Lauren Henderson

August 25, 2016

Mr. Stradling
Period 2.
Chapter One Project

There are many things we have used the ocean for in the past centuries. Having the
ocean has been beneficial to the outcome of our future. We have come to rely on the ocean for
food, transportation, warfare, navigation and trading. These various uses are very important
because it has helped us get through several wars.
Human Use of the Ocean: Humans have used the ocean
for all their sources for millions of years. We use the ocean
for our food. The food we get from the ocean is about one
sixth of our protein source. (A History of Oceanography Page
1 A-1; Oceanography 10, James Noyes, E1 Camino College)

The use of the ocean also helps with our money because
its cheaper to use the ocean to ship out all food goods. Its also cheaper to transport people
over the ocean than land. With so many people trading around the world with boats and ships,
you have to have ports for them to come in at. Two of the biggest ports in the world are actually
in California. Those two ports are in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Beginnings of The Science of Oceanography: People have

been studying the ocean for centuries now. People study
different things when they look at the ocean. Some people study
the ocean for its wildlife living in it. People use to just study the
ocean for the aspects fond of the ocean. Now there are so many
things to study about the ocean like Currents can control where
life is abundant in the ocean because they carry special
chemicals. (A History of Oceanography Page 1 A-2; Oceanography 10, James Noyes, E1 Camino
College)

Oceanography at War: During World War I is when the government finally started to get some
money to start working. The sad thing was that the employees didnt get the money actually to
them because it went towards the scientific studies. They really never got to finish a lot of
projects because the government would want to save money and start cancelling them. Word
War II was more valuable to them then world one because it
helped them create things like the atomic bomb. Developing
and maintaining a lead in the application of RADAR to find
enemy ships and planes was probably even more important.
(A History of Oceanography Page 1 A-3; Oceanography 10,
James Noyes, E1 Camino College) Getting the technology to do

this helped the men and women who served during the war.
After World War II the government knew the scientist were too valuable to just end it so they
kept them around.
Phytoplankton: Phytoplankton are tiny algae plant-like organism that uses sunlight as an
energy source to make their own food. When they use photosynthesis they carry huge amounts
of water and carbon dioxide. They need small amounts of nutrients to build up their bodies.
They dont use up the nutrient in the process though. There are two types of phytoplankton.

The two main classes of phytoplankton are dinoflagellates and diatoms.(National Ocean
Service; What are phytoplankton?) Dinoflagellates use a whip-like tail, or flagella, to move

through the water and their bodies are covered with

complex shells. Diatoms also have shells, but they
are made of a different substance and their structure
is rigid and made of interlocking parts.
Bacteria: Bacteria is a small, single-celled
organism. Bacteria is a single loop of DNA. Bacteria
uses photosynthesis to grow. Bacteria uses a chemical
process to extract the energy necessary to sustain their
lives from inorganic and organic matter including dead,
decaying material and fecal matter that animals cannot use
as food. (A History of Oceanography Page 1 A-13;
Oceanography 10, James Noyes, E1 Camino College) The

bacteria is actually helping because there eating up all the things that cant be recycled.
Bacteria can be found in any part of the ocean. A few examples of the things they are in are
rocks, soil, and arctic snow.
Sediments: Sediments are pieces or broken parts of various materials that cover the bottom of
the ocean. Some examples are sand, mud, oil, and dirt.
Theres two types of sediments. One type is the remainders of
sea life before like there shells. The other type is broken types
of rock. The thing that shows up the most on the ocean floor
or just in general are the shells of the animals. There are
types of categories sediments can be put into, calcareous and siliceous.
Submarines: Submarines were very useful during World War II and still are today. During World
War II they were used as ships basically. The only bad thing about them during World War II is

that they can only go underneath water for a certain amount of

time. USS Balao; one of the most successful U.S.

submarines and a good example for the basic idea of

a submarine, was 312 feet long and displaced 2,415
tons. (Submarines in WWII) There use to be submarines
where they were like a bomb. They would send them down
near their target and make it react when they were in range. The navy uses the submarines all
the time for their missions.
Satellites: Satellites were very important during World War II.
They needed satellites to keep in touch with their men. When
World War II came along thats when they started to use
satellites for the start of the Soviet Union. At the 1942 Battle
of Stalingrad, the Soviets were able to stop the Germans,
eventually pushing them all the way back to
Berlin.(Satellite Nation: Definition and the Cold War) Satellites helped the US figure out Stalins
plan.
Navigation: Navigation didnt really happen during World War I. It started getting big right
before World War II.Before World War II, radio
navigation could only provide a course or a bearing to
a station. (Radio Navigation: Flying The Beam) The men
in World War II used radio navigation a lot. They would tell
the bomber planes where to drop. Now we use navigation
in our everyday life. When you give people directions to your house or to a certain place your
using navigation.

As you can see, the ocean has provided many essential things over the centuries.
Without the ocean, our civilization would be very different than what it is today. We have made
discoveries in areas such as satellites, submarines, warfare, transportation, and navigation.
These topics are very important because it shows the uses of the ocean.
Website Title: Dive and Discover
8
8

Article Title: Dive and Discover : History of Oceanography

Date Accessed: August 30, 2016

Website Title: National Ocean Service

Article Title: What are phytoplankton?
8 Date Accessed: August 30, 2016
8
8 Website Title: Microbiology Online
8 Article Title: Bacteria
8 Date Accessed: August 30, 2016