Water and oceans activities
Follow water through the ground, rivers and the ocean. Choose a question, read an explanation and try the model to see what changes.
Every activity includes five reading levels, word help, a checkpoint and links to its science sources. No login is needed.
Water on the move
Follow a raindrop, trace a watershed and explore waves and tides.
- 1
Where can a drop of water go next?
Trace branching routes between Earth's water stores.
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Which river will this rain reach?
Trace downhill surface routes and discover the land area connected to a shared outlet.
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How can the ground hold water?
Discover water stored between grains and in rock cracks.
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Does a wave carry the same water across the ocean?
Track one particle as the wave pattern travels.
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Why does the sea rise and fall?
Follow one shore through a daily tide, then explore how the Sun and Moon change tidal range.
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Rivers to ocean
Follow dissolved materials, currents and the changing conditions of ocean habitats.
- 1
Why can the same rain make a sharper river peak?
Compare hypothetical runoff responses from more absorbent and more paved catchments.
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Why does evaporation leave the ocean’s salt behind?
Track water volume and dissolved salt separately in an ideal mixed basin.
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What can move water across the ocean?
Contrast wind-driven surface motion with density-related vertical motion.
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Can a bleached coral still be alive?
Follow coral–algae partnership, stress and possible recovery in a conceptual sequence.
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Can seawater acidify while it is still basic?
Compare pH and hydrogen-ion changes without pretending to forecast a particular reef.
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Keep exploring
Read more in Earth Science encyclopedia articles, with reading controls on each article. For printable practice, explore Maths worksheets and answer guides.