What is the hydrosphere and why is it important?

In this mini lesson, students use in-water profiles of historical ocean data to analyze how sea surface salinity varies with depth. 

This mini-lesson features time-series graphs of mean salinity at the surface for the Arctic and Antarctic regions. A series of questions guides students in their analysis.

Students review a video showing how the ocean is warmed by solar energy. This is the first video of a four-part series on the water cycle, which follows the journey of water from the ocean to the atmosphere, to the land, and back again to the ocean.

Explore the energy and matter cycles found within the Earth System. 

Phytoplankton distribution background information.

Earth is a system of systems.

In this lesson, students investigate and identify various phytoplankton using images that were previously taken with a compound microscope.  Credit:  This lesson is modified from a lesson of the same name created by The Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education&nbsp