STAGE

Oceans
2 Barnaby Newbolt

Introduction

This ungraded summary is for the teacher’s use only

and should not be given to students.

Chapter summary
Chapter 1 (Planet Ocean) highlights the importance
of the oceans, which cover nearly three-quarters of the
Earth’s surface and contain most of its animals. They
also support life on the land by providing rain and
moderating our climate. However, for many of us they
remain mysterious and exciting.
Chapter 2 (Ocean people) outlines the early
history of the Lapita, the first ‘ocean people’, who complex sequences of horizontal and vertical currents
migrated from south-east Asia thousands of years ago that, scientists believe, keep water and nutrients
and navigated to remote islands without maps or flowing around the whole planet.
compasses. They even learned to sail across the Chapter 8 (The open ocean) first talks about
prevailing winds, and are believed to have travelled to Captain Bligh, who navigated across the Pacific for
Tonga, Easter Island, South America, and New Zealand. weeks after being ejected from the Bounty. It then
Chapter 3 (Looking for gold) is about people who mentions some of the fast, predatory fish – like sailfish
have crossed the oceans looking for wealth and trade and sharks – that thrive in the open ocean.
rather than new homes. It mentions the fictional Chapter 9 (The frozen oceans) is about the ice
Sinbad the Sailor, and describes the exploits of the and freezing waters found at the Earth’s poles. It
Vikings. It also touches on the age of European describes some of the animals found in this
exploration of the New World and the continuing environment, including albatross, whales and orcas. It
importance of sea travel in the modern world. also discusses the effects that the warming climate is
Chapter 4 (What is the ocean?) describes the likely to have on these areas.
basic geology of oceans, and goes into the difference Chapter 10 (The deep ocean) concludes by
between the continental and oceanic areas of Earth’s looking at the very deepest areas of the ocean, areas
crust. It explains that life in the sea is particularly rich that have only been explored relatively recently.
in the shallow, sunlit waters around continents. Attempts to travel underwater were first made
Chapter 5 (The ocean floor) talks about the dark centuries ago, but it is only in the last hundred years
world at the bottom of the ocean, inhabited by just a or so that people have been able to observe the
few creatures that live on pieces of dead fish that sink geology and life of the extreme ocean depths.
from the surface. The chapter also describes the Amazingly, some animals live next to hydrothermal
Earth’s crust below the seabed, and how its gradual vents – like erupting undersea volcanoes – in the
movement creates trenches and underwater deepest parts of the ocean. These vents may exist on
mountains, while sudden movements cause other planets, so it is conceivable that similar life
earthquakes and tsunamis. forms are present elsewhere in the solar system.
Chapter 6 (The tides) explains how the movement
of the Moon around the Earth leads to continual
changes in the height of the oceans. This constant
motion helps to keep minerals and food moving
around the world’s oceans.
Chapter 7 (Ocean currents) looks at the
movement of water around the oceans. As well as the
vast circulating ‘gyres’ in the open oceans, there are

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 STAGE
Oceans
2 Pre-reading activity

Is it true?

1 Read these sentences about oceans. Do you think they are true or not?
Yes No
a Water covers about three-quarters of the Earth’s surface.
b People started to sail across the oceans about a thousand years ago.
c Christopher Columbus tried to sail to Asia.
d Deep inside the Earth, it is very cold.
e Nothing can live at the bottom of the ocean, because there is no sunlight.
f Millions of years ago, the Atlantic Ocean was just a river.

2 Match these chapter titles with the sentences.

1 Planet Ocean a It is like a soft carpet, hundreds of metres deep, over the oceanic rock.
2 Ocean people b People have always thought that a rich future was waiting for them
somewhere across the oceans.
3 Looking for gold c No light gets here from the Sun.
4 What is the ocean? d Every ten days, the computers come up to the surface to tell us
where they are.
5 The ocean floor e When the water gets warm, it goes into clouds in the sky.
When it gets very cold, it changes into ice.
6 The tides f If we look at our planet from a long way away, it is not yellow
like the Sun, nor white like the Moon – it is blue.
7 Ocean currents g When seals are in danger from orcas, they sometimes climb out
of the water onto a piece of ice.
8 The open ocean h As the Moon moves around the Earth, it pulls the oceans with it.
9 The frozen oceans i They were looking for new islands – new places to make their homes.
10 The deep ocean j He sailed the small boat, with all the other men, nearly
7,000 kilometres across the Pacific.

To the teacher
Aim: To introduce some key vocabulary and facts about the chapter titles in Activity 2 with the sentences
the oceans provided. You can go through the answers with the
Time: 10–15 minutes students now, or alternatively look at the worksheet
Organization: First, ask students what they know about again when students have finished the book.
the oceans: for example, which oceans can they name? Key: Activity 1: a yes, b no (the first ocean travellers
How are these oceans different from each other? What lived about 50,000 years ago), c yes (he did not know
animals live in these oceans? Then ask students to look about the American continent), d no (it is so hot that the
at the six statements in Activity 1 and decide (individually rock is liquid), e no (some animals like sea spiders live on
or in groups) whether they are true. Help with any the ocean floor), f yes
unfamiliar vocabulary. Next ask the students to match Activity 2: 1 f, 2 i, 3 b, 4 e, 5 a, 6 h, 7 d, 8 j, 9 g, 10 c

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 STAGE
Oceans
2 While reading activity

Spot the mistakes

There are some mistakes in this summary of Chapter 3. Can you find them? The first one has
been done for you and there are twelve others for you to find and correct.
thousand
A hundred years ago, the Vikings sailed to many countries in the North Pacific. Their long, wide boats
– called longships – were slower than any other boats. The Vikings killed, burned, and stole. People
had to pay them to go away – with fish.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus (an English sailor in a Spanish ship) tried to sail to Australia from
Europe. He did not get to Asia, but he was one of the first Europeans to visit the Americas. Later, in
1522, an Italian sailor called Ferdinand Magellan sailed to the Pacific, and his ship Victoria was the last
to sail all the way around the world.
In 1497, John Cabot sailed across the Indian Ocean. He found new land, and he called it
Newfoundland. Near the coast, at a place called Grand Banks, the water was full of birds. For
hundreds of years, fishermen came to Grand Banks to catch cod. But in 1892, the fishing stopped
because there were too many fish.

Now write a summary of Chapter 4. Include five mistakes. When you have finished it, give it to
another student to correct.

To the teacher
Where: When students have finished reading Chapter 3 remaining mistakes. When they have read the next
(Looking for gold) chapter, they can write a summary with mistakes for
Aim: To revise some key historical events other students to correct.
Time: 15–20 minutes Key: hundred – thousand, Pacific – Atlantic, wide –
Organization: Give each student, or pair of students, a narrow, slower – faster, fish – gold, English – Italian,
copy of the worksheet. Ask them what they remember Australia – Asia, an Italian – a Portuguese, last – first,
about Chapter 3 (Looking for gold). Then ask them to Indian – Atlantic, birds – fish, 1892 – 1992, too many –
read the summary and try to find and correct the twelve not enough.

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Oceans
2 After reading activity

Hidden word

Read the clues and fill in the word grid. Find the name of the place.
CLUES
1 The centre of the Earth is called the ___.
2 The ___ were the first people to sail across the open ocean.
3 Zooplankton are very small ___ that float on the ocean.
4 Millions of years ago there was just one large ___, called Pangaea.
5 When ___ plates move suddenly, they make earthquakes.
6 The Vikings came from Denmark and ___.
7 The Earth is about 4.5 ___ years old.
8 On the open ocean, winds and currents move in large circles called ___.
9 Captain ___ sailed 7,000 kilometres across the Pacific in a small boat.
10 Cornelius Drebbel built the first ___ boat in 1620.
11 Plants need water, minerals, and ___.
12 Cnut was a king of ___ a long time ago.
1
C O R E
2

10

11

12

To the teacher
Aim: To revise some of the main facts about the oceans give as much related detail as they can about each
Time: 15–20 minutes answer. For example: How did the Lapita travel across
Organization: Give each student, or pair of students, a the open ocean without compasses or maps? Why are
copy of the worksheet. Ask them to read the clues and zooplankton important to life in the oceans?
fill in the grid. (Students can refer to the book if Key: 1 core, 2 Lapita, 3 animals, 4 continent, 5 tectonic, 6
necessary.) They will then find the hidden place name. Norway, 7 billion, 8 gyres, 9 Bligh, 10 underwater, 11
When checking the answers with the class, ask them to sunlight, 12 England. The hidden place is EASTER ISLAND.

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