Go With the Flow: An Ocean Currents Game
Play
A Game Modified from NASA: Space Place
Game Main PAge
Game
How to Play
Read
1. Directions: Click How To Play2. Explore: Play the Game 3. Learn: Read about what happened
Directions
Salt to make the current go down.
Icon for heat tool. Heat to make the current go up. A sideways current tool that you can use to send, or bend, the current to the right or left. Walls that you can use to block currents. With these tools, you can make your little submarine go anywhere to get the key to the treasure chest. Key is hanging from a buoy under water. Keep your eye out for the key to unlock the treasure! It's all yours! Just go with the flow!
There are 2 Main Rules:
Here are the two rules to remember:Salt makes water heavier, so it sinks.
Heat makes water lighter, so it rises.
Game
Go With The Flow
Click the water to begin the game!
Info
What happened?
How Currents Work in the Ocean
The rules of the game are how ocean currents work in real life, too. Salt makes water heavier, so it sinks. Heat makes water lighter, so it rises.
If you have tasted the ocean, you know it is very salty. Salty water is "thicker" or denser than fresh water. That is why it is easier to float in the ocean than in a fresh-water swimming pool or lake.
Does that mean that fresh river water would float on top of salty ocean water? It all depends on the temperature. Heat makes water lighter, or less dense. So, warm salt water might float on colder fresh water. In the ocean, things get even more complicated. The ocean is salty, but some parts are saltier than others. For example, every summer, some of the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean (near the North Pole) melts. Then in winter, it freezes again. The salt doesn't freeze; only the water freezes.
The salt from the ice mixes into the water below, making it even saltier. When the salt-free ice melts the next summer, the melted fresh water tends to make the nearby upper ocean less salty. But the melt water is also colder, which makes it sink.
All this heating and cooling and melting and thawing creates big ocean currents. Cold water sinks near the North and South Poles. Cold water also flows toward the equator, getting warmer as it goes. As the cold water warms, it starts to rise to the top and sends the warmer surface water back toward the poles. The warm water flowing from the equator toward the poles helps warm the climate in North America and Europe.
Go With the Flow-Currents Game
Epic Design Team
Created on August 31, 2023
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Transcript
Go With the Flow: An Ocean Currents Game
Play
A Game Modified from NASA: Space Place
Game Main PAge
Game
How to Play
Read
1. Directions: Click How To Play2. Explore: Play the Game 3. Learn: Read about what happened
Directions
Salt to make the current go down. Icon for heat tool. Heat to make the current go up. A sideways current tool that you can use to send, or bend, the current to the right or left. Walls that you can use to block currents. With these tools, you can make your little submarine go anywhere to get the key to the treasure chest. Key is hanging from a buoy under water. Keep your eye out for the key to unlock the treasure! It's all yours! Just go with the flow!
There are 2 Main Rules:
Here are the two rules to remember:Salt makes water heavier, so it sinks. Heat makes water lighter, so it rises.
Game
Go With The Flow
Click the water to begin the game!
Info
What happened?
How Currents Work in the Ocean The rules of the game are how ocean currents work in real life, too. Salt makes water heavier, so it sinks. Heat makes water lighter, so it rises. If you have tasted the ocean, you know it is very salty. Salty water is "thicker" or denser than fresh water. That is why it is easier to float in the ocean than in a fresh-water swimming pool or lake. Does that mean that fresh river water would float on top of salty ocean water? It all depends on the temperature. Heat makes water lighter, or less dense. So, warm salt water might float on colder fresh water. In the ocean, things get even more complicated. The ocean is salty, but some parts are saltier than others. For example, every summer, some of the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean (near the North Pole) melts. Then in winter, it freezes again. The salt doesn't freeze; only the water freezes. The salt from the ice mixes into the water below, making it even saltier. When the salt-free ice melts the next summer, the melted fresh water tends to make the nearby upper ocean less salty. But the melt water is also colder, which makes it sink. All this heating and cooling and melting and thawing creates big ocean currents. Cold water sinks near the North and South Poles. Cold water also flows toward the equator, getting warmer as it goes. As the cold water warms, it starts to rise to the top and sends the warmer surface water back toward the poles. The warm water flowing from the equator toward the poles helps warm the climate in North America and Europe.