ShmoopTube

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[Dino and Coop singing]

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If we were to ask you what you simply couldn't live without, you might say... [Girl playing Guitar Hero]

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Playstation.

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Chocolate milk.

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YouTube.

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Or your bed.

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Especially with those new Memory Foam pillows. [Girl relaxing in bed]

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But if we wanted you to be super-serious with your answer… come on, bear with us… [Students look bored]

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“water” would probably be pretty high on your list. [Someone filling a cup with water]

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Thankfully for you – and really, for everyone here in the US – America is home to a tremendous

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number of water sources, including oceans, seas, gulfs, sounds, bays, straits, lakes, [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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reservoirs, rivers, and uh…drinking fountains.

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The study of geography includes the study of these many different types of water sources.

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Oceans are the largest bodies of water – and the USA has land bordering three of them: [Land bordering the ocean highlighted]

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the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.

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The Indian Ocean is the only one that’s… a bit of a trek.

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In addition to being the biggest, oceans are also the scariest bodies of water on the planet, [Man falls off a surfboard]

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because horrifying nightmare-fuel like the Goblin shark live in it.

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That’s okay.

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We never needed to sleep again. [The man that fell into the ocean looks terrified by the shark]

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Seas are smaller in size than oceans but are still awfully large bodies of water that connect [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

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other bodies of water.

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For example, the Bering Sea connects the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic ocean.

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You can think of seas as professional romantic matchmakers that enjoy making love connections. [Two boats with a man and woman on, named arctic and pacific bump into each other]

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Straits, sounds and bays are terms used to describe bodies of water that border land [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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on at least one side.

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They’re smaller in size than seas and oceans, but they're at least made partly of salt water.

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Great for gargling when you feel a cold coming on. [Man gargling salt water]

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Lakes and reservoirs, meanwhile, are surrounded by land on all sides… and can either be [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

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manmade or occurring naturally.

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There are over 100,000 thousand lakes in the United States, including the five great lakes

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that are partially shared with Canada.

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But that doesn't mean the other lakes aren't “great”. [Picture of a rainbow]

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They're just not one of the Great Great lakes.

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They're little G great, not big G great. [The Great Lake sign has the 'Great' crossed out and replaced with 'great']

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Rivers connect to one another and can be used as transportation routes.

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For example, the Mississippi River moves through ten states and is used to ship goods around

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the world.

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It’s also been known to assist in the escape of certain raft-toting fugitives… [Huck Finn and Jim on a raft]

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Water sources can positively impact a state's economy thanks to fishing, shipping routes [Large tanker and a man fishing]

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and tourism...

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…but can also cause natural hazards like flooding and hurricanes. [Hurricane shown on a weather map]

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On the bright side, your family’s swimming pool has roughly a zero percent chance of

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being responsible for a major flood. [Guy in a swimming pool with a life jacket on]

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That is, unless ten of your friends decide to cannonball at the same time… [A group of people jump into the pool and the water splashes out]

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