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Science World is a charitable not-for-profit science center in the heart of Vancouver. Through interactive exhibits and demonstrations on science and nature topics, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art & design, and math) mentorship programs, the centre lives and breaths by its mission to "ignite wonder and empower dreams." I have had the pleasure of working with Science world as a visiting scientist in three of its programs: Future Science Leaders (FSL), Girls in STEAM, and Meet a Scientist.
Students adjusting their float weight to get it perfect.
Testing of the final float design.
Future Science Leaders
Future Science Leaders
The FSL program is designed to fuel high-school students' enthusiasm for STEAM subjects and cultivate their scientific know-how through interactions with diverse experts. In my sessions I introduce students to the world of oceanography, share my journey, and shed light on the types of questions oceanographers seek to answer. I've been doing FSL sessions since 2023 and have also done this lesson for Science World's annual Girls in STEAM workshop.
The sessions are centered around an activity inspired by my coworker Sam's (who helped facilitate the first year of sessions with me) intermediate-water targeting Swish floats. We fill a tall transparent tube with oil and water and task the students to design a float that sits half in water, half in oil by achieving neutral buoyancy. The students have to consider the float volume, oil and water density, and how much weight to add to their float.
The students have exhibited remarkable engagement but mixed success with the activity, with about half of the groups hitting the target depth over the years. The mixed success prompts insightful conversations about the challenges faced when taking subsurface ocean observations, including biofouling, and temperature and pressure variability affecting float behavior. It has been really rewarding to witness student enthusiasm and critical thinking skills throughout the activity and discussion.
Beutel, B*; Stevens, S.W.* (2024). Discovering DIY Oceanography: Building Floats to Track Deep Ocean Currents. Science Activities. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00368121.2024.2376753
Meet a Scientist
Meet a Scientist
With the help of the wonderful Science World staff, my coworker Jose and I designed a small wave tank to teach visitors about the phenomena of internal waves.
Internal waves are waves that occur beneath the ocean surface, between layers of water with different densities, and are important for ocean transport and mixing. Since the density difference between ocean layers is much smaller than the density difference between surface water and the air above it, the restoring force (what makes water go flat again when the when there's no more wind, for example) is a lot weaker than it is for surface waves. This weaker restoring force means that internal waves can be HUGE, hundreds of meters tall and hundreds of kilometers long in fact.
We've had a blast engaging with curious visitors and tackling a wide array of questions. From inquiries about the formation of seamounts to whether fish enjoy riding internal waves, every interaction challenges my own understanding of the topic.
Jose pictured with our wave tank. The tank is filled half with water (blue) and oil (yellow) to simulate ocean layers of different densities. A disruption in the flow (black divider in the center of the tank, simulating an seamount) initiates an internal wave when we move the tank slowly side to side.
Notice how the surface remains flat even though the water right below it is wavy! This is because of the restoring force and kept internal waves a mystery for a long time.
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