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by Chris Petrone

Don’t Even Sink About It!

December 11, 2009 in Education Materials

It sinks!

It sinks!


Does a can of soda float? Does salt water really make that much difference? What’s a Plimsoll mark? Buoyancy can be a difficult concept for students. It’s all about density! With this hands-on introduction to teaching buoyancy from the Bridge website and COSEE-NOW, students work through activities and demonstrations that use online resources and ocean observing systems data to investigate the buoyancy considerations of commercial shipping.

This activity was developed to shed light on how the commercial shipping industry has benefited from ocean observing systems. By knowing water temperature and salinity, as well as water depth, shippers can maximize a ship’s cargo capacity and transit time.

My COSEE-NOW partners provided me with some great input on writing the objectives for this activity and guided me to some demonstration activities developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science that could be used prior to the activity to pique the students’ interest.

This activity has been demonstrated to over 100 teachers, including presentations at the National Marine Educators Association and National Science Teachers Association conferences.

Check out Don’t Even Sink About it! available on the Bridge

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Avatar of Chris Petrone

by Chris Petrone

Using OOS with Standards

January 14, 2009 in NOW News

Very often I run into teachers that tell me that while they think ocean observing systems are cool and interesting, they cannot really utilize them because they don’t teach an oceanography course and must teach their core courses according to their state standards. But, with a little help from specialists like us at COSEE NOW, teachers forced to teach standards-based courses can definitely integrate these unique data and not only check off the standards boxes, but have their students get excited about what is occurring in our oceans.

For instance, I’m based in Virginia, so I’m most familiar with the Virginia Standards of Learning, or SOLs. The Bridge/COSEE NOW data activity, “Don’t Even Sink About It!” can be used to teach the following standards:

Kindergarten K.5 – Some materials float in water while others sink
Physical Science PS 2 and PS 5 – Basic nature of matter and Changes in matter
Earth Science ES 4 and ES 11 – Earth characteristics and Oceans as complex systems
Physics PH 4 and PH 7 – Physics applications and Properties of fluids

So all you teachers out there that teach state standards, don’t be shy! Jump into ocean observing systems with both feet and we know you’ll love it as much as we do!

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