How do we reach 50,000,000 elementary, middle- and high- school students and 3,000,000 teachers? How do we tell them about the oceans, especially the important physical process? How do we build on their interest in El Nino, global warming, and coral bleaching? How can they find out more about these topics? Can teachers bring these ideas into the classroom and still meet national and state standards?

Our approach to answering these questions is Oceanworld: a web site primarily for middle- and high- school students and teachers. Oceanworld describes fisheries, currents, Jason-1 and Topex/Poseidon, ice ages, coral reefs, weather, El Nino, icebergs, and waves. All the sections include information on physical processes, sources of data, and lists of four-star sites with more information. Plus, we start each section with art of the ocean and a quotation from literature of the sea. We also include special pages for teachers showing how the topics are tied to national and Texas state standards. We provide information about videos and texts for the classroom, and how to use internet-based instruction in the classroom.

The pages were written by teachers who have returned to school to earn advanced degrees in education, the site is built and maintained by undergraduate students. The work is directed by professors of education and oceanography.

To provide more advanced information, we have included an online textbook Introduction to Physical Oceanography in html and pdf formats, complete information on advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in oceanography and physical oceanography. The material includes schedules of topics, homework, quiz questions, and online resources.