Mountains Under the Ocean

Mountains Under the Ocean: Grade 4 Science Worksheet

Is the ocean floor flat like a bathtub? Students read a side view of the Atlantic floor along 39.5°N, drawn from NOAA ETOPO depth data. Deep flat plains about 5,000 meters down rise into the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a long mountain chain hidden under the sea.

Key Science Vocabulary

• ocean ridge: a long chain of mountains on the ocean floor
• profile: a side view that shows the shape of land and ocean floor
• sea level: the height of the ocean surface, used as 0 meters
• depth: how far down something is below sea level
• Mid-Atlantic Ridge: the ocean ridge that runs down the middle of the Atlantic

What Students Do

• Read a short teach box on ocean ridges and profiles
• Part A: use a word bank to label points on the profile
• Part B: follow the ridge on an Atlantic map and answer three questions
• Visual answer key with the ridge marked in red

Standards

NGSS 4-ESS2-2: Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. Also supports CCSS RI.4.7 (interpret information shown visually, such as maps and tables).

Where It Fits in Grades 3 to 8

Students already know mountains on land. Grade 4 shows that mountains also rise from the ocean floor. In grades 6 to 8, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge becomes key evidence for seafloor spreading.

Teaching Tip

Connect the two pictures first: the dashed profile line on the map is where Earth was “sliced” to make the profile. Takes 8 to 10 minutes.