How Do Oceans Circulate?

• This video discusses how and why oceans circulate, the major ocean circulation patterns, how ocean circulation patters affect global weather patterns and regional climates, and the issue of plastic waste in the oceans. 
• It shows the importance of these ocean currents to maintain important fisheries, biodiversity hotspots, global transport routes, and regional weather patterns. 
  

Positives

• This video breaks down the content and provides nice animations and images to support the narrative.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• The video does a nice job of defining terms, but students should be familiar with basic geography and properties of water.
  

Differentiation

• This is video can be incorporated into classes and lessons about plastic pollution, oceans, climate, marine life, density, salinity, pressure gradients, and the Coriolis effect.
• Social studies classes could use parts of this video to connect the vulnerability of many communities to changes in ocean circulation patterns caused by climate change.
• This is a great video for geography, biology, Earth science, and marine science classes.
• Other resources on this topic include Interactive Exploration of Coral Bleaching, Into the Dead Zone, this video about coral reefs, and this StC lesson plan about carbon sinks.
  

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.