Cephalopodcast

The Consortium for Ocean Leadership has a couple of interesting opportunities for teachers and students.

First, is the National Ocean Science Bowl. I will be volunteering at the regional Spoonbill Bowl competition this weekend and hope to report on that soon.

Second, is called the Deep Earth Academy, which is the education arm of their scientific ocean drilling program. In addition to resources to teach climate change and Activities of the Month, they have a free color poster for middle and high school students that shows what an oceanic survey cruise looks like and what kinds of information scientist gain from them.

…this (Anatomy of a Seamount Survey) poster shows the ship’s track, 3D bathymetry plots from the survey, and images from the ship’s dredging operations. On the poster’s reverse side are included: background information on site surveys, mini-profiles of some of the expedition’s key personnel, and four science challenges for middle school students.

You can also request oceanic core samples for use at your school courtesy of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.

Third, they have a fellowship for one lucky teacher to help them develop new content. Deadline is Monday, March 3, 2008.

Deep Earth Academy Teacher Fellowship 2008-2009

The Consortium for Ocean Leadership is seeking an enthusiastic teacher for a one-year fellowship in Washington, DC. The teacher will work with DeepEarth Academy staff to develop ocean science curricula, produce teacher-training workshops, maintain communication within a community of educators and assist with conference logistics. The position requires a minimum of 3 years classroom science teaching experience, a strong background in earth or ocean sciences, and temporary relocation to Washington, DC. Strong writing and computer technology skills are a plus. Salary will be commensurate to incumbent¹s current salary. Full time and part-time schedules will be considered.

To apply for the position, send a cover letter, resume, curriculum sample or list of professional development offerings and three letters of reference to learning@oceanleadership.org or mail to Deep Earth Academy, 1201 New York Avenue NW, 4th floor, Washington, DC, 20005 by Monday, March 3, 2008. For more information visit www.deepearthacademy.org

Finally, the COL is also hosting a number of events from February 25-29, billing it as 2008 Washington Ocean Week. This is not to be confused with the other Ocean Week in June.

With the release of the President’s budget earlier in the month and the appropriations season in full swing, this is a critical time for the oceanographic community to sound its voice in the nation’s capitol.

• Consortium for Ocean Leadership
• Deep Earth Academy Teacher Fellowship 2008-2009
• Anatomy of a Seamount Survey poster
• Deep-Sea News: A Valentine’s from Congress

It’s National Chemistry Week from October 21-27, 2007. And October 23 is an especially auspicious day, since it is Mole Day.

Celebrated annually on October 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m., Mole Day commemorates Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 10^23), which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. Mole Day was created as a way to foster interest in chemistry. Schools throughout the United States and around the world celebrate Mole Day with various activities related to chemistry and/or moles.

For a given molecule, one mole is a mass (in grams) whose number is equal to the atomic mass of the molecule.

• Wikipedia: Mole Day

[via SeaSpan]

The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History is offering free marine educational materials for undergraduate and professional-level teaching. Many of the materials are authored by Tundi Agardy, Pew Advisor and executive director of Sound Seas, and cover marine conservation biology, marine protected areas (MPA) and MPA networks, and marine conservation policy.

In order to use the materials, you have to register with NCEP website and promise to use the materials for good, not evil.

• Sample module: Why is Biodiversity Important?

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, WA, will host the traveling Smithsonian exhibit In Search of Giant Squid from September 22-December 31, 2007. The have a FREE Teacher Workshop & Open House on Thursday, September 27, 2007.

This 2-hour workshop for teachers will introduce useful resources from the Burke Museum and the upcoming Smithsonian traveling exhibit, In Search of Giant Squid. Learn how to use this exhibit to reinforce your marine science curriculum, including the scientific process, ocean research, and deep-sea ecology. The workshop will feature a presentation by a museum curator, a guided tour of the exhibit, an introduction to the exhibit curriculum created by the Smithsonian, a small-group activity, and a review of available teacher resources.

The workshop and curriculum is ideally suited for teachers of grades 5 through 8, but can be adapted for younger and older grade levels.

• Workshop Flyer [PDF]
• More Burke Squid Events

The Pacific Science Center has a variation on a popular numbers game.

Do you Sudoku? Well, here’s a twist we think you’ll love. We call it PacSci-Doku…Instead of filling in the blanks with numbers, use letters. Hidden in one of the columns or rows is the answer to a science question. The question in this edition is:

What ancient sea reptile lived during the age of the dinosaurs in what is now Europe?

To find the answer, complete this PacSci-Doku using the following nine letters:

A O U S D L R P C

This might be a fun supplement for educators following along when National Geographic premieres its new giant screen film Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure on October 5th.

Stunning photo-realistic computer-generated animated transports audiences back to the Late Cretaceous, when a great inland sea divided North America in two. The film follows a curious and adventurous dolichorhynchops – familiarly known as a ‘dolly’ – as she travels through the most dangerous oceans in history. Along the way, she encounters long-necked plesiosaurs, giant turtles, enormous fish, fierce sharks, and the most dangerous sea monster of all, the mosasaur.

Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be playing anywhere close to me. However, it’s not only a movie, it’s also a multimedia marketing blitzvideogame for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and Playstation 2.

I have to think that combining these games with the standards-based lesson plans would make for a pretty interesting classroom assignment.

• PacSci-Doku - “Ancient Sea Reptile”
• Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure Trailer
• Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure Teacher Guides for grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
• See also, Nat Geo’s previous productions: When Monsters Ruled the Deep
• See also, BBC: Sea Monsters adventure game and Sea monster facts
• Puzzle hint: A O U S D L R P C: Bizarre ‘Walrus-Turtles’ of the Triassic

[via Informal Science Educators Network Listserv]

Reading PZ Myers, one gets the inkling that Minnesota is an anathema to science education. But these sites seem to be fighting that impression.

Over at the Minnesota Children’s Museum there is an interesting and economical idea for teaching science.

Science StoryPacks™ are backpacks filled with literature and fun science activities for students Pre–K – 5. They’re a great addition to educational settings: as a science book nook for students, a parent involvement activity, or a small group instruction. Shipping: Pick–up available at Minnesota Children’s Museum for free, or a shipping fee of $10 each way is charged for each kit.

And over at The Science Museum of Minnesota, they have a website called Science Buzz, which is a, “regularly updated community newsletter highlighting current science news, events, and findings.” One contributor has written an entry on the recent Humboldt squid invasion off the coast of California which has generated so much…buzz.

Teachers can browse the Buzz Blog by science standards.

• Science StoryPacks™
• Science Buzz

UPDATE: Got in touch with Maija from the Science Museum of Minnesota. Their MathPacks website is www.smm.org/mathpacks. They have also published an article in Teaching Children Mathematics, the NCTM elementary journal:

Measuring Growth on a Museum Field Trip: Dinosaur Bones and Tree Cross Sections
The MathPacks program at the Science Museum of Minnesota provides students with in-depth understanding of real-world applications of mathematics and science. Students measure museum specimens and investigate ratios, patterns, and mapping while simulating the work of scientists.

Looking for ways to make a difference by beginning or improving a youth water education program? Educating Young People About Water (EYPAW) is a searchable oline database of over 150 water-related curricula. The fine folks at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Environmental Resources Center have cataloged all of them according to topic, format and education goals.

Glance at them all at once, or focus in on selections like Liquid Explorations or Your Impact on Salmon/Fish: A Self-Assessment.

But don’t wait too long to check these out. You want to be ready for World Water Monitoring Day, which is only two months away!

Backside of a fossil sharks tooth, one of the largest ever excavated in Florida. On display at the Paleo Preserve (www.paleopreserve.org).

The Florida Museum of Natural History will soon open a new exhibit called Megalodon: Largest Shark that Ever Lived

At about 60 feet long, Megalodon was the largest shark that ever lived. The dominant marine predator vanished 2 million years ago, but its story inspires lessons for ocean conservation today.

Visitors enter a full-size sculpture of Megalodon through massive jaws. Once inside, they will discover this shark’s history and the world it inhabited.

The exhibit opens June 16 and runs through January 6, 2008.

[via FMSEA]

WHOI has a marine science image of the day that you can subscribe to. It is part of their Digital Image Catalog. In additon to the WHOI IoD, you can find:

• Current images of people, places, technology, events and projects
• Underwater photography from Alvin, Jason II and other vehicles
• Illustrations from WHOI publications and presentations
• Historical photographs of the Institution and Woods Hole area

• WHOI Image of the Day

The newest issue of Sea Stories is available. Sea Stories is a quarterly online journal of international ocean writing and art, published by Blue Ocean Institute.

Sea Stories…features contributions by ocean-lovers from all backgrounds and walks of life - writers, artists, educators, students, scientists, fishers, conservationists, explorers, and just regular people. Educators are invited to use Sea Stories in the classroom or as a publishing opportunity for yourself or your students. Join us in celebrating all things oceanic!

• Sea Stories

Got a chance to see this at FMSEA. Very nice.

The Loxahatchee River District is pleased to announce the debut of its environmental poster series: Seagrasses found in the Loxahatchee River Estuary and southern Indian River Lagoon

The poster provides a way to educate the public about the importance of seagrass and how residents can alter their actions to minimize their impact on seagrass. Through education and awareness, the poster will foster a stronger sense of stewardship for the protection of seagrasses and the Indian River Lagoon. The seagrass poster will be distributed throughout Palm Beach and Martin County schools, environmental centers, and other learning facilities. Funding for this project was provided by the South Florida Water Management District through the Indian River Lagoon License Plate Program.

• 8.5 x 11 Poster (PDF-556Kb)
• 11 x 17 Poster (PDF-536Kb)
• For more information or to obtain a poster, please contact Jocelyn O’Neill at 561-743-7123 or 561-262-2991

More oceanic adventures from PBS. They updated the site to include an educators guide.

VOYAGE OF THE LONELY TURTLE
Premieres Sunday, April 15th at 8 p.m.

A solitary loggerhead turtle in the middle of a vast ocean may not sound like an adventure film, but stick with her. Along her 9000-mile voyage to nest, our loggerhead tour guide in VOYAGE OF THE LONELY TURTLE encounters hammerhead sharks, deep ocean tempests, and man-made death traps in the form of fishing nets and hooks. Her body of well-suited armor and specialized adaptations for deep-ocean dwelling will help the sea turtle evade many of the ocean’s menaces. But this is just one set of challenges to overcome. Here is another: she must find her way across the Pacific, from Baja to a small stretch of beach in Japan, a precise location that she has been to just once before, as a two-inch hatchling, decades ago.

• PBS educators guide Tale of a Lonely Turtle (3-5)
• PBS educators guide Ancient Travelers of the Ocean (9-12)

Hey, NOAA has updated their online photo library. Because most of these images are taken as part of the normal operations of this federal agency, they are copyright free and in the public domain. All they ask is that proper photo credit is given.

Bizarrely, the search function is currently not working, making perusal of the collection a somewhat arduous expedition.

• More than 10,000 new images.
• New search capability.
• Many new albums that better reflect NOAA’s stewardship role and range of operations.
• Hundreds of Hurricane Katrina images that help record the extent of damage of this American tragedy.
• Thousands of stunning ocean exploration photographs, coral reef photographs, and polar regions photographs.
• New additions to albums including remarkable lightning photography, coastal photographs detailing the nooks and crannies of our American coastline including a medley of American lighthouses, and new images detailing the Treasures of the NOAA Library.
• And in this, the 200th Anniversary of the Coast Survey, NOAA’s oldest ancestor agency and America’s first science agency, thousands of newly digitized historical photographs detailing the work of the Coast Survey, Fisheries Commission and Weather Bureau.

In addition to still images, NOAA also makes available a number of copyright free video clips. The quality is a bit mixed, but it’s a nice way to build a royalty-free library.

NOAA maintains a library of video footage, which is compiled and categorized by subject. It’s available for the cost of reproduction on a public domain basis—no license or clearance required. It’s requested that you credit “NOAA” or “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,” when using the footage.

• NOAA Photo Library
• Other NOAA photo sites
• NOAA video B-Roll

Leatherback sea turtles are the largest and most ancient lineage of marine turtles. Eleven of them have been fitted with satellite transmitters as part of the Great Turtle Race, which begins on April 16, 2007.

The event is organized by The Leatherback Trust, Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP), Conservation International and Costa Rica’s MINAE. Some of the turtles are sponsored by Plantronics, Yahoo and West Marine, among others.

The whole site is a pretty slick production and includes Flashified trading cards for all the animals and a Flickr page. No word on whether the sponsors got to stencils their logos directly onto the turtles.

The sponsored turtles…are “racing” toward feeding areas south of the Galapagos Islands after nesting at Playa Grande in Costa Rica’s Las Baulas National Park, the primary nesting area for leatherbacks in the Pacific. The leatherback is a 100 million-year-old, massive sea animal that outlived the dinosaurs but is now dangerously close to extinction. Leatherback numbers have decreased at Playa Grande from thousands of nesting turtles 10 years ago to fewer than 100 in the last five years. This online event will raise funds to protect Playa Grande and raise awareness about what individuals can do-no matter where they live-to help protect sea turtles in our daily actions.

Lesson plans for K-5 and 6-12 grades are hosted by ERIC. Additional educational materials are supposed to be available in the “Sea Turtle School” area at www.GreatTurtleRace.com.

• Wikipedia: Leatherback Sea Turtles
• Great Turtle Race
• Great Turtle Race: Lesson Plans
• Flickr: Leatherback Turtle
• Yahoo Video: Great Turtle Race
• The Leatherback Trust
• National Geographic: It’s Tough to Be a Leatherback Turtle (3-5)
• National Geographic: Can Research Save the Leatherback Turtle? (6-8)

UPDATE: Stephen Colbert devoted part of his monologue to the leatherback race. One of the turtles is named after him.

While browsing through the PBS website for the Kings of Camouflage, I came across a link to a free UN document of cephalopods. It is available in a manner similar to the sea turtle anatomy book PDF. However, it is produced by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, so it’s emphasis is more on cephalopods as a fishery. Still, there is a lot of great info and illustrations in there. And it appears that educators can reproduce and distribute the information freely as long as they provide proper attribution.

Cephalopods of the World
www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0150e/a0150e00.htm
…free downloads of illustrated fact sheets on nearly every living cephalopod.

There are similar documents available on other marine organisms too:

• 548 Species Fact Sheets (bony fish, crustaceans, marine mammals, algae, shellfish, sharks, cephalopods, etc.)
• FAO Sea turtles of the world
• FAO Marine Mammals of the World
• FAO Sharks of the world, Part I and Part II

[via TONMO]

PBS airs another oceanic special, this time on cuttlefish. My tentacles are tingling!

Cuttlefish: The Brainy Bunch by Kaufmann Productions
a film by Gisela Kaufmann & Carsten Orlt
Premiers Tuesday, April 3 at 8 pm

Join NOVA on a voyage beneath the waves, where you’ll discover a bizarre, alien-like creature like no other. It’s an animal with eight sucker-covered arms growing out of its head, three hearts pumping its blue-green blood, and a doughnut-shaped brain. It has the ability to change its color and shape to blend in with seaweed and rocks, and it has a knack for switching on electrifying light shows that dazzle its prey. Perhaps most surprising of all, this animal is quite intelligent, with a highly complex brain. In this program, underwater cameras capture the extraordinary, transformative powers of the cuttlefish.

• Cuttlefish camo videoclips
• Anatomy of a Cuttlefish (web interactive)
• Cephalopod links and books to accompany the program
• Teacher’s Guide: Kings of Camouflage (nb: taping rights-can be used up to one year after the program is taped off the air.)

I am thinking of hosting a webcast/Skypecast during this program. Would anyone be interested in joining a simultaneous conversation while the show is airing?

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