General Topics of Study
Please keep in mind that the questions for the NOSB will integrate fundamental concepts in physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and math in the context of the oceans. Although your students might not study the ocean sciences in any depth (pun intended!) during school, they should have a grasp of the basic concepts of physics, chemistry, etc., and therefore have a good foundation for figuring out the correct answer to the question. Questions on estuaries and the Great Lakes will be included.
Our list of topics is as follows:
Physics of the oceans
Chemistry of the oceans
Biology of the oceans
Geology of the oceans
Social Sciences, including economics, history, & human interactions
Ocean-related technology, including instrumentation, remote sensing, & navigation
Geography
Current events
Level of Difficulty
The level of difficulty of competition questions will generally correspond to that of an AP high school/introductory undergraduate course.
The Resources
BOOKS
These texts were recommended by the Technical Advisory Panel of the NOSB. Any ONE of these textbooks will address the breadth of topics that the questions in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl will cover. Purchasing information is provided below, but as a teacher you may be able to request a complimentary copy. You may find earlier editions of these texts by the same authors in the library. Generally, any edition published since 1990 will be adequate. Some of these authors (e.g. Duxbury & Duxbury, Gross & Gross and Thurman) have texts for high school as well, but the ones listed below are college level.
Duxbury, Alyn C.,Alison C. Duxbury and Keith Sverdrup. Introduction to the World's Oceans,7th ed. Wm. C. Brown, 2003.
Garrison, Thomas.Oceanography: An Invitation to Marine Science, 2005.
Gross, Grant M. and Elizabeth Gross.Oceanography: A View of Earth, 7th ed. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 1996.
Pinet, Paul R. Invitation to Oceanography, 3rd ed.Colgate University, 2003
Segar, Douglas A. Introduction to Ocean Sciences, Dec. 2006
Thurman, Harold V. & Burton, Elizabeth Introductory Oceanography, 9th ed. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2001.
OTHER BOOKS
These books cover fewer topics, but the coverage is more in-depth. They have been designed for secondary grade levels. These would be good supplemental texts to any of those listed above.
Curriculum Research and Development Group. The Fluid Earth: Physical Science and Technology of the Marine Environment, 3d ed. U. Hawaii, Honolulu, 1996.
Curriculum Research and Development Group. The Living Ocean: Biology and Technology of the Marine Environment, 3d ed. U. Hawaii, Honolulu, 1996.
Greene, Thomas F. Marine Science, 1998.
Niesen, Thomas. The Marine Biology Coloring Book,Second Edition.
ISBN: 0064603032
PERIODICALS
The following periodicals are all good sources of information regarding the oceans. While these magazines have been published for many years, for the purposes of the NOSB competition, contestants need only be concerned with information that has been published from the last five years.
Click on the title to visit a web site associated with the magazine. Some web sites have more information than others, such as complete articles on line, topic summaries, etc. All have online subscription information. Your local public library or school librarian should be able to provide more information on where these sources are located in your area.
Oceanus (the semi-annual report of current research at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
CD-ROMs
Ocean Drilling Program's "Mountains to Monsoons"
Cost: none
Contact: Joint Oceanographic Institutions
Tel: (202) 232-3900, ext. 244
e-mail: info@joiscience.org Tasagraph's "The Theory of Plate Tectonics"
Cost: $59 for first CD, $38.35 thereafter (plus s/h).
Contact: Tasa Graphic Arts, Inc.
Tel: (800) 293-2725
e-mail: TasaGraph@aol.com
Jet Propulsion Laboratory's "A Visit to an Ocean Planet"
Cost: $0 for first CD (order on-line)
Contact: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Tel: (818) 354-4321
e-mail: podaac@podaac.jpl.nasa.gov 
for multiple copies
WEB SITES
There is a lot of good information on the World Wide Web on the oceans. However, there is also no quality-control mechanism. For this reason, we are restricting our recommendations to U.S. Government web sites and "The BRIDGE". Once you leave the government domain via a "link", there is no certainty that the information you find there is valid. These sites are offered as starting points and, therefore, these URLs are the most general ones for each agency. In some cases, particular pages of note within an agency's web site are listed as well. These sites are a treasure trove of information, but as with most treasures it takes some time to find what you are seeking! We recommend that you use these sites mostly for studying about ocean-related current events.
Neptune's Webfrom the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC)
BRIDGEOcean Sciences Teacher Resource Center For further information about these resources, please contact the coordinator of your regional competition.
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