Learning Activities

Description:

This set of tutorials will incorporate datasets from a variety of sources to focus on coastal oceanographic processes and their connections to climate and biology.

Learning Objectives:

After successfully completing these modules, students should be able to:

• Understand how multiple physical forces interact to determine water circulation
• Appreciate the interrelationships between biological and physical processes
• Describe the Biological Pump and explain its significance, including its role in determining oceanic nutrient distributions
• Understand why upwelling increases productivity
• Examine wind conditions to predict upwelling events
• Identify upwelling events and phytoplankton blooms based on satellite imagery
• Make connections between local conditions and global consequences

Prerequisites:

Students should have at least a high-school level math and physics background, and be familiar with introductory concepts related to remote sensing via satellites. A meteorological background is helpful but not essential.

Pedagogical Applications:

These tutorials can be used in a number of ways in various disciplines. Some suggestions are provided below. These modules:

• will support ecosystem studies in ecology, marine biology, and oceanography classes.
• will support efforts to explore and understand relationships between physical conditions, biological conditions, and global environmental conditions.
• provide an example of nutrient cycling in marine systems.
• provide experience identifying remotely sensed features and connecting them to local environmental events.