Module 1: What Is Oceanography?
Did you know that water covers 71 percent of our planet? Or that rain clouds formed from volcanic activity billions of years ago? Would you believe that it is possible for rain to fall for thousands of years?
This module begins with a bang — literally! To understand our oceans, you must first travel 13.7 billion of years into the past to learn about the Big Bang theory and the early days of our universe. Then you will move forward a few billion years to visit a glowing ball of molten rock far out in the Milky Way Galaxy (someday, you will call this home!). You will watch this lonely planet slowly cool and gradually turn blue as it fills with water.
When you return from your time traveling adventure, you will meet with professionals in the four branches of oceanography — biological, chemical, geological, and physical — to learn about the importance of oceanography in the modern world. Biologists study life in the oceans, while chemists look for new interesting medicines and technologies. Geologists find new resources and explain how the world changes, and physicists explain the movement of ocean water and can help find quicker ways to travel using the ocean currents.
No matter their chosen branch of study, oceanographers rely on a wide variety of tools and technologies to conduct their research. You will explore some of these tools and technologies, 
from simple sampling bottles and plankton nets to robotic submarines, high-tech satellites, and huge ocean-going research vessels.
After all this, do you think that a career in oceanography sounds rather exciting? Terrific! You will take a sample of college and university programs to learn what is available. Then, you will explore some of the many careers in oceanography such as oil exploration, environmental consulting, teaching, marine biology, marine geology, and even ocean chemists who look for new medicines near deep ocean vents.
Getting Started
How much do you already know about oceanography? In this non-graded interactivity, read each statement and decide whether it is true or false. Then click SUBMIT to check your answer. Click the player button to begin.
Key Vocabulary
To view the definitions for these key vocabulary terms, visit the course glossary.
| astronomy | geological oceanography | seafloor spreading |
| basin | hydrometer | Secchi disk |
| bathymetric maps | hydrothermal vents | seismometer |
| Big Bang theory | Mid-Atlantic Ridge | singularity |
| biological oceanography | mixture | Sir Fred Hoyle |
| bottom corer | Nansen bottles | solar nebula |
| bottom sampler | Niskin bottles | solar nebula theory/nebular hypothesis |
| buoys | ocean-going vessels | solute |
| carbon dioxide | oceanography | solution |
| chemical oceanography | out gassing | solvent |
| compound | Peterson grab | submersibles |
| continental drift | physical oceanography | succession plates |
| current | plankton net | surface sample bottles |
| deck plankton collector | plate tectonics | symbiosis |
| dredge | plates | tide |
| Ekman grab | quadrats | transects |
| fault | refractometer | trawling |
| floating platforms | remote sensing | Van Dorn bottles |
| fusion | salinity | water vapor |
| geography | satellites | wave |