Introduction

Mrs. Marchand has asked your class to create some ABC Books on Oceanography. She would like to add your classes books to the School Library. Students your age or older will read these books. First, you will read ABC books, especially The Ocean Alphabet Book and The Underwater Alphabet Book. When you read these books, look at the format of the book and the illustrations. First in groups of three, you will research the ocean. After researching the ocean you will pick a topic for your book. The topics you can choose from are: sea shells, tide pools, sea mammals, ocean fish, ocean/water, sea shore, ocean life, or coral reefs. Your group will then create an ABC book on that topic. You will need to use all of the letters of the alphabet. Try to be original in your ideas and format. Here is your chance to be an author and illustrator of a children's book.

The Task

Your task is to create an ABC book about the ocean for children your age.

• Read the books The Ocean Alphabet and The Underwater Alphabet Book.
• Read other ABC books to check the styles, format, illustrations, etc.
• Research ocean topics using the internet, encyclopedias, and ocean books.
• Pick an oceanography topic and find a subject for each letter of the alphabet.
• Collect information and illustrations for the subject chosen for each letter.
• Create the format of the book.
• Write and illustrate the final copy.
• Bind the book.

 

 

Resources
Use the following internet links to obtain oceanography information:

Coral Reefs

• Coral Reefs (Enchanted Learning): http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/coralreef/coralreef.shtml
• Coral Reefs: http://www.solcomhouse.com/coralreef.htm
• All About the Coral Reef: http://www.reefrelief.org/coral_reef_body.shtml
• http://seasky.org/reeflife/sea2.html

Ocean Fish

• Yahoo kids http://kids.yahoo.com/animals/fishes

Ocean Life

• Sea Dwellers http://www.pbs.org/oceanrealm/seadwellers/index.html
• All about the sea: http://www.livescience.com/sea/

Ocean/Water

• Oceans Alive! http://www.mos.org/oceans
• Oceanlink http://oceanlink.island.net/oinfo/oinfo.html

Sea Animals

• Ocean animals excellent http://www.mobot.org/MBGnet/salt/animals/index.htm
• Search engine http://www.yahooligans.com/Science_and_Oddities/Living_Things/Animals/

Sea Mammals

• Whale and Dolphin facts http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/
• Whales (Enchanted Learning): http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/
• Mammals (Enchanted Learning): http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/
• Yahoo kids http://kids.yahoo.com/animals/mammal

Sea Shells

• Sea shell idenfication guide: http://www.sanibelflorida.com/seashells/sanibelseashellident.htm
• Seashells.com: http://www.seashells.org/identification.htm

Sea Shore

• Shoreline: http://www.mobot.org/MBGnet/salt/animals/index.htm

Use the following books to obtain oceanography information:

• A look around coral reefs -Tracey Dils
• A day under water - Deborah Kovacs
• An Ocean World -
• Animals in Water
• Animals that live in the sea - Joan Ann Straker
• Coral Reef: a city that never sleeps - Mary M. Cerullo
• Destination: deep sea - Jonathan Grupper
• Exploring the Seashore - William H. Amos
• Eye Witness "Seashore" - Steve Parker
• The Four Oceans - Wil Mara
• The Great Barrier Reef - An Undersea Adventure - Susan Ring
• The Ocean - Francene Sabin
• Oceans - A New True Book - Katherine Jones Carter
• Oceans
• Rivers and Oceans - Barbara Taylor
• Seashore
• Simon and Shuster's guide to shells
• Snails and other mollusks
• This Earth of Ours - The Ocean - Mel Higginson
• Ugly sea creaturs
• What's in a Tide Pool?
• Where are my Puffins, Whales and Seals? - Ron Hirschi
• World's Weirdest Sea Creatures - M. L. Roberts
• Encyclopedias

The Process

1. Work in groups of 3 students
2. You will be assigned a role: (While all members of the group will do the research, you will need one person to coordinate the following jobs.)
   • editor/writer (this person proofreads all of the pages to check for accuracy, proper spelling, and grammar, checks to makes sure all of the letters of the alphabet are included and the information on all pages is written in a consistent manner)
   • illustrator (this person makes sure that each letter has an illustration and the illustrations flow from one page to the next)
   • publisher (this person makes sure the pages are typed or neatly written, there is a title page, the pages are in order and there is an appropriate cover for the book)
3. Your group researches oceanography and picks a topic for your ABC book. Some possible topics for a book might include: sea shells, tide pools, sea mammals, fish, the sea shore, sea plants, water, ocean life, or coral reefs.
4. Each group member should decide on what letters of the alphabet, they will research. Decide the format of the book within your group. Prepare a rough draft of the pages you are responsible for. Each letter of the alphabet should have at least 1 sentence of text. Make sure you have an illustration for each letter.
5. Use the computer to type one letter per page. Decide where the illustrations will be placed so you know where to put the written material.
6. Decide whether you want to use crayons, colored pencils or markers. You could also import graphics from the Internet. Make your illustrations neatly and appealing to the reader.
7. Have your book bound using the teacher's binding machine.
8. Read your book to your class and to the students in a lower grade before it is placed in the library.