Information about the many education opportunities associated with the various legs of this expedition is discussed on this page.
Sanctuary Quest
Education
West Coast NMS Education Team
The members of the Sanctuary Quest mission will be exploring and conducting research within and adjacent to several national marine sanctuaries (NMS) on the west coast—Channel Islands NMS, Monterey Bay NMS, Cordell Bank NMS, Gulf of the Farallones NMS and Olympic Coast NMS.
The education team plans to coordinate its activities with the research projects and exploration that will take place during the mission. Through these activities, the team hopes to increase public understanding of the state of marine resources, the pressures they face, and the management response to threats.
Channel Islands NMS scientist, Sarah Fangman, shares with students her experience with the submersible Deep Worker at an open house in 2000. (photo: CINMS)
In addition, the team wants to increase public awareness of the impact of human behavior on habitats and resources. The ideal result would be a change in public attitude and behavior toward the marine environment.
The education team is targeting its outreach efforts toward a wide range of people and will use three major thrusts to facilitate its goals: interactive activities via the Ocean Explorer Web site; open houses for students, teachers, and the general public on a local level; and working with the videography team to produce storylines for educational videos that will serve the public for years to come.
The education team has specific plans for each leg of the Sanctuary Quest mission:
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Mission Leg:
April 24 - May 4
Students will have an opportunity to gain insight into the mission's research objectives during the interative Web site activity, “Ask an Explorer.” During the expedition, the education team will collect video and still images chronicling the daily operations, research projects and ocean conditions. These will be used to develop an education CD-ROM/video called This is an Expedition.
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Mission Leg:
May 5 - 14
The goal of the Student Ocean Conference is to highlight the interconnectedness of marine research, technology, and natural resources. (photo: MBNMS)
The Monterey Bay NMS will highlight Sanctuary Quest during its annual Student Summit, which will be part of the Coastal America Student Ocean Conference, May 10 and 11, in Monterey. The conference is cosponsored by the sanctuary, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center. Its theme this year is “Using Science and Submersibles to Conserve our Marine Resources.” More than 160 high school and middle school students from all over central California will attend, and will be able to choose from a selection of workshop and field trip experiences. Teams of students will build and demonstrate remotely-operated submersibles in an contest. Other students will present results from their own marine science research projects.
During the Student Ocean Conference, students will be able to patch in to a dialog with researchers on the McArthur. Researchers will reply to the students' questions, and an article featuring the questions and answers will be posted on the Ocean Explorer Web site.
Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Mission Leg:
May 16 - 24
The Gulf of the Farallones NMS works jointly with the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association (FMSA) to provide education opportunities for teachers, students and the general public. For Sanctuary Quest, the sanctuary staff will work with local educators, teachers and students who are working on sanctuary projects to facilitate a better understanding of the research being conducted in the Gulf of the Farallones.
This year, the Sanctuary Lecture series is providing opportunities around the Bay Area to learn more about the marine research and programs going on within the sanctuary. The sanctuary also is hosting a Marine Sanctuary Festival on October 12, 2002, at the Visitor Center at Crissy Field in San Francisco. For more information on these and other Gulf of the Farallones education opportunities, visit http://www.farallones.org 
.
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Mission Leg:
May 26 - June 5
Cordell Bank shares an outreach booth with Gulf of the Farallones at outreach fairs throughout the year. (photo: CBNMS)
As the McArthur explores Cordell Bank NMS, the staff will be studying ecosystem dynamics, which will help scientists to understand the link between oceanographic processes and the distribution of plants and animals within the sanctuary. The education team will be compiling high quality video footage and photographs of the research in action. The sanctuary staff will be working with videographers to develop story lines and produce videos of the expedition.
The sanctuary staff at Cordell Bank works cooperatively with Gulf of the Farallones NMS, FMSA, and Point Reyes National Seashore to fulfill its education and outreach mission. This year (2002), a joint lecture series for Cordell Bank NMS and Gulf of the Farallones NMS is being co-sponsored by FMSA.
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Mission Leg:
June 11 - 20
Making the research experience real and accessible to the general public is an important objective for the Sanctuary Quest expedition. Click image for a larger view. (photo: OCNMS)* Click image for larger view.
The expedition conducted in the Olympic Coast NMS will provide the education team with the opportunity to document expedition-based research and exploration for a wide variety of applications. The cruises will be videotaped to produce several educational videos that will document the following: a synopsis of research at Olympic Coast; “old-growth” marine habitats of the ocean floor; and the search for signs of human habitation before the rise of sea level. In addition, the expedition will provide many still images for a digital image archive currently under development.
For More Information
Please contact Paula Keener-Chavis, National Education Coordinator for the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration if you have questions.
Contact Paula Keener-Chavis,
Director, Education Programs
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration
Lesson plans developed for this Web site are available in the Education Section.
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