This project will introduce students to current research being conducted in the Arctic, through the work of Dr. Hill at Old Dominion University. The WARM research project aims to collect light intensity and temperature measurements under the Arctic ice pack to determine the link between light penetration and surface ocean warming. In this lesson students […]
Recent innovations in data-collecting instrument floats have revolutionized ocean sciences. Over the past ten years more than 3000 such floats have been placed by ocean researchers throughout the marine world. These flexible, powerful, and relatively cheap devices provide a critical link in the data chain vital to understanding the complex interactions of the ocean system. […]
Microbes, specifically diatoms are not only abundant in all ecosystems on Earth but have a profound impact on the functioning of the Earth as a system. Understanding and identifying diatoms becomes important to determine the success of the ecosystem. Humans also have a profound impact on the environment by transporting alien species through tourism and […]
This activity allows students to use real scientific data to explore ecosystem dynamics; including competition and predator-prey relationships among three Antarctic penguins. Students will manipulate data using XCel Spreadsheet software to generate a graph to illustrate population changes observed in Adelie, Chinstrap, and Gentoo penguins between 1974 and 2010. A dataset for each species is […]
In this lesson students will be able develop an initial understanding on the variety and complexity of polar research including some of the scientists who conduct this research. Using common core language skills students will CLOSE read researcher biographies and explore research websites to develop an initial understanding of polar scientific topics. Once the students […]
This lesson provides students with the opportunity to explore the differences in climate and ecosystems within Antarctica and between Antarctica and their local area. Students will locate and graph data to compare average temperatures, radiation and snowfall. Students will also demonstrate their knowledge of ecosystems of Antarctica by labeling a map.
This lesson is designed to give students a “hands-on” experience with working with big data sets from chemical oceanography gathered by research cruises in order to help answer the question: Are the oceans changing over time? Students will be using data from the GLODAPv2 data sets. Students will be extracting, plotting and analyzing ocean data […]
This project will introduce students to the Long Term Ecological Sites (LTER) https://lternet.edu. This project is very open ended, so teachers can allocate as much class time as their students need. After exploring the various sites during a class period, students will choose a specific site and create a research question to explore based on […]
Research programs at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) encompass the entire ocean, from the surface waters to the deep seafloor, and from the coastal zone to the open sea. The need to understand the ocean in all its complexity and variability drives MBARI's research and development efforts.