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The ocean in action – question bank

An inquiry approach is a method often used in science education. The question bank provides an initial list of questions about the physical and chemical properties of the ocean and places where their answers can be found.

The article The ocean in action – introduction has links to further resources and student activities.

Q. What is the difference between an ocean and a sea?

Q. How does the ocean interact with other natural systems on the planet?

Q. Salt makes seawater taste salty, but does it do anything else?

Q. What causes ocean currents?

Q. Data from Argo scientific floats is available on the internet, so can I use it?

Q. Argo floats automatically go up and down in the water – how do they do that?

Q. How can different people claim different conclusions from the same data?

Q. Is the concern about global warming just a recent thing?

Q. Is carbon dioxide in the atmosphere really increasing?

Q. What part does the ocean play in the global carbon cycle?

Q. Where is the most carbon stored naturally on Earth?

Q. Isn’t the ocean too big and too deep for scientists to find out what’s going on in it?

Q. What does an oceanographer do?

Published: 16 June 2010