SUBJECT - ORGANISMS
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Case Study: Upwelling - Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute 
Lesson PlanSummary
Students correlate sardine populations changes with upwelling events using mathematical model output and wind and water circulation data from the Monterey Bay.
Mathematical models are an essential tool for understanding ocean sciences.
Education Standards
Sediment Bottle - COSEE Coastal Trends
Lesson PlanSummary
Students mix a variety of sediments with water in a clear container to observe particle separation based on size.
Density Driven Currents - COSEE Coastal Trends
Summary
Students add fresh water to dyed salt water in graduated cylinders or “density tanks” to demonstrate density differences in ocean and coastal waters and how these differences drive currents.
Monitoring Estuarine Water Quality - The NOAA Ocean Data Education Project
Summary
In this series of activities, students use data to explore temperature, dissolved oxygen, and salinity in ocean waters. In “Level 4,”students are asked to relate environmental conditions to Atlantic Sturgeon migration.
90+ minsSurface Circulation Model - COSEE Coastal Trends
Summary
Students construct a clay model to become familiar with the forces which produce circulation patterns in ocean basins and to predict patterns or eddy development with variances in bathymetry.
Ocean circulation is interconnected and is powered by wind, tides, force of Earth
Education Standards
Take Ride on the Gulf Stream - COSEE Coastal Trends
Summary
Students use ocean observing system data to track and define various aspects of the Gulf Stream.
Ocean circulation is interconnected and is powered by wind, tides, force of Earth
Education Standards
The Nike Shoe Investigation - UCLA Marine Science Center
Summary
In 1990, a container ship lost 60,000 pairs of sneakers in rough seas. Students calculate the speed and direction of the major surface currents in the north Pacific gyre by tracking and plotting the pathway of the floating sneakers.
Ocean circulation is interconnected and is powered by wind, tides, force of Earth
Education Standards
Investigating Tides and Phases of the Moon - Ocean Globe UCLA
Summary
Students use lunar cycles and tide charts to graph the inter-relationship between tidal patterns and lunar cycles.
Ocean circulation is interconnected and is powered by wind, tides, force of Earth
Education Standards
Local Weather and the Ocean - COSEE Coastal Trends
Summary
Students investigate the influence of the ocean on local weather by comparing temperatures in coastal and inland locations.
What is climate? - Exploring Earth, TERC, McDougal Littell
Summary
In this interactive website, students follow prompts to explore the various factors that control global and local climate.
Changes in ocean circulation patterns affect weather and climate.
Education Standards
