Discuss things that Randy mentioned, like the differences
between studying the savanna and studying the oceans
Continue the discussion and get into the technology that
is being used to gather this data
Show them the maps of data points (that don�t exist yet
on the TOPP site)
Look at other data sets as an example of what might be
used for the exercise (e.g. NOAA site that goes over all of
the SST data)
Introduce Student Activity Sheet
Form small groups with chosen organisms
Using the maps and data available, generate a
presentation
No rubric set up yet so that the teacher can determine
the specific information that they are interested in
gathering
Important to compare the data gathered from the tags
to the more traditional data from satellites, etc.
(Links to some of these data sets would be great if they
were on the TOPP site!)
Figure out why the animal is there�no right answer,
but the idea is to get the student thinking about theses
questions for themselves and then perhaps designing
their own experiments
Comments/Suggestions
Potential collaboration with history/social studies (e.g. why
do people move and settle?)
STDs would be the acronym for the Student Data Tracking
sheet�perhaps rename this?
Similar tracking program with food webs/food chains where
students track everything that they put into their mouth�could
be some nice connections with ecology and other fields
Perhaps use a local community/school map to overlay the
information
Kelly is working with palm pilots and doing some mapping,
identification lessons
Interdisciplinary approach�potential for numerous
partnerships
Math
Science
Social Studies/History
English/Language Arts
Long term data tracking�put up a large map in your classroom
and, using different color pins, follow animals for years; can
cover trends with your class in addition to more detailed
current information
TOPP is currently a lot of show but no go�there is some
information on animal tracking so this lesson focused on seals
as a demo (buried website had 9 seals profiled); but it could be
extrapolated to other animals
Data include dive profile, distance and direction of travel
for individuals
Question�Can the ideas/conclusions derived from one animal
be applied to the whole population?
Important concepts�graphing, metric conversions,
Data example�there are two basic patterns, but can�t tell
if they are seasonal or what other factor(s) might be
involved�it would be good to have the students thinking about
this, but we also need the data so that they can test their
hypotheses
Think about real world problems�why don�t researchers
follow the same seal year after year (they molt!)�good to get
the students thinking
Additional resources would be helpful
Bathometric maps of the area corresponding to tracked
species locality�provides the ability to compare dive data
to water column depth (i.e., is this a mid-column or benthic
activity?)
We need the ability to easily locate animal by calendar
day to clearly see migrations
It would be nice to drag and drop the curser anywhere on
the migration route, and be re-directed to data for the day
It would be nice to have food sources hot linked to each
animal, and localities of the food, or preferred oceanic
conditions for mobile food
Comments/Suggestions
Interesting that the NOAA chart mixes meters and PSI�good
opportunity to discuss the problems with using different
measurement methods (e.g., NASA) and the importance of putting
units into your data
Take middle school students to an elementary school and have
the students present to the lower grades
It could be really fun to make this a long-term across-grade
project�put the large map in the hallway and let the students
follow animals regardless of grade
Goal�figuring out how to link the two schools together
This would be a semester long project and could be in either
small groups or just in partners
With the different grade levels, the complexity of the
question and answer will vary greatly, but the importance of
long-term data collection will be the same central question
Assessment would be a final presentation
Elementary (interns) will have to provide data to the 11/12
graders
11/12 graders (scientists) will be responsible for
�reteaching� the material
Both levels will keep a journal that will be shared
�Shape Books� (e.g., Pokey the Leatherback by Michelle and
Ashley
Comments/Suggestions
It's interesting that this across-grade-level integration of
the material is coming up with TOPP�this material is clearly
attractive and useful to different grade levels
Real-time document�shows to all students the roles and
responsibilities of the others
Put on your �lab coat� and go to the lab (for first
graders, this type of hands-on activity is great)
Great that all ages (even elementary) are keeping track of
questions
Everybody knows about Bermuda and the mysteries within�this
activity draws on that knowledge to get the students thinking
about mysteries and inquiry
This activity should be tried/tested beforehand to ensure
success (or be ready with some discussion avenues)
Lead boat should probably be handled by instructor
There should be a proposal (written) before any activity that
addresses the inquiry steps. Observations, theory, test, results
from previous tests, etc.
Comments/Suggestions
Doesn�t really address the idea of data�but does focus on
the �suspended� activity so this is more of an issue of our
instructions
It would not be hard to make this related to observatories,
moorings, AUVs, and ROVs by using this background material and
then designing and engineering vehicles
Use other materials for boats (besides Pb), like clay; maybe
even look into other odd material that have been used to make
boats!
Could also premeasure sand, add it until the boat sinks and
then measure what�s left to find out how much it took to
sink�but this activity is more focused on the stepwise process
of sinking the boat
This topic seemed to include a huge number of different
concepts that could be applied�we started at the end with the
objectives
The final project would be an environmental summit with a
discussion of student research
Start very broad, could go anywhere; we narrowed it down a bit
and focused on the biological pump (but this could have gone
into the global economics, circulation patterns, etc.)
This activity will require an introduction�many areas will
not be aware of this issue!
Comments/Suggestions
Many schools have spec-20s so basic measurements can be made
Perhaps link to Habitat project and see if they thought about
adding iron to the system to get rid of the CO2
Day 3�Discussion of the development of trends from the data
(This is a great skill! Now you can take any set of data and do
some pretty neat stuff.)
Day 4�Virtual Canyon virtual dive
Look at raw data (ouch, there�s a lot of numbers!)
CTD data can be pulled out of VARS and leads to a good
discussion on the comparison between the two databases (ROV
CTD is every 15 seconds; VARS is done based on annotations)
Day 5�Working in groups to manipulate and analyze data;
(Assessment�view progress on the computer or have something
turned in)
Day 6�Generation of a graph showing a trend/link between
biological and physical data
Day 7�Generation of a written report using the graph to
summarize the trend, supported by the data; then a group
presentation to the class/peers
Also did some backwards planning�what type of assessment is
possible and then going backwards based on the data available
Different grade levels are represented by the group
Graphing calculator usage is important and more common these
days
Notebook is important�this would be checked daily
Comments/Suggestions
How much data? Teacher would provide the first initial
screening by selecting organisms or requesting specific data
sets rather than taking all the data!
Be good to focus on 2-3 areas in the canyon and look at this
over time (comparison with seasons, etc.)
Be great to have links to other career opportunities (techs,
cook, etc.)
Real data is interesting to students and public at all levels!
Create laminated cards (from frame grabs); let the students
spread them out and then organize them (by whatever method they
choose); then have them present their findings
Discussion about why and how things are grouped together
Research and try to identify the organisms on the cards and
results can be posted on the website (hopefully with some type
of feedback validating the interaction)
Hope to get this into the classroom this year!
Comments/Suggestions
Classification is going to be important, students can reflect
on their changing ideas on how classification is done
Maybe include a pre-survey on taxonomy and how it is used and
then give this back to them afterwards to see how it has changed
Lots of opportunities here for different classification levels
Think about changing kingdoms, the Protista which are
really just the garbage can of taxonomy
You can start at whatever level you need
Good exercise for lower grade as well
Online Bingo�where daily animals are posted on a website
Size is an important topic�image grabs may or may not be
representative of size�perhaps put this onto the frame grab
Kiosk at MBA or MBARI�try your hand at identifying these
organisms
