Water temperature
In this activity, students look at what happens when hot and cold water meet.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
discuss how temperature affects the density of water
discuss how temperature and density affect ocean currents
discuss how wind can mix up the layers of warm and cold water.
Sea surface temperature
This image clearly shows warmer surface water near the equator and cooler surface water near the poles. The image was made from satellite data collected in August 2025.
Download the Word file for:
introduction/background notes
what you need
what to do
student handout
idea.
Related content
These resources provide background information for the activity:
Water density – article
Ocean salinity – article
For a curation of information on topics featured in this activity, visit Icy ecosystems – introduction and The ocean in action – introduction.
