Resources

The following list of classroom activities may help expand your deep-sea learning experience. Use it as a starting point to your own voyage of discovery!

Geology

Word Definition

Here are some terms to define:

bathymetry
Pangaea
continental shelf
precipitate
continental slope
Ring of Fire
deep ocean basin
seismology
ocean trench
volcanism

Math Activities

Let’s test your knowledge of the metric system. Convert the British units of measure in “How Deep Is the Ocean?” in the Seafloor Geology section to metric units.

Extra-Credit Essay Topics

Why are hydrothermal vents important?

How does Old Faithful geyser work? Compare it to a hydrothermal vent.

Biology

Word Definition

Here are some terms to define:

bioluminescence
photosynthesis
chemosynthesis
Pompeii
eelpout
sulfurlarval
crab
symbiosis
microbe
tubeworm

Go Fish!

Many deep-sea fish look monstrous! Your mission is to find pictures and descriptions of at least five different deep-sea fish. What special adaptations do these fish have for living in their demanding environment?

Extra-Credit Essay Topics

Compare and contrast photosynthesis and chemosynthesis.

Oceanographer William Beebe wrote the book Half Mile Down about his descent to the seafloor in 1938. Read a chapter and report on his observations.

Exploring
the Deep

Word Definition

Here are some terms to define:

bathyscaphe
magnetometer
bathysphere
ROV
Jim suit
scuba
electrode
sediment
corefiber
opticssonar

Design a Diving Vessel

If you could design a deep-sea diving vessel, what would it look like? Sketch it!

Extra-Credit Essay Topics

Jason is used in deep-sea research. Do some research and tell us all about it.

What other scientific tools are revolutionizing our study of the ocean?

Many excellent resources were used to develop this Web site and may help you in your search for more information.

Click here for the full-color resource guide Extreme 2002: Mission to the Abyss.

Also see the books, articles, and Web sites listed below and the classroom activities at left.

Books & Magazines

Davidson, Keay, and A. R. Williams. “Under Our Skin: Hot Theories on the Center of the Earth.” National Geographic 189, no. 1 (Jan. 1996): 100–112.

Dybas, Cheryl Lyn. “Life in the Abyss.” Ocean Realm, Winter 1997–98, 78–95.

Earle, Sylvia A., and Al Geddings. 1980. Exploring the Deep Frontier:
The Adventure of Man in the Sea. National Geographic Society.

Greene, Thomas F. 1998. Marine Science. New York: Amsco School Publications.

Lemonick, Michael D. “The Last Frontier.” Time, Aug. 14, 1995, 52–60.

Van Dover, Cindy Lee. 2000. The Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents. Princeton University Press.

Web Sites

The Bridge — Ocean Sciences Education
Teacher Resource Center
www.vims.edu/bridge

Deep-Sea News & Research,
by Prof. Paul Yancey, Whitman College
people.whitman.edu/~yancey/news.html#reading

Deepsea Research Newsgroup
www.le.ac.uk/biology/gat/deepsea/deepsea.html

“Deep Sea Vents: Science at the Extreme”
www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0010/feature6

Encyclopaedia Brittanica
search.eb.com

Extreme Science
www.extremescience.com/DeepestOcean.htm

Jones and Bartlett Publishers —
Invitation to Oceanography by Paul Pinet
www.jbpub.com/oceanlink2e/

Neptune’s Web
pao.cnmoc.navy.mil/educate/neptune/neptune.htm

Nova Online — “Into the Abyss”
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/abyss

PBS Online/Savage Earth — “Restless Planet: Earthquakes”
www.pbs.org/wnet/savageearth/earthquakes/html/sidebar2.html

Smithsonian Institution Ocean Planet Exhibition
seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/oceanplanet.html

University of Delaware College of Marine Studies
www.ocean.udel.edu

U.S. Geological Survey —
This Dynamic Earth: An Introduction to Plate Tectonics
by W. Jacquelyne Kious and Robert Tilling pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/dynamic.html

U.S. Naval Historical Center
www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h96000/h96799c.htm

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution — “Dive and Discover” Expeditions
www.divediscover.whoi.edu

Funding for this project was provided by the National Science Foundation. The printed resource guide is part of a collaborative deep-sea educational project involving the University of Delaware, the National Science Foundation, NOAA Sea Grant, and WHYY-TV (PBS) in Wilmington/Philadelphia.

For information about other educational publications and programs available from the University of Delaware Graduate College of Marine Studies and the Sea Grant College Program, please visit us online at www.ocean.udel.edu. Or contact University of Delaware, Marine Public Education Office, 222 S. Chapel Street, Newark, DE 19716-3530. Phone: (302) 831-8083. E-mail: MarineCom@udel.edu.