Exploring the Ocean
Know that oceanographers and marine biologists study the ocean using submarines, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), satellites, and diving, and that much of the ocean remains unexplored — we know more about the Moon's surface than the deep ocean floor
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name at least two tools scientists use to explore the ocean: submarines, ROVs, satellites
- State that most of the deep ocean remains unexplored
- Explain why ocean exploration is difficult: darkness, pressure, vastness
The lesson
The ocean covers most of our planet, but people have explored only a tiny piece of it. You already know the ocean floor has canyons, mountains, and strange creatures living in total darkness. Scientists want to see more of this hidden world, so they build special tools to help them look.
Oceanographers and marine biologists use submarines to carry people deep underwater, and ROVs, or remotely operated vehicles, that scientists control from a ship above. Divers explore shallower water directly, while satellites in space take pictures of the ocean's surface and track its currents.
A marine biologist sends an ROV down into a deep trench. The robot's lights cut through total darkness, and its strong metal body resists pressure that would crush a diver. Cameras on the ROV send back video of fish no one has ever seen before.
Exploring the deep ocean is hard because it is dark, the water pressure is crushing, and the ocean is enormous. That is why robots and submarines do jobs too dangerous or too deep for human divers.
Scientists explore the ocean with submarines, ROVs, satellites, and diving, but darkness, pressure, and sheer size mean most of the deep sea is still a mystery.
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Where it sits
Learn first
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Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.