Ocean Sense Community-Based Observatory Education Program Teachers’ Guide Welcome to Ocean Sense! Ocean Sense uses data and resources from the Community-Based Observatories, hosted by Ocean Networks Canada (ONC). This program provides a phenomenal Ocean Sense Community-Based Observatory Education Program platform to “dive into” the ocean and explore the world beneath the waves. Instruments mounted on each observatory help scientists extend their senses and understand ocean processes by acting like their ears and eyes in the sea. 1. Program Introduction 1.1 Vision “Local observations, global connections” Through the Ocean Sense program we hope to inspire the next generation of ocean stewards. Through the use of Ocean Networks Canada’s Community-Based Observatories students will gain knowledge of their local marine environments. By connecting with other students via social media and face-to-face events and by engaging in educational resources, students will also gain a global perspective of ocean processes. 1.2 Pillars of the Program “Ocean, Technology, Community” In this program, the associated learning objectives will create the base for the project and the core educational resources provided by ONC. Furthermore, the pillars will provide educators with an outline from which to incorporate this project into the classroom. The Ocean 1. An interdisciplinary approach is needed to understand the ocean. a. Core educational resources include content from marine biology, chemistry, physics, geology, engineering and the social sciences. 2. The global ocean is interconnected. a. Core educational resources will explain the relationship between ocean processes such as ocean currents, nutrient distribution, and food web dynamics. The Technology 1. Exploration and discovery of the ocean is enabled through technology. a. Core documents will include instrument details so as to understand how technology informs science. b. Keystone activities include detailed introductions to instruments so educators understand the tools used in this program. 2. Technology enables long-term study and investigations over time. 2 Ocean Sense Community-Based Observatory Education Program a. Students and educators can use observatory data to gain a better understanding of their local environment. b. Students and educators can use observatory data to gain a better understanding of ocean processes year after year through long-term data collection. The Community 1. Personal connections between students and their local environment will ignite the understanding that humans and the ocean are interconnected. a. Core educational resources will include references to how humans use and impact the ocean. 2. Connections between schools will encourage students’ understanding of local oceans to broaden to a global perspective. a. Creating a network of students and teachers involved with the community-based observatory project will allow understanding of other ocean regions and global issues. b. Facilitating interaction between students and educators through online discussion and face-to-face events. 3. Connections between schools will inspire partnerships and scientific collaboration, through: a. Sharing of data via reports, social media, presentations, and events. 1.3 How to Use the Resources This resource is intended to be used by teachers at any point in the curriculum, over the course of a full year. Every instrument collects data continually, so you are strongly encouraged to revisit the data often. As seasonal trends appear over time in the data, you may gain a very different perspective of the seas around you. As data become available, you may find the outcome of a particular lesson plan is different that when you first explored it (in a good way). Think of the Ocean Sense program as a bicycle and these lessons are training wheels. We encourage you to ask questions and explore your data with a sense of ownership. The questions you choose to explore and discover may be the first of their kind. Encourage your students to engage and explore in this resource as often and as freely as they can. Some of the greatest discoveries and clearest answers were only found because people had the time to stop and look. 3 Ocean Sense Community-Based Observatory Education Program Don’t forget, you’re not alone in exploring with these resources: connect with other users and explore questions via social media. Also, please don’t hesitate to contact the ONC Learning Team with questions and feedback. We want to know what questions you explore, and what discoveries you make. 2. Who is Ocean Networks Canada? Ocean Networks Canada, an initiative of the University of Victoria, operates the world-leading NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled ocean observatories for the advancement of science and the benefit of Canada. These observatories support transformative coastal to deep ocean research and technology. It enables real-time interactive experiments, focused on ocean health, ecosystems, resources, natural hazards, climate change and marine conservation. In addition to the larger observatories, Ocean Networks Canada has also begun operating smaller platforms known as community-based observatories. Currently two community-based observatories exist: one in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, and the other in Mill Bay, BC. The observatories collect continuous, real-time measurements of temperature, salinity, oxygen, density, pressure, carbon dioxide, video footage, hydrophone recordings, and many other properties. Data is considered real-time because it is streamed online within seconds of being collected, allowing researchers, educators, students, and the general public the opportunity to analyze changes in ocean properties first-hand from the comfort of their labs, classrooms, or homes. 4 Ocean Sense Community-Based Observatory Education Program Figure 1. Locations of Ocean Networks Canada’s cabled underwater observatories. NEPTUNE (Northeast Pacific) VENUS (Salish Sea) Depths: 23–2660 m. Depths: surface–300 m • Situated off the west coast of • Situated between Vancouver Vancouver Island, extending Island and the Mainland in the 300 km offshore, down the Strait of Georgia and Saanich continental slope and across Inlet. the Juan De Fuca tectonic • 44 km array of fibre optic plate. cables. • 850 km loop of fibre optic • 4 operational nodes. cables. • Coastal radars. • 5 operational nodes. • Underwater gliders. • Remotely Operated Robot: • Instruments mounted on Wally. ferries. • Vertical Profiling System (VPS). • Buoy Profiling System (BPS). 5 Ocean Sense Community-Based Observatory Education Program What are ONC’s major science themes? • Understanding Human-Induced Change in the Ocean. • Life in the Coastal and Deep-Sea. • Interconnections Amongst the Seafloor, Ocean, and Atmosphere. • Seafloor and Sediment in Motion. Benefits of real-time data from the deep-sea: • Increased scientific knowledge of the marine ecosystem and its processes. • Increased understanding of human impacts. • Natural hazard detection and warning for coastal communities. • Education opportunities. Inspiring the Next Generation Integrated with the extraordinary science and incredible innovations coming from Ocean Networks Canada, is the Learning Team, which is dedicated to bringing ONC’s science, technology, and knowledge to students and educators across the country. Using real-time data, the Learning Team creates authentic and engaging learning experiences that encourage the integration of marine science into the classroom. Educators can further engage with ONC through: • Requesting classroom presentations. • Attending (or requesting) workshops. • Downloading learning resources. • Incorporating real-time data (video, audio, point source data) from our observatories into the classroom. • Using our Citizen Science Tools such as Digital Fishers and iBooks such as the Marine Field Guide. • Following our Twitter feeds (@Ocean_Learning) and Facebook channels. • Virtually joining in on our research expeditions. 3. Data Access 3.1 Site-Specific Data Pages As part of the Ocean Sense webpages, we have created specific community-based observatory data pages that provide the following information: • Latest data readings. 6 Ocean Sense Community-Based Observatory Education Program • Interactive plotting tools, where students can choose the variable and date range to graph. • The latest video clips. • The latest hydrophone recording. • A “state of the ocean” plot which shows seasonal and annual trends. The site-specific data pages allow students to view, create plots, and save data coming from the observatories. The site-specific data pages are meant to be a one- stop-shop and allow for easy navigation to the data and intuitive data analysis. While data plots can be constructed for any time range, the video section will only show the last video recorded when the lights were on. In order to view archived video data, students will have to access ONC’s Oceans 2.0 online data tools. 3.2 Oceans 2.0 Oceanographic data collected by Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) are available on the Internet using Oceans 2.0 web tools. These tools provide access to general information about instruments and associated technology and allow users to view, search, and download archived data. To begin accessing ONC data from Oceans 2.0, please visit http://www.oceannetworks.ca and click on the “Data & Tools” tab to view the tools that are currently available for each network. Selecting a tool will bring you to the Oceans 2.0 login/registration page. 7 Ocean Sense Community-Based Observatory