Happy Friday and Pep Rally Day

Friday and Pep Rally Days are so much fun.  No matter what you do the students are hyper.  It is hard to get them under control.  I am now using the word "Avast"  Stop what you are doing! when I want them to get quiet. 

FLIP Deployed at Sea

Yesterday I used a short video on FLIP: Floating Instrument Platform.  This is a really cool tool used to study currents, sound waves, how storm waves are formed,  and  heat exchange in the ocean. This is only a few of the ways this platform is used to study the ocean.  http://sio.ucsd.edu/voyager/flip/index.html

This ship (buoy) has to towed out to sea.  It has a crew of around 16 scientists and they have to be really good at working in crowed conditions.  The interior of the ship is really interesting.  It is set up so that the crew can work on it when it is being towed out to sea (horizontal) and live and work on it when it is vertical. 

Two Sinks

Door in the Wall

Not Much Room to Sleep!

There are a number of video clips on YouTube you can use though I wish they would update it with more information on how this ship is used.  However, it is very interesting and does capture the student's imagination.

Today, I had students pick a partner for the ship design project.  The have to build a ship with a sail, keel, and rudder that can hold 20 marbles as cargo and sail down  a stream table without touching the sides.  I use a hair dryer on a tripod as the wind.  We give them time to design, build, test, adjust and then run.  This is project that works on trial and error.  This is frustrating for students in the beginning but once they get into it they really enjoy the activity.  I find that they start talking to each other, check out what others are doing, help each other and I am there to answer questions.  (Pictures coming next week)

I also showed a video from TED: Ideas Worth Knowing on the plastic in the ocean.  It was very good. One of my students said he just couldn't believe that birds could have all that plastic in their stomachs.   Unfortunately, the video was true.  Hopefully it will make students think about what they do with their plastic water bottles.


Capt. Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- an endless floating waste of plastic trash. Now he's drawing attention to the growing, choking problem of plastic debris in our seas.

http://www.ted.com/talks/capt_charles_moore_on_the_seas_of_plastic.html