The History Behind “World Oceans Day“

Gap-filling, vocabulary & writing activity

1.Use the words in the box to complete the text.

achieve  -  boost  -  capitalize  -  challenges  - community -  connection   conservation  - coordinate  -   depend  -  importance -  increasing  - involved   officially - online  -  petition -  result  - step  -    strive  -   together  -  urging

The concept for a “World Ocean Day” was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. As a (1).......................  of a United Nations General Assembly resolution passed in December 2008, World Oceans Day is now (2)...........................   recognized by the UN as June 8th each year. Since 2002, The Ocean Project and the World Ocean Network have helped to promote and (3)......................  World Oceans Day events worldwide with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations, universities, schools, and businesses. Each year an (4).......................... number of countries and organizations have been marking June 8th as an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal (5)......................... to the sea. Together, we also developed and widely circulated a (6)........................  to the United Nations (7)..........................  them to officially recognize World Oceans Day. With help from our Partner organizations, tens of thousands of people from all parts of the world signed (8)..................... or paper copies of the petition. Congratulations to all for helping to make this happen! Designation of World Oceans Day provides an important (9).......................... to those organizations and individuals who have been deeply committed to ocean (10)........................ Official UN designation is another important (11)............................ toward improving the health of our world’s ocean. Now we need to (12)........................... on this fresh momentum! We hope you will be (13)..........................  in planning or participating in a World Oceans Day celebration near you! Please visit the rest of the World Oceans Day website to list your event, get celebration ideas, access the media and outreach kit, and more. People around the world (14)......................... on a healthy, clean ocean in order to survive and thrive. World Oceans Day is the official UN-designated international day of ocean celebration. On June 8th each year, we celebrate the ocean, its (15).........................  in our lives, and how we can protect it. WorldOceansDay.org aims to help you make a difference in your life, (16).........................., and world by taking action to protect our ocean—for present and future generations. Despite the huge (17).........................  facing the world’s ocean, by working together we can (18)...........................  a healthy ocean that provides for the billions of humans, plants and animals which depend on it every day. The two-year theme for 2013 and 2014 is (19)........................  we have the power to protect the ocean!  For the next two years we ask you to celebrate the ocean and (20)..........................  to protect it. Connect with your family, friends, community, and the entire planet on World Oceans Day to take action and create the future you want.

Text source : WorldOceansDay.org

 2.Use at least TEN words from the box in exercise 1 to create a poster or brochure for a campaign to help protect the oceans. Use a dictionary to further clarify meanings and usage.

Answers here!

Marine Debris

Video & discussion activity – PBS

3.51 min

Life on Earth began in the sea, and today ocean life continues to nurture and sustain all of us, regardless of where we live. One of the main problems for oceans nowadays is marine debris. Marine debris is trash that ended up in the ocean and is washed up on beaches.

1)Watch the PBS video from the series “Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures” and answer the questions that follow.

Comprehension Questions

1. What are some of the items Jean-Michel Cousteau found on the beach on Laysan Island?
2. Was Jean-Michel surprised with the garbage washed upon the shores?
3. Where did these items come from?
4. How does garbage wind up on the beaches of the Hawaiian Islands?
5. What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
6. How much of the debris found in the ocean comes from land?
7. How do they reach the ocean?
8. Why do birds ingest plastic?
9. How are birds affected by the plastic they ingest?
10. Who is responsible for this problem?

Adapted from: Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures-  PBS.org

Discuss  What are some ways that we can prevent trash from getting into our waterways? How could we clean up garbage patches?

 

Answers here!

Sea Life

Vocabulary and video activity

For the last decade, around 2,700 scientists have cataloged marine plants and animals for the Census of the Marine Life study. You can consult OBIS, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System at www.iobis.org to search marine species from all of the world's oceans.

Did you know? The oceans around Australia and Japan have the greatest diversity of sea life on the planet.

A) Learn the names of a few common species:

Try a crossword puzzle on Marine Life HERE!

B) Video Segment: 

Watch the trailer of Disney movie OCEANS  (Length:  2.32 min) and say which of the species above can be seen.

Did you know? Scientists estimate that there are almost 22,000 fish species in the world.

C) Conversation/ Writing Activity:

Use the following prompts for discussion and/or writing.

How important do you think oceans are for human life? Would you like a job as an oceanographer? Why (not)? What are the most beautiful creatures living in the oceans? How would you describe oceans and the species that inhabit there? Is there anything scary or dangerous about oceans?

Answers here!

The Greatest Ocean Depth: The Mariana Trench

Video activity – National Geographic  - 2.16 min.

The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean and it is about 2,550 kilometres long and has an average width of  69 kilometres.   If Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth, were placed at the bottom we would still have to travel a mile to reach the surface.

In 2012 National Geographic explorer-in-residence and filmmaker James Cameron reached the deepest point of the Mariana Trench.

Go over the following choices and make predictions. Then watch the video clip and compare your answers to the report / interview.

1.James Cameron broke a world record for: a)deepest dive b)solo dive.

2. The name of the area he explored is called: a)The Challenger Deep b)The Submersible

3.The are he explored is comparable to something like a)50  b)60 times the size of the Grand Canyon.

4.Because of the water pressure the submarine sphere a)trembles b)becomes smaller.

5. Cameron spent in the lowest point of the Mariana Trench  a) about 3 hours  b)more than 3 hours

6. He went down filming and documenting what he saw about a)70 miles b) 7 miles.

7.Did he take samples?  a)Yes  b)No.

8.Underwater he felt a)lonely  b)scaried

9.Cameron compares the deep part of the ocean to  a)a desert b)space.

10.He carried a)one camera b)several cameras.

11.The bottom is a)dark  b)white

12.Animals that live there a)have many colors  b)have no pigment

13.They a)have  b)don’t have eyes.

14.Cameron is the first human to reach the deepest point of the Mariana Trench in more than a)50 years  b)15 years

LINK: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/environment-news/cameron-deepest-dive-record-vin

Answers here!

 

Ocean Words

Vocabulary game

The sea has contributed many expressions to the English language. “The coast is clear”, “to feel like a fish out of water”, and “to be all in the same boat” are just a few examples.

Also, many words and terms derive from the sea or sea culture, even when their original meaning is not clear nowadays.

Can you find out  the original meaning of the terms below?

TERM	ORIGINAL MEANING
1.Abundance	A.From the Greek word for "sailor."
2.Antenna	B.In colonial Boston the label "portside out, starboard home" was put in the luggage of rich people.
3.Astronaut/cosmonaut/internaut	C.From the Greek meaning "oyster shell", where an order of banishment was written.
4.Groggy	D.The topsails of ships, later the name was used to refer to tall buildings.
5.Ostracism	E.To lower the yard from which sails hung. When the British Navy mutinied, sailors "struck their yards to prevent them from proceeding to sea . . ."
6.Overwhelm	F.From Latin, meaning “from the wave”. Plenty of waves or water.
7.Posh	G.Comes from the middle English word meaning to overturn or to turn bottom up, as in a boat.
8.Salary	H.Was the beam from which sails were hung in ancient Rome.
9.Skyscraper	I.Comes from Latin meaning the allowance of sea salt given to Roman soldiers with their wages.
10.Slush funds	J.Comes from the name sailors in the British Royal Navy used for their daily ration of rum or “grog”.
11.Strike	K.The money of ship cooks, earned by keeping a part of the fat, or "slush," and selling it when the ship came into port.

Adapted from the Smithsonian Institution : www.si.edu

Your Answers:   1.........   2........  3......... 4......... 5........    6........  7........  8........  9........  10........ 11.......

Answers  here!

The Ocean Issue

The History Behind “World Oceans Day“

1.result  2.officially   3.coordinate   4.increasing   5.connection   6.petition  7.urging  8.online  9.boost   10.conservation  11.step  12.capitalize  13.involved  14.depend  15.importance  16.community  17.challenges  18.achieve  19.together  20. strive

Marine Debris

1.Beer bottles, lighters, toys, floats for fishing nets, TVs, plastic jugs containing unidentifiable fluids, a golf ball, a tee, tyres, toothbrush, mascara, pens, etc. Miles and miles of trash.

2.Yes, he was in complete shock.

3.Garbage comes from the open ocean.

4.Hawaii is in the middle of the North Pacific Gyre, a vortex of swirling garbage created by the currents between Asia and North America.

5.It is the world’s largest garbage dump.

6. About 80 percent comes from land.

7.It makes its way to the ocean through storm drains, rivers and travels to the ocean.

8.They mistake trash for food.

9.Birds ingest plastic, accumulate big quantities of it, feed it to their chicks and sometimes cannot regurgitate it and die.

10.Man is responsible and we have to solve it.

Sea Life

All the species in the picture can be seen in the trailer.

The Greatest Ocean Depth : The Mariana Trench 

1.b  2.a  3.a  4.b (it shrinks)  5.b  6.b  7.a  8.a  9.b  10.b  11.a  12.b  13.a and b

14.a

Ocean Words

Abundance from Latin, meaning “from the wave”. Plenty of waves or water.

Antenna  was the beam from which sails were hung in ancient Rome.

Astronaut/cosmonaut/internaut  From the Greek word for "sailor."

Groggy comes from the name sailors in the British Royal Navy used for their daily ration of rum or “grog”.

Ostracism From the Greek meaning "oyster shell", where an order of banishment was written.

Overwhelm comes from the middle English word meaning to overturn or to turn bottom up, as in a boat.

Posh In colonial Boston the label "portside out, starboard home" was put in the luggage of rich people. 

Salary comes from Latin meaning the allowance of sea salt given to Roman soldiers with their wages.

Skyscraper The topsails of ships, later the name was used to refer to tall buildings.

Slush funds the money of ship cooks, earned by keeping a part of the fat, or "slush," and selling it when the ship came into port.

Strike To lower the yard from which sails hung. When the British Navy mutinied, sailors "struck their yards to prevent them from proceeding to sea . . ."