Ocean Currents

Have students trace the path of one drop of water through the diagram as they fill it in. On the map, have them say which way each current flows before they answer the climate questions.

Read an ocean current map and explain how the Gulf Stream and California Current shape coastal climate. The directions on the page read: Read the text and study the map. Then answer the questions on page 2. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 6th Grade Earth systems, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with the water cycle and oceans. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

The sheet covers seven processes: evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, runoff, infiltration and collection. Energy from the Sun drives evaporation, and gravity pulls precipitation down.

Runoff flows downhill over the ground into streams and lakes. Infiltration is water soaking down into the ground.

Warm currents carry warm water from near the equator toward the poles. Cold currents carry cold water from near the poles toward the equator, and the air above the water takes on some of its temperature.