Fishing for answers
Grades: 9
Subjects:
Hungry for data? Check out this selection of "datalicious" media and activities from Ocean School.
Whale city
Video | 4 minutes
Description: The pelagic survey continues, as Isabelle & Boris spot majestic gannets with two-meter wingspans, then find themselves in the middle of Whale City! Surrounded by surfacing whales, Isabelle wonders if the Leeway Odyssey has happened into a area of “localized upwelling”.
Activity | 120 min
Description: Students are challenged to conduct a survey of a nearby habitat, such as a park, playground, or street corner. The activity demonstrates how a researcher might develop an observation plan similar to the pelagic survey method used on board the Odyssey.
Materials:
Wet lab
Video | 4.5 minutes
Description: Aboard the Teleost, Holly follows raw data as it travels from the nets to the lab in the belly of the boat. Along the way, Holly witnesses a small technical malfunction and its troubleshooting, then encounters the biggest lumpfish she’s ever seen. Every encounter is a watery puzzle piece, being put together to create a larger picture of the ocean’s well-being.
Activity | 20-30 min
Description: Students are challenged to read and interpret a graph. They are asked to start by describing what they notice, what they are wondering about and finally what they think the graph is all about!
Materials:
Activity (PowerPoint)
Trawling for data
Video | 4 minutes
Description: Holly joins DFO scientists on a converted trawler called The Teleost. Aboard, they repurpose the tools of “big fishing” to the cause of “big data,” newly casting their nets in the name of science. Once retrieved, these nets might contain hopeful clues about the recovery of cod in the Atlantic Ocean.
Activity | 60 min
Description: Students are asked to put their math skills to the test and plan a data collection cruise for the Teleost.
Materials:
Activity (PowerPoint)
Herring census
Video | 4.5 minutes
Description: We're diving for data! With the help of an “eye in the sky” and some savvy scuba surveyors, researchers are estimating the number of herring in the water... by counting their eggs! But modern methods can only tell us so much. To get the full picture, we turn to the people who know the herring best.
Activity | 75 min
Description: Students are challenged to determine which herring stock will most likely have a healthy population in the future! Students perform a herring census using a simplified version of the methods used by scientists at Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Materials:
Activity (PDF)
Data collection sheet (PDF)
ROPOS must dive
Video | 3 minutes
Description: The ROPOS finally descends into a deep, nighttime environment. Real-time transmissions reveal benthic habitats and life-forms to us, while the robotic limbs of the ROPOS gather samples from this special world far, far below.
Activity | 90 min
Description: Students are challenged to create a dive plan for the ROPOS using information about the speed of the ROPOS and weather conditions. They must plan the location and timing of a dive that will explore 3km of habitat before a storm blows in
Materials:
Activity (PowerPoint)
Critical reflection
Video | 2 minutes
Description: Critical reflection is where it all comes together in three smart steps!
You’ve assembled your facts.
You’ve made sense of those new facts, cracking their code!
You’re ready to turn your brand-new knowledge into powerful action.
By repeating these three steps, you’ve harnessed the power of critical reflection… and you’re ready to take on the world!
Activity | 60-120 min
Description: Students play the “Psychiatrist Game” as an introduction to the concept of critical reflection. After, they reflect on how to use information to solve problems, and then apply the critical reflection process to investigate the waste management system at their school.
Materials:
Activity (PowerPoint)