Ocean Currents and Climate

Lab Brief #4

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

Weather isn't random — it's just complicated.

What you'll learn

Ocean currents distribute heat around the planet, affecting climate worldwide. Warm currents flow from the equator toward the poles, and cold currents flow from the poles toward the equator.

Key words

climate
The usual weather in a place over many years.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you observe: what shape will it leave?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

water
plastic tray

⚠️ Safety first

Mop up spills straight away so nobody slips, and keep liquids away from sockets.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Create a model of the water cycle in a bowl: place warm water in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, put ice on top, and observe condensation and precipitation.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Watch carefully for any changes and note the time.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Create a data table to organize your measurements.

Question 1 of 3

What causes wind?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

What is the difference between weather and climate?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

What causes ocean tides?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🌊 The deepest part of the ocean is deeper than Mount Everest is tall.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: Layers of the Atmosphere All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: Today's weather, tomorrow's beach, next century's coastline — all this.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Look at the sky for 5 minutes and try to predict tomorrow's weather.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the slowest change you can think of?”

🌎Share card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

Ocean Currents and Climate

Next Smart Experiment

Share this experiment

Ocean Currents and Climate

Done with science? Try something else

Your Cart (0)