Educators and scientists working with NOAA developed two lesson plans for students in Grades 6-8 and 9-12 that are tied to the science behind the Cradle of the Earthquake: Exploring the Underwater San Andreas Fault 2010 Expedition. These lesson plans are targeted toward performance expectations specified by the Next Generation Science Standards in the context of cutting-edge ocean exploration and research using state-of-the-art technologies. Activities are also correlated with the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts, and include focus questions, background information for teachers, links to interesting Internet sites, and extensions. Web logs that document the latest discoveries and complement the lesson plans, complete with compelling images and video, will be sent back each day from sea. Teachers are encouraged to use the background essays, logs, and other resources from the Cradle of the Earthquake: Exploring the Underwater San Andreas Fault 2010 Expedition posted on this site to supplement the lesson plans.
Additional lesson plans that have been developed for prior expeditions to explore mesophotic coral ecosystems are also listed, as well as other relevant lessons from the Ocean Explorer Program.
Read a description of each lesson plan and/or download them to your computer. All of the lesson plans are available in a PDF format, and may be viewed and printed with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download a lesson plan, click on its title from the listing below. (Note: if you have problems downloading one of these lessons, right-click on the link and save the lesson to your desktop.)
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Plate
Tectonics (Earth Science)
Students will describe the motion of tectonic plates, compare and contrast three typical boundary types that occur between tectonic plates, describe the motion of plates at the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and explain why these motions may be associated with earthquakes and tsunamis.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus:
Underwater Robotic Vehicles (Physical Science)
Students will discuss advantages and disadvantages of using underwater robots in scientific explorations, identify key design requirements for a robotic vehicle that is capable of observing bottom-dwelling fishes, and interpret results from a robot-based fish survey.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus:
Biological organisms in cold seep communities (Life Science)
Students will describe major features of cold seep communities, and list at least five organisms typical of these communities. Students will also infer probable trophic relationships among organisms typical of cold-seep communities and the surrounding deep-sea environment, describe the process of chemosynthesis in general terms, and contrast chemosynthesis and photosynthesis.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus: Side
scan sonar (Earth Science/Physical Science)
Students will describe side-scan sonar, compare and contrast side-scan sonar with other methods used to search for underwater objects, and make inferences about the topography of an unknown and invisible landscape based on systematic discontinuous measurements of surface relief.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Sediments as earthquake proxies (Earth Science)
Students will define and describe turbidites, explain the concept of earthquake proxies, and interpret model sediment cores.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Earthquake Prediction (Earth Science)
Students will discuss how stresses between tectonic plates can produce earthquakes, describe approaches and limitations to earthquake prediction, and use a model “earthquake machine” to explore hypotheses about earthquakes.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Sonar
(Physical Science)
Students will explain the concept of sonar, describe the major components of a sonar system, explain how multibeam and sidescan sonar systems are useful to ocean explorers, and simulate sonar operation using a motion detector and a graphing calculator.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Cold
seep communities on Hydrate Ridge (Life Science)
Students will define methane hydrates, explain how they are formed, describe biological communities associated with Hydrate Ridge, and discuss some of the adaptations found among organisms that inhabit these communities.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Plate
Tectonics - Movement of plates, results of plate movement, and the Chile Triple
Junction
(from the INSPIRE: Chile Margin 2010 Expedition)
Students will describe the motion of tectonic plates, compare and contrast three typical boundary types that occur between tectonic plates, describe the plate boundaries that occur and the Chile Triple Junction, and explain why a variety of chemosynthetic communities are expected to occur in this area.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Robotic
Analogues for Human Structures (Physical Science)
(from the Lophelia II 2008
Expedition)
In this activity, students will describe the types of motion found in the human arm, and describe four common robotic arm designs that mimic some or all of these functions.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Robotic
Analogues for Human Structures (Distance Estimation) (Life Science/Physical
Science)
(from the Lophelia II 2009 Expedition)
In this activity, students will describe how humans are able to estimate the distance to visible objects, and describe a robotic system with a similar capability.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus:
Deep-sea habitats (Life Science)
(from the Expedition to the Deep Slope
2007)
In this activity, students will be able to describe major features of cold seep communities, list at least five organisms typical of these communities and infer probable trophic relationships within and between major deep-sea habitats. Students will also be able to describe the process of chemosynthesis in general terms, contrast chemosynthesis and photosynthesis, and describe major deep-sea habitats and list at least three organisms typical of each habitat.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus:
Galapagos Rift Ecosystem - Structure and Function in Living Systems
(from the
2002 Galapagos Rift Expedition)
In this activity, students will design an invertebrate capable of living near deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and in doing so, will learn about the unique adaptations that organisms must have in order to survive in the extreme environments of the deep sea.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus:
Symbiotic relationships in cold-seep communities (Life Science)
(from the
2002 Gulf of Mexico Expedition)
In this activity, students will be able to describe the process of chemosynthesis in general terms, contrast chemosynthesis and photosynthesis, describe major features of cold seep communities, and list at least five organisms typical of these communities. Students will also be able to define symbiosis, describe two examples of symbiosis in cold seep communities, describe the anatomy of vestimentiferans, and explain how these organisms obtain their food.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Methane
hydrate ice worms and hydrate shrimp (Life Science)
(from the Expedition to
the Deep Slope 2007)
In this activity, students will be able to define and describe methane hydrate ice worms and hydrate shrimp, infer how methane hydrate ice worms and hydrate shrimp obtain their food, and infer how methane hydrate ice worms and hydrate shrimp may interact with other species in the biological communities of which they are part.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus:
Bathymetric Mapping
(from the INSPIRE: Chile Margin 2010 Expedition)
Students will create a two-dimensional topographic map from bathymetric survey data, create a three-dimensional model of seafloor topography from a two-dimensional topographic map, and will be able to interpret two- and three-dimensional topographic data.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus:
Underwater Robotic Vehicles for Scientific Exploration (Physical Science/Life
Science)
(from the 2005 Lost City Expedition)
In this activity, students will be able to describe and contrast at least three types of underwater robots used for scientific explorations, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using underwater robots in scientific explorations, and identify robotic vehicles best suited to carry out certain tasks.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Technology for deep ocean exploration: CTD (Chemistry/Earth Science)
(from
the INDEX SATAL 2010 Expedition)
Students will describe typical effects of hydrothermal vents, volcanoes, and cold seeps on chemical and physical parameters of seawater; explain how oceanographers can use CTD data to locate these geologic features; and analyze data from CTD casts for the presence of anomalies.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Technology for deep ocean exploration: Multibeam Sonar (Earth Science/Physical
Science)
(from the INDEX SATAL 2010 Expedition)
Students will describe multibeam sonar, discuss the advantages of multibeam sonar bathymetry compared to two-dimensional topographic bathymetry, and interpret three-dimensional multibeam bathymetric data.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Technology for deep ocean exploration: Remotely Operated Vehicles (Earth
Science/Physical Science)
(from the INDEX SATAL 2010 Expedition)
Students will describe systems and capabilities of science-class remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), typical applications and limitations of imagery obtained with ROVs, and use ROV imagery to make inferences about deep ocean habitats.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles/Marine Navigation (Earth Science/Physical
Science)
(from the INSPIRE: Chile Margin 2010 Expedition)
Students will explain a three-phase strategy that uses an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to locate, map, and photograph previously undiscovered hydrothermal vents, design a survey program to provide a photomosaic of a hypothetical hydrothermal vent field, and calculate the expected position of the AUV based on speed and direction of travel.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Hydrothermal Vent Chemistry
(from the INSPIRE: Chile Margin 2010
Expedition)
Students will describe hydrothermal vents, identify changes that they cause to the physical and chemical properties of seawater, and use oceanographic data to recognize a probable plume from hydrothermal activity.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Deep-Sea Reducing Environments
(from the INSPIRE: Chile Margin 2010
Expedition)
Students will describe oxidation and reduction, explain the meaning of “reducing environment,” give at least three examples of deep-sea reducing environments, and demonstrate a flow of electric current produced by a redox reaction.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Underwater Robotic Vehicles
(from the Bonaire 2008: Exploring Coral Reef
Sustainability with New Technologies Expedition)
In this activity, students will be able to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using underwater robots in scientific explorations, identify key design requirements for a robotic vehicle that is capable of carrying out specific exploration tasks, describe practical approaches to meet identified design requirements, and (optionally) construct a robotic vehicle capable of carrying out an assigned task.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Chemosynthetic bacteria and succession in chemosynthetic communities
(Chemistry/Biology)
(from the 2002 Gulf of Mexico Expedition)
In this activity, students will observe the development of chemosynthetic bacterial communities and will recognize that organisms modify their environment in ways that create opportunities for other organisms to thrive. Students will also be able to explain the process of chemosynthesis and the relevance of chemosynthesis to biological communities in the vicinity of cold seeps.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Marine
Navigation (Earth Science/Mathematics)
(from the Bonaire 2008: Exploring
Coral Reef Sustainability with New Technologies Expedition)
In this activity, students will estimate geographic position based on speed and direction of travel, and integrate these calculations with GPS data to estimate the set and drift of currents.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Potential role of methane hydrates in global warming (Earth Science)
(from
the Expedition to the Deep Slope 2007 Expedition)
In this activity, students will be able to describe the overall events that occurred during the Cambrian explosion and Paleocene extinction events and will be able to define methane hydrates and hypothesize how these substances could contribute to global warming. Students will also be able to describe and explain evidence to support the hypothesis that methane hydrates contributed to the Cambrian explosion and Paleocene extinction events.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: The
Census of Marine Life (Biology)
(from the 2007: Exploring the Inner Space of
the Celebes Sea expedition)
In this activity, students will be able to describe the Census of Marine Life (CoML) and explain in general terms the CoML strategy for assessing and explaining the changing diversity, distribution and abundance of marine species from the past to the present, and for projecting the future of marine life. Students will also be able to use the Ocean Biogeographic Information System to retrieve information about ocean species from specific geographic areas.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus:
Methane-based chemosynthetic processes (Physical Science)
(from the 2003
Steamship Portland Expedition)
In this activity, students will be able to define the process of chemosynthesis, and contrast this process with photosynthesis. Students will also explain the process of methane-based chemosynthesis and explain the relevance of chemosynthesis to biological communities in the vicinity of cold seeps.
