to surrounding areas to see plantations, museums, alligators, and taking in the amazing culture and history of the area.  We went for a very special trip last October for our son’s 8th birthday, and we had the best time ever.



Another fun hands on learning activity we did learning about oceans was to create our own mini ocean. 



We made an Ocean Discovery Bin for the kids to explore.  I will write a story about it soon.



The kids enjoyed this bin so much.  We made it in December, and we still pull it out frequently to play and explore in.



In addition to doing our own Ocean Unit Study and Lapbook, another really fun opportunity we are looking forward to this summer is a local homeschool Science Club.  It is just starting up and the first topic they will be studying is “Oceans”.  Our first Science Club meeting is tomorrow.  So we are looking forward to lots more fun learning about the amazing oceans and the sea life that lives in them.



FREE  Resources for an Ocean Unit Study:< BR>

Unit Studies (Science, Geography, History, Language Arts, Literature Book Lists, Reading, Vocabulary, Arts & Crafts, Math, Coloring Pages, and more),  Lesson Plans, and Lapbooks (scrapbook with mini versions of the learning done in the unit study).

Christian Cottage Unit Studies:  Oceanography: The Waters He Called Seas

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=243&it=1&filters=0_0_0_0_0

 

Discovery Education: Ocean Exploration Lesson plans

 http://dawn.discoveryeducation.com/

 

Ocean Animal Lesson Plans

http://www.suite101.com/content/ocean-animals-lesson-plan-a22037

 

Homeschool Helper Online:  Ocean Unit Study

http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/units/oceans.htm

Oklahoma Homeschool Cindy Downes: Ocean Unit Study

http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/oceanunit.html

 

Eclectic Homeschool: Ocean Unit Study

http://eclectichomeschool.org/articles/article.asp?articleid=145

 

Teaching Heart: Ocean Unit Study

http://www.teachingheart.net/literatureactivocean.html


Homeschool On A Shoestring: Ocean Unit Study

http://homeschoolingonashoestring.com/blog/2008/02/09/ocean-unit-study/

 

Homeschool Share:  Hello Ocean Unit Study and Lapbook

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/hello_ocean_lapbook.php

Homeschool Share:  Fish and Fishing Unit Study and Lapbook

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/fish_and_fishing_lapbook.php

Homeschool Share:  Sea Turtles Unit Study and Lapbook

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/sea_turtles.php

Homeschool Share:  Octopus Unit Study and Lapbook

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/nico.php

Homeschool Share: Atlantic Ocean Unit Study and Lapbook

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/atlantic.php

Homeschool Share: Time Of Wonder Ocean Unit Study and Lapbook

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/time_of_wonder.php

Homeschool Share: Hermit Crab Unit Study and Lapbook

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/a_house_for_hermit_crab.php

Homeschool Share: Nim (life on an island in the middle of the ocean) Unit Study and Lapbook

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/nims_island.php

 

1+1+1=1 :  Whale and Dolphin Lapbook

http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/2008/09/whales-dolphins-lapbook.html

1+1+1=1 : Ocean Animals Tot Lapbook

http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/OceanAnimalsTotBook.html

1+1+1=1  : Nemo Tot Lapbook

http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/NemoTotBook.html

1+1+1=1 : More printables & activities about the Ocean

http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/2011/06/ocean-theme-printables-more.html

 

Homeschool Activities:  Ocean Unit Study

http://www.homeschool-activities.com/homeschool-unit-studies.html

 

Worksheets

All Kids Network: Ocean Animal Worksheets
http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/worksheets/animals/ocean/

Learning Page
http://www.learningpage.com/free_pages/galleries/oceans.html


Math Activites

Kidzone: Ocean Counting Backwards Page

http://www.kidzone.ws/math/ocean/gr1-count2.htm

Kidzone: Ocean Counting Forwards Page

http://www.kidzone.ws/math/ocean/gr1-count4.htm

Kidzone: Sand Castle Connect the Dots

http://www.kidzone.ws/math/ocean/dotsby5.htm

Kidzone: Addition

http://www.kidzone.ws/math/ocean/gr1-bubblesaddition.htm

Kidzone: Subtraction

http://www.kidzone.ws/math/ocean/gr1-bubblesminus.htm

Kidzone: Odd or Even

http://www.kidzone.ws/math/ocean/gr1-oddeven3.htm

 

Preschool and Kindergarten Learning Printables

Confessions Of A Homeschooler:  Letter O is for Octopus

http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2009/10/prek-letter-o.html

and

http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2010/04/prek-letter-o.html

 

Crafts and Activities

Egg Carton Sea Creatures (crab, jelly fish, oyster, octopus, fish, etc.)
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/downbythesea/tp/ecseacreature.htm

Paper mache Star Fish
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/papermache/ig/Paper-Mache-Craft-Photos/Paper-Mache-Star-Fish.htm

Sand Casting Craft
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/sandcrafts/a/blsandcast.htm

Sea Shell Memory Game
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/seashells/a/Shell-Memory-Game.htm

Jelly Fish Craft
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/fishcrafts/a/bljellyfish.htm

Under The Sea Pencil Holder
http://familycrafts.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=familycrafts&cdn=parenting&tm=38&gps=170_172_806_774&f=10&tt=14&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.kidsdomain.com/craft/pencil2.html

Artists Helping Children: Ocean Animal Crafts (lots and lots)
http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/artscraftsideasseaoceanlifefishaquatickids.html

All Kids Network: Ocean Animal Crafts
http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/animals/ocean/

Free Kid Crafts
http://www.freekidcrafts.com/ocean.html

Busy Bee: Ocean Crafts
http://www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Ocean-Animal-Crafts-for-Kids.html

First School
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/ocean_general.htm

First School: Ocean Creatures template for use in diaroma or collage crafts
http://www.first-school.ws/t/oceancreatures.html

First School: Ocean Theme Coloring Pages
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/cp_ocean.htm

Crafty Classroom: Coral Reef Collage
http://www.thecraftyclassroom.com/CraftCoralReefAnemone.html

Crafty Classroom: Star Fish
http://www.thecraftyclassroom.com/CraftCoralReefSandPaperStarfish.html

Pink and Green Momma: Ocean In A Box
http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/2008/09/ocean-wonders-wednesday.html

Pink and Green Momma: Ocean in a Bag
http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/2009/07/make-ocean-in-bag.html

Pink and Green Momma: Ocean Bubble Wrap Scene
http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/2009/11/bubble-wrap-printmaking-ocean-scene.html


Spell Outloud: Ocean Song

http://www.spelloutloud.com/2010/09/geography-learning-oceans.html

Spell Outloud: Seahorse Craft and Game

http://www.spelloutloud.com/2010/04/sea-horse-craft.html

 

1+1+1=1 : Ocean Activities

http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/search/label/Ocean
and

 http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/2011/06/ocean-theme-printables-more.html

Counting Coconuts:  Frozen Ocean Sensory Discovery  Tub

http://countingcoconuts.blogspot.com/2010/07/frozen-fun.html

Counting Coconuts:  Beach Sensory Tub

http://countingcoconuts.blogspot.com/2010/07/beach-sensory-tub-playdough.html

Counting Coconuts:  Nature Table

http://countingcoconuts.blogspot.com/2010/08/summer-nature-table.html

 

Homeschool Creations: Ocean Biome Diorama

http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/2009/04/making-sea-fan-and-coral-reef.html

Homeschool Creations:  Animal Sorting File Folder Game

Sort Land and Ocean Animals

http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/2010/02/preschool-corner-animal-sorting-file.html

Homeschool Creations:  Preschool Activities for letter U including underwater theme

http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/2009/05/preschool-corner-letter-u.html

Homeschool Creations:  Letter O activities including an Ocean In A Bottle

http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/2009/02/preschool-corner-letter-o.html

 

DLTK :  Ocean Animal Crafts

http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/ocean.html

DLTK : Ocean Animal Coloring Pages

http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/moceanposter.html

DLTK : Ocean Mobile

http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/moceanmobile.html

DLTK :  Ocean Habitat Craft

http://www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/mhabitat.html

DLTK : Ocean Mini Book

http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/learning-letters/ib-book-ocean.htm

 

ABC and 123:  O is for Ocean and Octopus Activities

http://www.abcand123learning.com/2009/11/alphabet-letter-o.html

 

Field Trip Ideas

Visit an ocean aquarium.

Visit the ocean.

Visit a marine science museum.

Do a virtual ocean field trip.   (photo bucket has over 2,000 ocean videos, please screen your choices to make sure they are safe for kids to see)

http://photobucket.com/videos/ocean/

You Tube (Has over 500,000 videos.  Again, pick a few and screen them ahead of time to make sure they are appropriate for your kids to view.) 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ocean&aq=1&oq=Ocean


Here are a couple of You Tube ocean videos we enjoyed

Under the frozen ocean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub7dzThwsX4&playnext=1&list=PL4C131C5580CB5647

Views Of The Pacific Ocean from Land
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8FlmTlmdzc&feature=pyv&ad=8095677751&kw=ocean

Blue Whale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsvWfuM6kkE&feature=grec_index

White Whale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grRuw1cE9LU&feature=related

Sea Turtles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-07n8lsRUQ



Do a virtual field trip to an ocean aquarium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psCG5dPiNyo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnEfQerol1E&feature=fvst


Online Interactive Games

Monterey Bay Aquarium  (lots of different Ocean games here)

 http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/lc/activities/


Ocean Games on Primary Games (lots of different Ocean games here)

http://www.primarygames.com/science/ocean/games.htm


Ocean Express

http://www.gamefools.com/onlinegames/free/oceanexpress.html


Sea and Sky

http://www.seasky.org/sea-games.html


Under the Sea

http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/under-the-sea/games/index.html

Geography Game

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/World_Continents.htm



Happy Ocean Exploration Day!
Hope you enjoy your Ocean Exploration Adventure!!!