Science Lesson Kit · Teacher Resource
Ocean Currents: How Oceans Shape Regional Climate — 5E Lesson Plan
Earth Science · 55 minutes
Grade 6
5E lesson flow
01
Engage
7 min
Teacher Does
Display two fictional coastal winter-average data cards without an explanation.
Students Do
Write two observations and one question.
Ask
- What is directly measured? What is an inference?
Look For
The 7°C gap; latitude alone may not explain it.
02
Explore
12 min
Teacher Does
Show surface-water movement and prevailing-wind evidence in stages.
Students Do
Place relative warmer/cooler flow arrows and justify choices.
Ask
- What energy is transported by moving water?
Look For
Thermal energy moves with water; energy is not created.
03
Explain
10 min
Teacher Does
Connect heat exchange, relative temperature, and coastal climate.
Students Do
Build a short evidence-based model explanation.
Ask
- Does one arrow cause every climate outcome?
Look For
The phrase may contribute; multiple factors.
04
Elaborate
14 min
Teacher Does
Add a prevailing-wind evidence card and ask students to critique a one-cause claim.
Students Do
Revise their model and name its limits.
Ask
- Which new evidence changes your first explanation?
Look For
Winds and coastline included.
05
Evaluate
12 min
Teacher Does
Provide the Harbor C/D new-data worksheet.
Students Do
Record a new inference and a model limitation.
Ask
- Which value supports your conclusion?
Look For
6°C calculation; calibrated cause-and-effect.
Student goal
I can use coastal evidence and a model to explain how ocean currents may influence regional climate.
Learning objectives
- Compare long-term temperature records from two fictional coastal locations at similar latitudes without confusing climate with daily weather.
- Use a model to show how wind-driven ocean currents transport warmer or cooler surface water and influence nearby regional climates.
- Revise an explanation using new evidence and identify at least two limitations of a simplified current-and-climate model.
Materials
- Coastal climate record cards
- World-ocean model cards
- Colored arrows or sticky notes
- Two-column evidence organizer
- Student worksheet
Before class
- Label Bay A/B and Harbor C/D data clearly as fictional classroom models.
- Use temperature averages over decades rather than today's weather.
- Keep early model frames neutral—do not reveal the answer with labels.
- Check arrow directions and that the same-latitude coast comparison is scientifically cautious.
Prior knowledge
- Understand latitude and relative temperatures.
- Distinguish daily weather from long-term climate.
- Read a simple arrow map and two-column data table.
Vocabulary
- ocean current
- A sustained movement of ocean water in a particular direction.
- surface current
- Ocean water motion near the surface, strongly affected by winds and Earth's rotation.
- heat transport
- Movement of thermal energy from one region to another.
- climate
- The typical pattern of weather in an area measured over many years.
- latitude
- The distance north or south of the equator measured in degrees.
- prevailing wind
- The wind direction that occurs most often in a region.
- model
- A simplified representation used to explain or predict a system.
- evidence
- Observations or data that help support a scientific explanation.
Differentiation
- Provide a color-coded arrow key without pre-labelling warm/cool outcomes.
- Offer the frame '___ may contribute because the data show ___'.
- For extensions, ask why two coasts at the same latitude need not share climate.
Assessment
- Separates data from inference.
- Uses heat transport and current direction correctly.
- Cites a long-term record and names a limitation.
Exit ticket
A current can affect coastal climate, but why is a single arrow insufficient to explain an entire region?
Extension
Design an additional data record for testing whether prevailing winds strengthen the explanation.