Have your students use Google Earth to study the underwater features of our planet. Ask them if they recognize any patterns. What they are seeing is not simply the result of a photograph from space; it’s a bathymetric map constructed from radar data collected on satellites and echo sounder data collected from ships. Students can get more background information from our encyclopedia entry on bathymetry.

Google Earth imagery shows us the features of underwater seascapes, but it lacks a lot of detail—the reality is that only approximately 5 percent of our ocean has been precisely mapped. Have students find the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the ocean. The distance between the surface of the ocean and the trench’s deepest point is approximately 11 kilometers (km), or 7 miles! Ask students the following questions: What can they notice about this area, and the surrounding bathymetry? What are the closest land areas to it? Students can read more on ocean trenches or deepen their learning with the lesson, Protecting the Mariana Trench.

Data show that sea surface temperatures have risen over the last few decades and scientists suggest that heat sequestration from the atmosphere may have contributed to the increase. Have students open MapMaker: Sea Surface Temperature and study the ocean surface temperature trends. Ask students: What spatial pattern(s) are you able to observe at the global scale?

Assign groups of students to do a regional analysis in these four areas studied by the Pristine Seas expedition team: Franz Josef Land, Revillagigedo Archipelago, Galápagos Islands, the coast off of Gabon. Have students predict how these environmental phenomena regarding sea surface temperatures might impact the ocean, as well as land areas. Then have them read the Pristine Seas website and conduct additional research to answer: Was your prediction accurate? What else did you learn after reading this section and from your research?