Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Buoyancy applied to exploration for hydrothermal vents (Physical Science)
Students define buoyancy and density; compare and contrast positive buoyancy, negative buoyancy and neutral buoyancy; and explain how the concepts of buoyancy and density are relevant to exploration for hydrothermal vent systems.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus: Focus: Plumes from hydrothermal vents (Physical Science)
Students compare and contrast buoyant and nonbuoyant hydrothermal vent plumes; explain how buoyant plumes become neutrally buoyant; explain how ocean explorers can predict the source of a hydrothermal vent plume if they know the altitude of a plume above the seafloor; and demonstrate how hydrothermal vent plumes can be detected from chemical clues.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Chemistry of hydrothermal vent systems on mid-ocean ridges (Earth Science/Chemistry/Life Science)
Students compare and contrast hydrothermal vent systems and biological communities on different mid-ocean ridges; explain three ways in which hydrothermal vent systems on the Mid-Cayman Rise are unusual; describe and explain three types of hydrothermal vents; and explain why space scientists are interested in biological communities around ultramafic hydrothermal vents.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Time, speed, distance, and velocity (Physical Science/Earth Science)
(from the Galapagos Rift 2011 Expedition)
Students define velocity, and explain why this is a vector quantity; use the Okeanos Explorer Atlas to obtain information about position and movement of the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, and calculate velocity from information about geographic position at two different times.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Hydrothermal vents (Life Science)
(from the Galapagos Rift 2011 Expedition)
Students explain the overall structure of hydrothermal vents and how they are related to the motion of tectonic plates, and create a model of a hydrothermal vent.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Importance of deep ocean exploration (Life Science/Earth Science)
(from the INDEX-SATAL 2010 Expedition)
Students describe at least three different deep ocean ecosystems; explain at least three reasons for exploring Earth’s deep ocean; and explain at least three ways that deep ocean ecosystems may benefit humans.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Telepresence and communications for ocean exploration
Students identify the basic requirements for human communication; describe at least three ways in which humans communicate; discuss the importance of scientific communication; and explain the concept of telepresence, how it is implemented aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, and how it is used to increase the pace, efficiency, and scope of ocean exploration.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Telepresence and communications for ocean exploration
Students identify the basic requirements for human communication; describe at least three ways in which humans communicate; discuss the importance of scientific communication; and explain the concept of telepresence, how it is implemented aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, and how it is used to increase the pace, efficiency, and scope of ocean exploration.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Measuring physical properties of seawater for ocean exploration
Students define “CTD” and explain how this instrument is used aboard the Okeanos Explorer; define salinity and density; explain how relationships between temperature, salinity, and density in seawater are useful to ocean explorers; and use data from the Okeanos Explorer to create and interpret graphs of temperature, salinity, and depth.
Grade Level: 5-6
Focus: Engineering Design (Physical Science/Technology)
(from the from the Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection, Volume 2: How Do We Explore?
Students discuss advantages and disadvantages of using underwater robots in scientific explorations, and how underwater robots are used aboard the Okeanos Explorer; use the process of engineering design to develop potential solutions for an ocean exploration problem; and explain the principle of hydraulic power transfer systems, and construct a robotic arm that demonstrates this principle.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus: Human benefits from exploration of hydrothermal vent ecosystems (Life Science/Physical Science)
Students will explain at least three ways in which exploration of hydrothermal vent ecosystems can provide direct benefits to humans and will create presentations to share this information with school audiences.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus: Using ocean chemistry to locate hydrothermal vents (Physical Science)
Students explain the advantages of multibeam sonar, and its role in the exStudents explain the effects of hydrothermal vents on chemical and physical parameters of seawater, how oceanographers can use these effects to locate hydrothermal vents, and describe some of the instruments that oceanographers use to detect chemical clues that suggest the presence of hydrothermal vents.loration strategy used aboard the Okeanos Explorer; and use data from the Okeanos Explorer to create a bathymetric map.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus: Plate tectonics (Earth Science)
(from the INDEX-SATAL 2010 Expedition)
Students describe the motion of tectonic plates; differentiate between three typical boundary types that occur between tectonic plates; infer the type of boundary that exists between two tectonic plates given information on earthquakes and volcanism in the vicinity of the boundary; and explain the relationship between tectonic plate movements and earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis.
Grade Level: 7-8; adaptations for Grades 5-6 & 9-12
Focus: Strategies for exploring unknown areas on Earth (Life Science/Physical Science/Earth Science)
(from the from the Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection, Volume 2: How Do We Explore?
Students describe requirements for explorations of unknown areas on Earth; discuss factors that influenced exploration strategies of the Lewis and Clark and Challenger Expeditions; describe the overall exploration strategy used aboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer; and describe how fractal geometry models natural systems, and how scale influences exploration strategy and results.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus: Wireless communications (Physical Science)
(from the from the Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection, Volume 2: How Do We Explore?
Students identify and discuss at least five ways in which they use wireless technology in their daily lives; discuss the importance of communication to our culture, and describe some of the factors that contribute to the complexity of human communication; discuss factors that influence the effectiveness of human communication; identify the major components of wireless communications systems used aboard the Okeanos Explorer; and explain how these components support telepresence and scientific communication.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus: Bathymetric mapping
Students explain the advantages of multibeam sonar, and its role in the exploration strategy used aboard the Okeanos Explorer; and use data from the Okeanos Explorer to create a bathymetric map.
Grade Level: 7-8
Focus: Use of Robotics for Ocean Exploration
Students discuss the importance of robotic vehicle technology to the ocean exploration strategy used aboard the Okeanos Explorer; discuss how information from underwater robots about biological and geological features is relevant to the concept of biodiversity; and demonstrate a process for analyzing video data from the Okeanos Explorer’s underwater robot.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Hydrothermal Vent Chemistry (Earth Science/Chemistry)
(from the Galapagos Rift 2011 Expedition)
Students describe hydrothermal vents; explain how oxidation reduction potential and light-scattering sensor data may be used to detect the presence of hydrothermal vents; and analyze CTD data collected in the vicinity of the Galapagos Spreading Center to recognize a probable plume from hydrothermal activity.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Species variation in hydrothermal vent communities (Life Science)
(from the Galapagos Rift 2011 Expedition)
Students define and describe biogeographic provinces of hydrothermal vent communities; identify and discuss processes contributing to isolation and species exchange between hydrothermal vent communities; and discuss characteristics which may contribute to the survival of species inhabiting hydrothermal vent communities.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Multibeam sonar exploration for hydrothermal vent systems (Earth Science/Physical Science)
(from the Galapagos Rift 2011 Expedition)
Students describe multibeam sonar; discuss the advantages of multibeam sonar bathymetry compared to two-dimensional topographic bathymetry; and interpret three-dimensional multibeam bathymetric data from the vicinity of the Galapagos Spreading Center.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Doppler effect and velocity estimation (Physical Science/Physics)
(from the Galapagos Rift 2011 Expedition)
Students explain the Doppler effect, and describe how a Doppler velocity log is used to estimate the Okeanos Explorer’s speed while underway.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Technology for deep ocean exploration: CTD (Chemistry/Earth Science)
(from the INDEX-SATAL 2010 Expedition)
Students 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: Remotely Operated Vehicles (Earth Science/Physical Science)
(from the INDEX-SATAL 2010 Expedition)
Students describe systems and capabilities of science-class remotely operated vehicles, typical applications and limitations of imagery obtained with ROVs, and use ROV imagery to make inferences about deep ocean habitats.
Grade Level: 7-8; adaptations for Grades 5-6 & 9-12
Focus: Strategies for exploring unknown areas on Earth (Life Science/Physical Science/Earth Science)
(from the from the Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection, Volume 2: How Do We Explore?
Students describe requirements for explorations of unknown areas on Earth; discuss factors that influenced exploration strategies of the Lewis and Clark and Challenger Expeditions; describe the overall exploration strategy used aboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer; and describe how fractal geometry models natural systems, and how scale influences exploration strategy and results.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Communications physics (Physical Science/Physics)
Students explain the concept of energy transfer though wave propagation, and how this process is used to support telepresence and scientific communications aboard the Okeanos Explorer; define an electric current, and describe the relationship between current, voltage and resistance using Ohm’s Law; identify resistors, capacitors, and inductors, and explain how each of these influences the flow of electric current; and identify and describe the function of the five basic electronic building blocks that make radios work.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Multibeam sonar
Students explain how multibeam sonar uses the properties of sound waves in water for scientific research about topography of the ocean floor; and analyze and interpret multibeam sonar data using free iview4D software to identify patterns in the distribution of seafloor features that contribute to scientific research about large-scale interactions in Earth’s systems.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Use of CTD data in ocean exploration
Students describe and explain redox potential and optical backscatter, and how these parameters are related to deep-sea ecosystems and geologic features; and analyze data from CTD casts aboard the Okeanos Explorer for the presence of anomalies.
Grade Level: 9-12
Focus: Image analysis
Students describe typical applications and limitations of imagery obtained with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs); demonstrate how lasers may be used to calibrate images for size and distance measurements; and analyze ROV imagery from the Okeanos Explorer to make inferences about deep ocean habitats.
