What would happen if a portion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet were to melt? This video segment adapted from NOVA uses animations to show the effect of a 6-meter sea-level rise on coastal cities across the world.

This document from the NOVA: "Into the Abyss" Web site describes the physical and behavioral traits of some of the least-known and most unlikely creatures on earth.

Deep-sea vents are home to strange, luminescent life forms that thrive through chemosynthesis. This video segment from NOVA: "Volcanoes of the Deep" hypothesizes life's beginnings in this extreme environment.

This visualization adapted from NASA features satellite images showing how more than 60 percent of the Aral Sea has disappeared during the last 30 years.

Students learn what causes hurricanes and what engineers do to help protect people from destruction caused by hurricane winds and rain. Research and data collection vessels allow for scientists and engineers to model and predict weather patterns and provide forecasts and storm warnings to the public. Engineers are also involved in the design and building of flood-prevention systems, such as levees and floodwalls. During the 2005 hurricane season, levees failed in the greater New Orleans area, contributing to the vast flooding and destruction of the historic city. In the associated activity, students learn how levees work, and they build their own levees and put them to the test!

This course covers the development of the fundamental equations of fluid mechanics and their simplifications for several areas of marine hydrodynamics and the application of these principles to the solution of engineering problems. Topics include the principles of conservation of mass, momentum and energy, lift and drag forces, laminar and turbulent flows, dimensional analysis, added mass, and linear surface waves, including wave velocities, propagation phenomena, and descriptions of real sea waves. Wave forces on structures are treated in the context of design and basic seakeeping analysis of ships and offshore platforms. Geophysical fluid dynamics will also be addressed including distributions of salinity, temperature, and density; heat balance in the ocean; major ocean circulations and geostrophic flows; and the influence of wind stress. Experimental projects conducted in ocean engineering laboratories illustrating concepts taught in class, including ship resistance and model testing, lift and drag forces on submerged bodies, and vehicle propulsion.

The largest of the 30 National Sea Grant programs, California Sea Grant draws on the talents of scientists and engineers at public and private universities throughout the state. Join Dr. Russ Moll as he describes how the program contributes to the growing body of knowledge about coastal and marine resources and helps solve contemporary marine-related problems. (26 minutes)

Do you ever wonder what the seashore looked like 100 years ago? Many would be shocked at the changes that have occurred during the last few decades as population in coastal regions has swelled. Please join Dr. Kaustuv Roy as he explains the role humans have played in the degradation of some of our most precious coastal treasures and ponders what we can do to preserve what is close to being lost. (57 minutes)

For time immemorial, humanity has looked at the world's oceans as a vast unending sea of resources, but imagine a Serengeti where the elephants and the lions are gone and the top consumers are termites and locusts. That is what is happening in the ocean. Join Dr. Jeremy Jackson as he considers the biological future of the oceans in the context of accelerated human disturbance. (28 minutes)

This video segment from Interactive NOVA: "Animal Pathfinders" describes the life history of the sea turtle.

discusses Spain's search for gold and silver in the New World (1500s-1700s) and its treasure fleet system, which was intended to protect its treasure-laden ships from being seized by England, France, and the Netherlands. In 1715 and 1733, hurricanes devastated Spain's treasure fleets off the coast of Florida. Today, two of the sunken ships' remains are protected as Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves.

Students use a table-top-sized tsunami generator to observe the formation and devastation of a tsunami. They see how a tsunami moves across the ocean and what happens when it reaches the continental shelf. Students make villages of model houses and buildings to test how different material types are impacted by the huge waves. They further discuss how engineers design buildings to survive tsunamis. Much of this activity setup is the same as for the Mini-Landscape activity in Lesson 4 of the Natural Disasters unit.