Students are designated as the water or ocean currents, zooplankton, and bowhead whales. The zooplankton are informed that they are at the mercy of the currents. The currents are given instructions as to where to go during different times of the year (map). The whale pod is told that they need to breathe (raise hands above head to indicate
This one hour webinar is a great look at the PolarTREC 2013 Arctic expeditions. Each teacher presents a little about the research projects, implementation in the classroom, and outreach into communities.
This one hour webinar with PolarTREC teacher Lisa Seff shares ideas and experiences on bringing polar science into your classroom and community. Her work focuses on the oceanographic conditions of bowhead whale habitat.
This one hour webinar is designed for educators as polar professional development. Dr. Okkonen details his work on the project studying bowhead whales and oceanographic conditions in their environment.
Satellite observations of circulation features associated with a bowhead whale feeding ‘hotspot’ near Barrow, Alaska. Remote Sensing of Environment. 115:2168-2174
Okkonen, S.R., C. Ashjian, R.G. Campbell, J.T. Clarke, S.E. Moore, and K.D. Taylor. 2011.
This blog documents the process of creating a 25-minute animated film at the University of Alaska Museum of the North that tells the story of bowhead whale annual migration in the Bering, Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The film takes its basic narrative and title from the 2013 calendar edited by Steve Okkonen, A Year in the Life of Bowhead Whales
The life of the bowhead whales calendar is a teaching tool created by Dr. Steve Okkonen and colleagues to portray science and natural history of bowhead whales in a compelling form. The calendar is available as a PDF and in poster PDF forms.
Students will build a simple plankton net from a nylon stocking, then (optionally) use it to collect plankton in ponds, lakes, streams, bays, oceans, or even aquariums.
Adapted from Kolb, James A. Project Director. Marine Science Center. Marine Science Project: FOR SEA. Marine Biology and Oceanography, Grades Seven and Eight. Poulsbo, WA. Page 341 -
344.
The Center for Microbial Oceanography offers resources on education and outreach for K-12 teachers, undergraduates, grads & post-docs and related links. This is a great tool for lesson planning. In addition to outreach ideas, C-MORE offers kits for review and request.
Since most plankton is smaller than we can see, they must be looked at using a microscope. They are usually strained from the water using fine mesh nets or sieves with tiny holes. Typical plankton nets have a round opening and look like a funnel that leads into a collection bucket at the end of the net. The nets are