The Ocean's Climate Engine

Science · Ocean Life · ages 9-11

Name ______________________ Date ____________

What is it called when the sun's heat turns ocean water into vapor?
- Freezing
- Evaporation
- Erosion
What does the ocean absorb a large amount of from the sun and the air?
- Heat and carbon dioxide
- Sand and salt
- Wind and clouds
Ocean currents can carry warmth to places far from where that heat first entered the water.
Circle one: True False
Follow a drop of ocean water warmed by the Sun. Which step of the water cycle happens to it first?
- Evaporation of ocean water
- Rain falling on mountains
- Rivers flowing into the sea
Why is the ocean sometimes called Earth's climate engine?
- It is the largest habitat for fish
- It has more waves than any other place
- It absorbs heat and moves it around
The chart is marked out of 100 parts. About how many of those parts of the extra trapped heat end up in the ocean?
Answer: ______________
If a warm ocean current suddenly stopped flowing past a coastline, what would most likely happen to that region's climate?
- Nothing would change
- It would definitely get warmer
- It would likely get cooler than before
A town sits next to a warm ocean current. A student says the current can only affect weather right at the coast, never further inland. What is wrong with that idea?
- Currents never release any heat into the air
- Wind can carry the warmed air inland
- Warm currents only exist near the equator

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Evaporation · Evaporation happens when heat turns liquid water into water vapor that rises into the air.
Heat and carbon dioxide · The ocean soaks up heat from sunlight and carbon dioxide gas from the air, which helps control Earth's temperature.
True · Currents move both water and heat, so they can warm coastlines thousands of miles from where the water started.
Evaporation of ocean water · Following ocean water, the Sun evaporates it first. That water vapor later forms clouds and falls as rain.
It absorbs heat and moves it around · The ocean stores huge amounts of heat and moves it around the globe through currents and evaporation. It takes up carbon dioxide too, though the carbon dioxide is matter, not the heat being carried.
90 · The chart is marked out of 100 parts, and the ocean bar reaches 90 of them. The other 10 or so warm the land and air and melt ice.
It would likely get cooler than before · That coastline was being warmed by the current. Without the warm water flowing in, less heat reaches the area, so it would likely cool down.
Wind can carry the warmed air inland · A warm current heats the air above it, and wind can carry that warmer air inland, changing weather beyond the coastline.