Continental shelf

Okay kiddo, imagine you're playing with your toy cars on the floor. You build a big ramp and put your cars on it so they can slide down. The flat part of the floor that leads up to the ramp is like a continent, and the ramp is like the continental shelf!

A continental shelf is a part of a continent that is underwater. It's kind of like a big ramp that leads down to the deep ocean. The continental shelf is made up of land that used to be above the water a long time ago, before the sea levels rose.

Some continental shelves are really wide and cover a lot of area. Sometimes, people can even find oil and gas on the continental shelf! The continental shelf is an important part of the ocean because it's home to lots of plants and animals. So, just like how you love playing with your toy cars on the ramp, lots of sea creatures like the continental shelf too!