Rutgers Ocean Day

Rutgers Ocean Days brings Marine Activities Resources & Education (MARE) students (grades 3-8) from public, private, and informal science education programs to Rutgers University to celebrate their scientific accomplishments in the MARE program. The goal of Rutgers Ocean Days is to excite and engage students in ocean science by providing a platform for them to share results from their science investigations with one another and Rutgers scientists. This event encourages students to develop questions and participate in an inquiry-based scientific investigation that builds upon the knowledge they have learned from the MARE curriculum.  Through their investigations, students will become actively engaged in ocean science rather than just learning the content, and will be able to act as science communicators and peer educators.

Ocean Days 2012 – Your Habitat and You

Registration: Complete the registration form by Friday, February 17th to reserve your spot for Rutgers Ocean Days 2012 Register Here

Event schedule: all visits are from 10a.m. to 2p.m.
Monday, April 2nd – MARE schools grades 3-5
Tuesday, April 3rd – MARE schools grades 6-8

Theme: The theme for Rutgers Ocean Days 2012 is “Your Habitat and You.” Through this theme we are asking classes/clubs to investigate a component of their habitat and think about how it relates to their lives. Some overarching questions to have your students consider when developing a focused scientific investigation are:

  • What benefits do the native animals and plants get from your habitat?
  • What benefits do you get from your habitat?
  • What are the similarities and differences among the organisms that live in your habitat (e.g., what do they need to survive in the habitat?)?
  • What are the similarities and differences among the organisms that live in your habitat and you?
  • How have you, or humans in general, impacted your habitat?
  • How can you protect your habitat?
  • How has/does your habitat and/or the organisms within the habitat change over time?

As you talk through these questions and the ideas that the students generate, ask your students: how they could test that idea or question in an investigation? Our goal is for the students not simply to present a series of “facts” about their habitat but rather their observations and discoveries about New Jersey marine and aquatic environments and their role in these environments.

The theme is grounded in the MARE curriculum’s focus on habitats, and also will help students understand how they are part of the habitat they are studying (as emphasized in the Ocean Literacy Principle 6: the ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected). In addition, Ocean Days exposes students to all of the strands of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards – Science Standard 5.1 (Science Practices).

Student Presentations: Each class/club will develop and present a presentation on their investigation and results during the Science Expo at Rutgers Ocean Days.  The students will share their investigations with other students as well as Rutgers University faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates.

This year, classes/clubs have a choice of how to present their investigations. See below for more information about each of the presentation options:

  1. Prepare a poster presentation and demonstration on the investigation and results, or,
  2. Create a 1-2 minute film that teaches the audience about the investigation.

Poster & Demonstration Information
• Download the Poster & Demonstration Information Packet
• Download the Poster & Demonstration Rubric
• Download the Sample Poster & Demonstration
• Advice about Scientific Investigations

All poster and demonstrations will be presented during the first part of the Science Expo. Each class/club will have an area of the meeting room to set up their display. Members of the class/club will rotate through presenting on their investigation and observing other students’ investigations.

Film Project Information
• Download the Film Project Information Packet
• Download the Film Project Rubric
• Sample Storyboard for Film Project
• Storyboard Template
• Advice for Putting Together a Good Film
• Advice for How to Create a Film Project in Windows MovieMaker
• Advice for How to Create Sound Files

All of the films will be shown at the end of the Science Expo for everyone to watch together.

IMCS Assistance & Contact Information: The MARE Team at IMCS is ready to help in whatever way we can. We can help your students to develop questions or design the investigation, to provide assistance undertaking the investigation, to brainstorm poster content and/or demonstrations ideas, to assist in the development of the storyboard for a film, and many other tasks. See the forum post on Science Investigations to learn helpful hints for how to conduct investigations in your classroom.

For questions or additional information on the Rutgers Ocean Days 2012 please contact Kristin Hunter-Thomson at hunterthomson@marine.rutgers.edu. Please include “Rutgers Ocean Days 2012” in the subject line of your email to ensure a prompt response.