Weekly Blog 3/2716 - Ocean Currents

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Ocean_surface_currents.jpg

Summary

About 71% of the Earth's surface is covered in water. Most of this water is from oceans. Ocean currents are created by density in different bodies of water and wind. While the denser water sinks, the thinner water will rise creating a pattern.  In the northern hemisphere, ocean currents travel clockwise whereas, in the southern hemisphere, the currents travel count-clockwise. The earth rotates west (counter-clockwise) which affects the movement of the currents. Without the earth's rotation, the ocean currents would just travel in the direction towards the equator. Image opening a set of double doors, the right door is the northern hemisphere while the left door is the southern hemisphere. When you open them, the right door goes right (clockwise) while the left door swings in the opposite direction (counter-clockwise).

SP2: Developing and using models

I used models when I planned different routes across the world. My group and I looked a globe model of the world. The model helped us visualize the longest distance we would be able to cross without backtracking our steps on different continents as well as the ocean. I developed models when I drew my own map of the world on a paper. This was to study latitude and longitude lines. as well as geography to further understand the ocean and such. One thing I learned was that all the oceans on earth are connected. The Pacific, Atlantic, Indian etc. oceans aren't really separate oceans, they're parts of one huge body of water. 

XCC: Stability and Change

One thing I noticed is that over time the earth is constantly changing. Scientists believe that approximately 300 million years ago, all of our continents were connected in a sort of supercontinent called Pangaea. Over time, it started breaking apart making the earth we know now. However, one thing that constantly stayed the same is the fact that there is only one actual ocean. During Pangaea, There was one huge body of water (besides lakes, rivers, and etc.) All our oceans are technically still one big body of water.

What is the time scale for this system to remain stable or change?

The system of earth's changing geography takes a long time to change. The earth gradually shifts after earthquakes and such though it takes a veeerrryyy long time. If Pangaea was formed about 300 million years ago and it started breaking up 175 million years ago, that means Pangaea stayed the same slowly moving for 125 million years. As you can see, the geographical changing of the earth is a very slow process.

Multiplier - What type of learner were you this week?

This week I was a creator mutant. This is because I was studying the globes and communicating the information I found to my group. While some people in our group contributed to finding data, others analyzed the data together and wrote down our answer.