Informative Speech Outlines Guide

Complete this form. Copy the entire contents of the form.

Name: Angela Simmons
WORKING OUTLINE
Complete this outline using complete sentences.
Topic: Mariana Trench
Specific purpose statement: To inform my audience about the Mariana trench and how
important exploration of the ocean is.
Thesis statement (central idea): The Mariana trench is the deepest point in the ocean and is home
to incredible ecosystems as well as improbable explorations to its depths.
Organizational pattern: topical

1.

2.

3.
4.
5.

Introduction
Attention-getter: How much do we really know about our earth? Did you know that the
majority of our planet has never been explored? This is because 70 percent of earth is
made up of ocean, and only 5 percent of our ocean had actually been mapped out in any
detail. One of the most bizarre places found in the ocean so far is the Mariana trench, also
sometimes referred to as the Marianas Trench. This is the deepest known place on earth,
sitting almost 7 miles under sea level. Because of the unique conditions at the bottom of
the trench, it has actually had fewer expeditions to it than the moon.
Audience relevance: Over 1 million species of plants and animals live in the ocean, and
scientists believe that there may be as many as 9 million species in the ocean that we
have yet to discover. It is important that we learn what is in the ocean so that we can
better understand our planet and its ecosystems.
Central idea: The Mariana trench is one of the most inhabitable places on earth, yet there
are still creatures who are somehow able to live there and people have miraculously made
the journey all the way to the bottom of the trench.
Credibility statement: After doing a lot of research in the Mariana trench
Preview statement: I have found that the Mariana trench has incredible oceanography,
explorations, animals and ecosystems.

Transition statement: first off, Im going to talk about the geography and the oceanography of the
Mariana trench.
Body
Using the format below, include main points and subpoints as appropriate.
I. Main point: The Mariana trenchs geography and oceanography is one of the most
unique on earth.

A. Sub point: The Mariana trench is located in the pacific ocean east of the
Mariana Islands; hence the name Mariana trench
1. Sub-sub point: It is about 100 miles east of the Philippines and 100
miles south of japan
B. Sub point: The Mariana trench has a very distinct oceanography
1. It is over 36,000 feet deep; just under 7 miles under the surface of
the ocean.
2. To put that into perspective, Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on
earth is just over 29,000 feet tall; meaning that if you stuck Mount
Everest at the bottom of the Mariana trench, there would still be
7,000 feet of water above its peak.
C. Sub point: Because of the extreme depth of the Mariana trench, conditions at
the bottom are almost uninhabitable.
1. Temperatures at the bottom of the Mariana trench hover between 1 and
4 degrees Celsius, or 34 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit, and the pressure at
the bottom is about 8 tons per square inch. Thats 1000 times the
standard atmospheric pressure at sea level.
Transition statement: because of the extreme conditions in the Mariana trench, exploring it is
nearly impossible
II. Main point: There have only been a handful of expeditions to the bottom of the trench
A. Sub point: There have been less manned missions to the bottom of the
Mariana trench than there have been to the surface of the moon
1. There have been two manned missions since the trenchs discovery in
1951 by a survey ship called the challenger II
B. Sub point: In 1960 the U.S navy and a few Swiss scientists planned the first
trip to the bottom of the Mariana trench. They decided to descend to the
deepest point of the trench which they decided to name the challenger deep,
after the ship that discovered its existence
1. The decent took 4 hours and 47 minutes, and when the submarine
reached the bottom the severe pressure actually cracked the small
windows in and shook the entire ship
2. They were only able to stay at the bottom for a maximum of 20
minutes and werent actually able to see anything due to the fact that
when the submarine hit the bottom of the challenger deep, it caused a
large kick up of mud that didnt settle the entire time they were at the
bottom of the trench
C. Sub point: The only other manned trip to the bottom of the Mariana trench
was in 2012 by movie director James Cameron; director of Titanic, Avatar,
and many other famous films
2. Cameron teamed with the National Geographic Society, and Rolex to
plan a second expedition to the challenger deep.
3. The decent to the bottom of the trench was 2 hours and 37 minutes and
unlike the first expedition, Cameron was able to spend three hours
exploring the bottom of the sea.

4. While exploring the bottom of the Mariana trench, he even shot a 3D

movie called The Challenger Deep which was released august 8th of
this year.
D. The only other explorations of the Mariana trench were unmanned vessels
with cameras attached to them
Transition statement: These unmanned missions helped us take a rare look at some of the
creatures that live in the Mariana trench
III. Main point: for many years scientist didnt think that anything could be living miles
under the sea due to the enormous pressure and lack of sunlight at the bottom of the
ocean, but deep sea probes with cameras found that there are actually many creatures
who live in the deep ocean
A. Sub point: One of the animals that live at the bottom of the Mariana trench are
vent crabs.
1. These crabs live off of microbes and deep sea tube worms that live
near underwater vents, which are basically underwater volcanoes
2. These underwater vents can reach up to 572 degrees Fahrenheit and
provide all of the energy that deep sea ecosystems live off of
B. Sub point: Another deep sea animal that lives in the Mariana trench is the
angler fish.
1. The angler fish is widely known as the fish the dory and merlin were
chased around the bottom of the ocean in the movie Finding Nemo
2. There are many different types of angler fish that live in the deep sea
3. Some of the angler fish that live in the deepest parts of the Mariana
trench appear to be flattened because of the immense pressure bearing
down on them at all times.
Transition statement: In conclusion
Conclusion
1. Restate the main points :The Mariana trench is one of the most unique places in the
ocean, and so are the creatures that live there and the expeditions taken to explore it
2. Restate the central idea: Because the Mariana trench and much of the ocean goes
unexplored, there is a lot to learn about its ecosystems and the creatures that inhabit
it.
3. Clincher: The Mariana trench is not only greater in size than mount Everest, and been
explored less than the moon, but it is an entire mysterious alien world living under us
that has yet to be pioneered
Bibliography
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