This is an interactive website that provides descriptive information and data related …
This is an interactive website that provides descriptive information and data related to ten key climate indicators. These climate indicators and related resources show global patterns and data that are intuitive and compelling teaching tools.
In this hands-on OLogy activity, kids learn what happens when the rush …
In this hands-on OLogy activity, kids learn what happens when the rush of freshwater from a river collides with the gush of the ocean's tides. The activity begins with introductions to estuaries, salinity, and density. The illustrated, step-by-step directions show how to test the density of water at different levels of salinity and then investigate how a liquid's density affects the objects placed in it. It includes a fun look at the Dead Sea (Super Salty Sea) and why you can float effortlessly in it.
This activity allows students to demonstrate the thermal expansion of water for …
This activity allows students to demonstrate the thermal expansion of water for themselves using water bottles and straws. The discussion allows them to explore the connection between this concept and sea level rise due to climate change.
This is a short experiment to demonstrate the concept of thermal expansion …
This is a short experiment to demonstrate the concept of thermal expansion of water when heated, as an analogy to thermal expansion of oceans due to global warming.
This is an interactive visualization that allows users to explore the scientific …
This is an interactive visualization that allows users to explore the scientific research being done on Thwaites glacier, one of the most important glaciers in Antarctica.
In this exercise, students use online data, spreadsheets, and graphs to analyze …
In this exercise, students use online data, spreadsheets, and graphs to analyze tidal fluctuations at the Battery in New York. They will be asked to examine and compare the observed and predicted tides, and then make their own predictions.
In this video from an expedition to the Bahamas, Jonathan encounters dozens …
In this video from an expedition to the Bahamas, Jonathan encounters dozens of Lemon sharks while trying to film a Tiger shark. But finally a Tiger shark arrives and you wonŰŞt believe the incredible encounter Jonathan has with this enormous, hungry animal. Please see the accompanying study guide for educational objectives and discussion points.
This role-playing activity is based on the Marine Reserves process at the …
This role-playing activity is based on the Marine Reserves process at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and explores the complex decision-making process for establishing marine protected areas and resolving resource management issues.
This resource presents a collection of essays developed from the author’s experience …
This resource presents a collection of essays developed from the author’s experience teaching the course Fluid Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean, offered to graduate students entering the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography. The collection includes the following three essays: Essay 1: Lagrangian and Eulerian Representations of Fluid Flow (revised and expanded in 2024)
Part 1: Kinematics and the Equations of Motion Part 2: Advection of Parcels and Fields
Essay 2: Dimensional Analysis of Models and Data Sets: Similarity Solutions and Scaling Analysis Essay 3: A Coriolis Tutorial (revised and expanded in 2023)
Part 1: The Coriolis Force, Inertial and Geostrophic Motion Part 2: A Rotating Shallow Water Model and Geostrophic Adjustment Part 3: Beta Effects and Western Propagation Part 4: Wind-Driven Ocean Circulation and the Sverdrup Relation Part 5: On the Seasonally-Varying Circulation of the Arabian Sea
The goal of this resource is to help each student master the concepts and mathematical tools that make up the foundation of classical and geophysical fluid dynamics. These essays treat these topics in considerably greater depth than a comprehensive fluids textbook can afford, and they are accompanied by data files (MATLAB® and Fortran) to allow some application and experimentation. They should be suitable for self-study.
This satellite image shows the eddy/cyclone pair discussed in the exercise. Image …
This satellite image shows the eddy/cyclone pair discussed in the exercise.
Image provided by; Lawrence J. Rouse, Earth Scan Laboratory, Louisiana State University
Provenance: Lauren Sahl, Maine Maritime Academy Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.
In this activity students examine a map of geopotential anomaly to determine ocean current patterns. They then examine particle beam attenuation data to identify patterns in the locations of intermediate nepheloid layers over the continental slope. Finally, they are asked to describe the processes that account for those patterns.
(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)
This lesson applies the science and math of the rotation of a …
This lesson applies the science and math of the rotation of a sphere to water and wind movements on Earth. Students are introduced to convection, the Trade Winds and the Coriolis Force. Using an online visualizer, students generate trajectories and then analyze course patterns and latitudinal changes in strength. Note that this is lesson two of five on the Ocean Motion website. Each lesson investigates ocean surface circulation using satellite and model data and can be done independently. See Related URL's for links to the Ocean Motion Website that provide science background information, data resources, teacher material, student guides and a lesson matrix.
Part 1 The SAGUARO Exploring GIS Investigations for Earth Science curriculum requries …
Part 1
The SAGUARO Exploring GIS Investigations for Earth Science curriculum requries the use of ESRI's ArcView GIS software version 3.0 for Macintosh or 3.2 and higher for PC. Use ArcGIS and data files from the SAGUARO Project's (http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/help/projects/supported-data-types-and-items.htm) Exploring Tropical Cyclones investigations. After the students are introduced to the program they are asked to determine what criteria are required for the formation of tropical cyclones. Exploring Tropical Cyclones Unit 1 has a great deal of data for the students to use. The data is presented as layers on a world map. Different features can be turned on and off at will, and layers can be brought in from other units if desired.
Features they can work with are:
August SST February SST tropical cyclone tracks locations of tropical cyclone formation for Jun-Sep locations of tropical cyclone formation for Dec-Mar
Part 2
Students are divided into small groups (3-4 students works well) where they compare their findings (including what evidence they used) with the findings of the other group members. Each group is then asked to determine the threshold temperature for tropical cyclone formation as well as to calculate the area of the ocean that has SST equal to or above this threshold temperature (you can have them calculate this for each season, or as a total area including both February and August data).
Part 3
Class discussion of what they have found so far. Introduce them to model predictions of SST for different atmospheric CO2 levels. Propose a 2 degree C increase in tropical SST and ask what they think that will mean. What other factors might influence the formation of tropical cyclones?
Part 4
Assign an article or two (ideally a published peer reviewed article - to introduce them to this type of scientific writing - that is if you can find one that you consider appropriate for your students) that introduces them to other factors required for tropical cyclone formation and predictions of how climate change might affect them. For example an article that discusses the role of wind speed near the surface of the ocean, or vertical wind shear, or one that shows that the threshold temperature is actually predicted to increase by the same magnitude as the SST increase. Have them write a report that summaries the criteria for cyclogenesis as well as explaining how they would go about predicting where tropical cyclones will form as a result of an increased SST. They do not need to perform all of the tests they propose! They should state what sort of information they would like to obtain and why.
(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)
Millions of fish eggs from the Caribbean get stuck in the gulf …
Millions of fish eggs from the Caribbean get stuck in the gulf stream every year and drift thousands of miles north where they hatch. Unfortunately, when winter comes, the baby fish will die. In this video, Jonathan joins the New England Aquarium Dive Club on a tropical fish rescue in Rhode Island where they catch some of these fish in the fall before water temperatures plummet. The fish go to the New England AquariumŰŞs exhibits. Please see the accompanying study guide for educational objectives and discussion points.
This course describes the large-scale circulation systems of the tropical atmosphere and …
This course describes the large-scale circulation systems of the tropical atmosphere and analyses the dynamics of such systems. Topics include: Radiative-convective equilibrium; the Hadley and walker circulation; monsoons; tropical boundary layers; theory of the response of the tropical atmosphere to localized sea-surface temperature anomalies; intraseasonal oscillations; equatorial waves; El Niño/Southern Oscillation; easterly waves; and tropical cyclones.
An inquiry approach to using the celerity (=velocity) of a tsunami to …
An inquiry approach to using the celerity (=velocity) of a tsunami to measure the depth of the ocean along its path. Tsunami are shallow-water waves, because their wavelengths are so long relative to ocean depth. Shallow-water wave celerity depends on ocean depth. Students reason this out. They then determine the distance of the path of the tsunami from the epicenter of the 1964 Alaska Good Friday earthquake tsunami to various locations, use tsunami arrival times to calculate the velocity, and re-arrange the shallow-water celerity equation to calculate depth. Students evaluate the geographic distribution of water depths.
(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)
This course presents the phenomena, theory, and modeling of turbulence in the …
This course presents the phenomena, theory, and modeling of turbulence in the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. The scope ranges from centimeter to planetary scale motions. The regimes of turbulence include homogeneous isotropic three dimensional turbulence, convection, boundary layer turbulence, internal waves, two dimensional turbulence, quasi-geostrophic turbulence, and macrotrubulence in the ocean and atmosphere.
This course presents the phenomena, theory, and modeling of turbulence in the …
This course presents the phenomena, theory, and modeling of turbulence in the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. The scope ranges from centimeter to planetary scale motions. The regimes of turbulence include homogeneous isotropic three dimensional turbulence, convection, quasi-geostrophic turbulence, shallow water turbulence, baroclinic turbulence, macroturbulence in the ocean and atmosphere.
Turbulent flows, with emphasis on engineering methods. Governing equations for momentum, energy, …
Turbulent flows, with emphasis on engineering methods. Governing equations for momentum, energy, and species transfer. Turbulence: its production, dissipation, and scaling laws. Reynolds averaged equations for momentum, energy, and species transfer. Simple closure approaches for free and bounded turbulent shear flows. Applications to jets, pipe and channel flows, boundary layers, buoyant plumes and thermals, and Taylor dispersion, etc., including heat and species transport as well as flow fields. Introduction to more complex closure schemes, including the k-epsilon, and statistical methods in turbulence.
No restrictions on your remixing, redistributing, or making derivative works. Give credit to the author, as required.
Your remixing, redistributing, or making derivatives works comes with some restrictions, including how it is shared.
Your redistributing comes with some restrictions. Do not remix or make derivative works.
Most restrictive license type. Prohibits most uses, sharing, and any changes.
Copyrighted materials, available under Fair Use and the TEACH Act for US-based educators, or other custom arrangements. Go to the resource provider to see their individual restrictions.
