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Rutgers Ocean Days 2014 – One Ocean

Rutgers Ocean Days 2014 was a HUGE success! Thank you to all the students for your hard work preparing and participating, to all the teachers for making this happen for your students, and to all the Rutgers scientists who participated and worked so hard to make the events happen.

** To see photos from the three days of events visit the appropriate flickr page:

Outstanding Rutgers Ocean Days 2014 Investigations:

Tuesday, April 8th – Grades 3-5 (“Our Ocean Planet: Exploring Features of the Ocean”)

Wednesday, April 9th – Grades 6-8 (“Penguins Eat What? Where?”)

Friday, April 11th – Grades 9-12 (“Hot and Acidic Krill: Climate Change in Antarctica”)

— Rutgers Ocean Days 2014 – Original Webpage —

Event Dates:

All events are from 10a.m. to 1:30p.m. in the Cook Campus Center (59 Biel Road New Brunswick, NJ 08901)

Tuesday, April 8th – Grades 3-5 (“Our Ocean Planet: Exploring Features of the Ocean”) *This program is currently full.*

Wednesday, April 9th – Grades 6-8 (“Penguins Eat What? Where?: Penguin Foraging Ecology”) *This program is currently full.*

Friday, April 11th – Grades 9-12 (“Hot and Acidic Krill: Climate Change in Antarctica”) *This program is currently full.*

What does this look like for you and your students?

We have developed the Rutgers Ocean Day program to offer your students a variety of activities (classroom, day-of station, and science presentation) that complement one another to expose your students to current marine science research, to answer a motivating question, and to address a range of New Jersey Core Curriculum Content – Science and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, content and practices) in a fun and engaging way for your students. To learn about the motivating questions, activities you will conduct in your classroom before the event, the draft agenda of the events, and the CCCS and NGSS that are being addressed during Rutgers Ocean Day choose the appropriate grade band link below…

Elementary School Students (April 8th) - Our Ocean Planet: Exploring Features of the Ocean

Motivating Questions: How does the ocean vary across our planet? How does the variety in the ocean impact ocean organisms?

Before Attending the Event:

In-class Activities: Students will complete a lesson in classroom prior to attending the event that is expected to take 60 minutes.

Student Research Projects: (in groups of 6 or less students)

  • Students will design and conduct an investigation (research project) about ocean exploration in groups no larger than 6 students.
    • Students should choose a question to answer with their investigation of ocean exploration, as questions drive all of the work done in science.
    • Some overarching questions to have your students consider when developing their science question, and thus designing their research project, are:
      • What do we know about the ocean?
      • What don’t we know about the ocean?
      • What do you want to know about the ocean?
  • Student groups will make posters about their research project to present at Rutgers Ocean Day (see Poster Information section for more information and support materials).

Event Agenda:
** Note the Rutgers Ocean Day event runs from 10:00am – 1:30pm. Please plan accordingly when setting up your transportation, permissions, etc. **

  • 10:00 – Arrive and check-in
  • 10:15 – Welcome
  • 10:30 – Activity Stations
  • 11:15 – Lunch
  • 11:45 – Student Poster Presentations
  • 12:30 – Science Presentation
  • 1:00 – Debrief and Evaluations
  • 1:30 – Good-byes

NJ Core Curriculum Content – Science Standards Addressed:

  • Science Practices: Understand Scientific Explanations
    • 5.1.4.A.1 – Fundamental scientific concepts and principles and the links between them are more useful than discrete facts.
    • 5.1.4.A.2 – Connections developed between fundamental concepts are used to explain, interpret, build, and refine explanations, models, and theories.
  • Science Practices: Generate Scientific Evidence Through Active Investigations
    • 5.1.4.B.3 – Evidence is used to construct and defend arguments.
    • 5.1.4.B.4 – Reasoning is used to support scientific conclusions.
  • Science Practices: Participate Productively in Science
    • 5.1.4.D.1 – Science has unique norms for participation. These include adopting a critical stance, demonstrating a willingness to ask questions and seek help, and developing a sense of trust and skepticism.
    • 5.1.4.D.2 – In order to determine which arguments and explanations are most persuasive, communities of learners work collaboratively to pose, refine, and evaluate questions, investigations, models and theories (e.g., scientific argumentation and representation).
  • Physical Science: Forces and Motion
    • 5.2.4.E.1 – Motion can be described as a change in position over a period of time.
  • Life Science: Interdependence
    • 5.3.4.C.1 – Organisms can only survive in environments in which their needs are met. Within ecosystems, organisms interact with and are dependent on their physical and living environment.
  • Earth Systems Science: Biogeochemical Cycles
    • 5.4.4.G.3 – Most of Earth’s surface is covered by water. Water circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the water cycle.
    • 5.4.4.G.4 – Properties of water depend on where the water is located (oceans, river, lakes, underground sources, and glaciers).

Support of Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core English/Language Arts and Math:

Next Generation Science Standards:

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Environmental Impacts on Organisms, E-LS4-3 – Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Engaging in Argument from Evidence – Construct an argument with evidence. LS4.C: Adaptation – For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. Cause and Effect – Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified and used to explain change.

Earth’s Systems: Processes that Shape the Earth, 4-ESS2-2 – Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Analyzing and Interpreting Data – Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena using logical reasoning. ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale Systems Interactions – The locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, ocean floor structures, earthquakes, and volcanoes occur in patterns. Most earthquakes and volcanoes occur in bands that are often along the boundaries between continents and oceans. Major mountain chains form inside continents or near their edges. Maps can help locate the different land and water features areas of Earth. Patterns – Patterns can be used as evidence to support an explanation.

Structure and Properties of Matter, 5-PS1-3 – Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations – Make observations and measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon. PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter – Measurements of a variety of properties can be used to identify materials. Scale, Proportion, and Quantity – Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as weight, time, temperature, and volume.

Earth’s Systems, 5-ESS2-2 – Describe and graph the amounts and percentages of water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking – Describe and graph quantities such as area and volume to address scientific questions. ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes – Nearly all of Earth’s available water is in the ocean. Most fresh water is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere. Scales, Proportion, and Quantity – Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as weight and volume.

English Language Arts:

RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
SL.5.5 Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

Mathematics:

MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
MP.4 Model with mathematics.

Ocean Literacy: Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts Addressed:

  • 1 – The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
  • 2 – The ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of the Earth.
  • 7 – The ocean is largely unexplored.

Middle School Students (April 9th): Penguins Eat What? Where?: Penguin Foraging Ecology

Motivating Questions: What influences where Adélie Penguins forage for food? How could ocean convergent zones impact the ecology of an area?

Before Attending the Event:

In-class activities: Students will complete a lesson in their classroom prior to attending the event. The lesson is expected to take 1 45-minute class period.

Students Investigations: (in groups of 6 or less students)

  • Students will design and conduct an investigation (experiment) about relationships between biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem or foraging behavior of organisms in groups no larger than 6 students.
    • Student groups should choose a question to answer with their investigation, as questions drive all of the work done in science.
    • Some overarching questions to have your students consider when developing their science question, and thus designing their investigation, are:
      • What are some of the known interactions between abiotic and biotic factors the ocean? On land? How could you design an experiment to test those impacts?
      • What are some of the impacts of the environment on how organisms forage (find food)? How could you design an experiment to test those impacts?
    • Some seed questions you can pose to your students if they are having a difficult time coming up with a science investigation are: (* Note – if your students are still struggling to come up with a topic, contact Kristin for further assistance. *)
      • What are the impacts of water movement, salinity, temperature, or other variables on the feeding rates and growth of organisms?
      • What are the impacts of varying levels of water movement, salinity, temperature, or other variables on the feeding rates and growth of organisms?
  • Student groups will make posters about their research project to present at Rutgers Ocean Day (see Poster Information section for more information and support materials).

Event Agenda:
** Note the Rutgers Ocean Day event runs from 10:00am – 1:30pm. Please plan accordingly when setting up your transportation, permissions, etc. **

  • 10:00 – Arrive and check-in
  • 10:15 – Welcome
  • 10:30 – Student Poster Presentations
  • 11:00 – Lunch
  • 11:30 – Activity Stations
  • 12:30 – Scientist Presentation
  • 1:00 – Debrief and Evaluations
  • 1:30 – Good-byes

NJ Core Curriculum Content – Science Standards Addressed:

  • Science Practices: Understand Scientific Explanations
    • 5.1.8.A.2 – Results of observation and measurement can be used to build conceptual-based models and to search for core explanations.
    • 5.1.8.A.3 – Predictions and explanations are revised based on systematic observations, accurate measurements, and structured data/evidence.
  • Science Practices: Generate Scientific Evidence Through Active Investigations
    • 5.1.8.B.1 – Evidence is generated and evaluated as part of building and refining models and explanations.
    • 5.1.8.B.2 – Mathematics and technology are used to gather, analyze, and communicate results.
    • 5.1.8.B.3 – Carefully collected evidence is used to construct and defend arguments.
    • 5.1.8.B.4 – Scientific reasoning is used to support scientific conclusions.
  • Science Practices: Reflect on Scientific Knowledge
    • 5.1.8.C.2 – Predictions and explanations are revised to account more completely for available evidence.
    • 5.1.8.C.3 – Science is a practice in which an established body of knowledge is continually revised, refined, and extended.
  • Science Practices: Participate Productively in Science
    • 5.1.8.D.1 – Science involves practicing productive social interactions with peers, such as partner talk, whole-group discussions, and small-group work.
    • 5.1.8.D.2 – In order to determine which arguments and explanations are most persuasive, communities of learners work collaboratively to pose, refine, and evaluate questions, investigations, models, and theories (e.g., argumentation, representation, visualization, etc.).
  • Life Science: Matter and Energy Transformations
    • 5.3.6.B.1 – Plants are producers: they use energy from light to make food (sugar) from carbon dioxide and water. Plants are used as a source of food (energy) for other organisms.
    • 5.3.6.B.2 and 5.3.8.B.2 – All animals, including humans, are consumers that meet their energy needs by eating other organisms or their products.
  • Life Science: Interdependence
    • 5.3.6.C.2 – The number of organisms and populations an ecosystem can support depends on the biotic resources available and on abiotic factors, such as quantities of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition.
    • 5.3.6.C.3 – All organisms cause changes in the ecosystem in which they live. If this change reduces another organism’s access to resources, that organism may move to another location or die.
    • 5.3.8.C.1 – Symbiotic interactions among organisms of different species can be classified as: producer/consumer, predator/prey, parasite/host, scavenger/prey, decomposer/prey.
  • Earth Systems Science: Biogeochemical Cycles
    • 5.4.6.G.1 – Circulation of water in marine environments is dependent on factors such as the composition of water masses and energy from the Sun or wind.
    • 5.4.6.G.2 – An ecosystem includes all of the plant and animal populations and nonliving resources in a given area. Organisms interact with each other and with other components of an ecosystem.
    • 5.4.8.G.2 – Investigations of environmental issues address underlying scientific causes and may inform possible solutions.

Support of Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core English/Language Arts and Math:

Next Generation Science Standards:

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems, MS-LS1-6 – Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions – Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future. LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms – Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use.PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life – The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules (sugars) requires an energy input (i.e., from sunlight) to occur. In this reaction, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbon-based organic molecules and release oxygen. Energy and Matter – Within a natural system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter.

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems, MS-LS2-1 – Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Analyzing and Interpreting Data – Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena. LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems – Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors.LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems – In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other for limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction.LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems – Growth of organisms and population increases are limited by access to resources. Cause and Effect – Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems, MS-LS2-4 – Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Engaging in Argument from Evidence – Construct an oral and written argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem. LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience – Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time. Disruptions to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its populations. Stability and Change – Small changes in one part of a system might cause large changes in another part.

English Language Arts:

WHST.6-8.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
WHST.6-8.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
RST.6-8.7 Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).

Mathematics:

MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
6.EE.C.9 Use variables to represent two quantities in a real-world problem that change in relationship to one another; write an equation to express one quantity, thought of as the dependent variable, in terms of the other quantity, thought of as the independent variable. Analyze the relationship between the dependent and independent variables using graphs and tables, and relate these to the equation.

Ocean Literacy: Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts Addressed:

  • 5 – The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.

High School Students (April 11th): Hot and Acidic Krill: Climate Change in Antarctica

Motivating Questions: How do scientists study the influence of climate change in Antarctica? How are ocean organisms impacted by climate change?

Before Attending the Event:

In-class activities: Students will complete a lesson in their classroom prior to attending the event. The lesson is expected to take one 45-minute class period.

Students Investigations: (in groups of 6 or less students)

  • Students will design and conduct an investigation (experiment) about climate change impacts on the ocean, ocean acidification, and/or plankton in groups no larger than 6 students.
    • Student groups should choose a question to answer with their investigation, as questions drive all of the work done in science.
    • Some overarching questions to have your students consider when developing their science question, and thus designing their investigation, are:
      • What are some of the known impacts of climate change on the ocean? On ocean organisms? On land? On land organisms? How could you design an experiment to test those impacts?
      • What are some of the impacts of ocean acidification on organisms? How could you design an experiment to test those impacts?
    • Some seed questions you can pose to your students if they are having a difficult time coming up with a science investigation are: (* Note – if your students are still struggling to come up with a topic, contact Kristin for further assistance. *)
      • What are the impacts of temperature, pH, or other variables on the survival and growth of organisms?
      • What are the impacts of varying levels of temperature, pH, or other variables on the survival and growth of organisms?
      • What are the effects of increased acidity on the structure of organisms?
      • What are the effects of increased carbon dioxide on water chemistry?
  • Student groups will make posters about their research project to present at Rutgers Ocean Day (see Poster Information section for more information and support materials).

Event Agenda:
** Note the Rutgers Ocean Day event runs from 10:00am – 1:30pm. Please plan accordingly when setting up your transportation, permissions, etc. **

  • 10:00 – Arrive and check-in
  • 10:15 – Welcome
  • 10:30 – Student Poster Presentations
  • 11:00 – Lunch
  • 11:30 – Activity Stations
  • 12:30 – Scientist Presentation
  • 1:15 – Debrief and Evaluations
  • 1:30 – Good-byes

NJ Core Curriculum Content – Science Standards Addressed:

  • Science Practices: Understand Scientific Explanations
    • 5.1.12.A.2 – Interpretation and manipulation of evidence-based models are used to build and critique arguments/explanations.
    • 5.1.12.A.3 – Revisions of predictions and explanations are based on systematic observations, accurate measurements, and structured data/evidence.
  • Science Practices: Generate Scientific Evidence Through Active Investigations
    • 5.1.12.B.1 – Logically designed investigations are needed in order to generate the evidence required to build and refine models and explanations.
    • 5.1.12.B.2 – Mathematical tools and technology are used to gather, analyze, and communicate results.
    • 5.1.12.B.3 – Empirical evidence is used to construct and defend arguments.
    • 5.1.12.B.4 – Scientific reasoning is used to evaluate and interpret data patterns and scientific conclusions.
  • Science Practices: Reflect on Scientific Knowledge
    • 5.1.12.C.2 – Data and refined models are used to revise predictions and explanations.
  • Science Practices: Participate Productively in Science
    • 5.1.12.D.1 – Science involves practicing productive social interactions with peers, such as partner talk, whole-group discussions, and small-group work.
    • 5.1.12.D.2 – Science involves using language, both oral and written, as a tool for making thinking public.
  • Physical Science: Properties of Matter
    • 5.2.12.A.6 – Acids and bases are important in numerous chemical processes that occur around us, from industrial to biological processes, from the laboratory to the environment.
  • Life Science: Organization and Development
    • 5.3.12.A.3 – Cellular function is maintained through the regulation of cellular processes in response to internal and external environmental conditions.
  • Life Science: Interdependence
    • 5.3.12.C.1 – Biological communities in ecosystems are based on stable interrelationships and interdependence of organisms.
    • 5.3.12.C.2 – Stability in an ecosystem can be disrupted by natural or human interactions.
  • Earth Systems Science:
    • 5.4.12.C.1 – Soils are at the interface of the Earth systems, linking together the biosphere, geosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere.
  • Earth Systems Science: Climate and Weather
    • 5.4.12.F.2 – Climate is determined by energy transfer from the Sun at and news Earth’s surface…Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, also affect the global climate.
  • Earth Systems Science: Biogeochemical Cycles
    • 5.4.12.G.3 – Movement of matter through Earth’s system is driven by Earth’s internal and external sources of energy and results in changes in the physical and chemical properties of matter.
    • 5.4.12.G.5 – Human activities have changed Earth’s land, ocean, and atmosphere, as well as its populations of plant and animal species.

Support of Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core English/Language Arts and Math:

Next Generation Science Standards:

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems, HS-LS2-6 – Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Engaging in Argument from Evidence – Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind currently accepted explanations or solutions to determine the merits of arguments. LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience – A complex set of interactions within an ecosystem can keep its numbers and types of organisms relatively constant over long periods of time under stable conditions. If a modest biological or physical disturbance to an ecosystem occurs, it may return to its more or less original status (i.e., the ecosystem is resilient), as opposed to becoming a very different ecosystem. Extreme fluctuations in conditions or the size of any population, however, can challenge the functioning of ecosystems in terms of resources and habitat availability. Stability and Change – Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable.

Natural Selection and Evolution, HS-LS4-5 – Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Engaging in Argument from Evidence – Evaluate the evidence behind currently accepted explanations or solutions to determine the merits of arguments. LS4.C: Adaptation – Changes in the physical environment, whether naturally occurring or human induced, have thus contributed to the expansion of some species, the emergence of new distinct species as populations diverge under different conditions, and the decline–and sometimes the extinction–of some species.LS4.C: Adaptation – Species become extinct because they can no longer survive and reproduce in their altered environment. If members cannot adjust to change that is too fast or drastic, the opportunity for the species’ evolution is lost. Cause and Effect – Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.

Earth’s Systems, HS-ESS2-2 – Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth’s surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Analyzing and Interpreting Data – Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution. ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems – Earth’s systems, being dynamic and interacting, cause feedback effects that can increase or decrease the original changes.ESS2.D: Weather and Climate – The foundation for Earth’s global climate systems is the electromagnetic radiation from the sun, as well as its reflection, absorption, storage, and redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and land systems, and this energy’s re-radiation into space. Stability and Change – Feedback (negative or positive) can stabilize or destabilize a system.

Weather and Climate, HS-ESS3-5 – Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.

Science & Engineering Practice

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts
Analyzing and Interpreting Data – Analyze data using computational models in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims. ESS3.D: Global Climate Change – Though the magnitudes of human impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human abilities to model, predict, and manage current and future impacts. Stability and Change – Change and rates of change can be quantified and modeled over very short or very long periods of time. Some system changes are irreversible.

English Language Arts:

RST.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data, video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
RST.11-12.8 Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information.
WHST.9-12.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Mathematics:

MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
HSS-ID.A.1 Represent data with plots on the real number line.
HSS-IC.A.1 Understand statistics as a process for making inferences about population parameters based on a random sample from that population.
HSN.Q.A.1 Use units as a way to understand problems and to guide the solution of multi-step problems; choose and interpret units consistently in formulas; choose and interpret the scale and the origin in graphs and data displays.

Ocean Literacy: Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts Addressed:

  • 3 – The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate.
  • 5 – The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.

Student Investigations:

* Students will work in groups no larger than 5 to conduct their investigations, prepare their posters, and present their results. *

Scientific Investigations:

Wordle from ROD Teacher Workshop “Science Investigation Brainstorm” (black background, white background).

Good Resources for Science Investigations & Asking Questions (bibliography):

  • STEM Student Research Handbook by Darci Harland (2011) NSTA Press. A good description of how to design a STEM research project, develop a hypothesis and background questions to drive the research project. (Getting Started with STEM Research)
  • Translating the NGSS for Classroom Instruction by Rodger W. Bybee (2013) NSTA Press.
  • Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions by Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana (2011) Harvard Education Press.
  • “Planning and Carrying Out Investigations” The Science Teacher (February 2014) NSTA Press. 81:2.
  • Ready, Set, Science: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms – Learning from Science Investigations by Sarah Michaels, Andrew W. Shouse, and Heidi A. Schweingruber (2007) National Research Council (available for a free download or to purchase a paperback copy at the National Academies Press website)

We have compiled some resources to assist you and your students in conducting scientific investigations.

Student Poster Presentations:

Students will work in groups of 2-5 students. Each group will develop and present a presentation on their investigations 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.

** Students should work in groups no larger than 5 for conducting their investigations and preparing/presenting their presentations. **

All posters will be presented during the Science Expo. Each class/club will have an area of the meeting room to set up all of the displays from their different student groups. Members of the class/club will rotate through presenting their investigation and observing other students’ investigations.

Poster Information:

• Poster Information Packet
• Poster Entry Form
• Poster Rubric
• Download the Sample Poster

Important Forms:

Students NEED to bring their own lunches to the event.

Photo Release Form  – needs to be completed by every parent and brought to the event.

By March 25th you will need to submit:

  • Poster Entry Form
  • Number of students attending
  • Information about if you are bringing buses vs. cars and how many vehicles to the event.

How Rutgers Ocean Days work:

1) In order to keep the price FREE for this event and to offer the program to as many students as possible, we require that you submit a letter from your building administrator as a formal commitment to participating and attending the FREE event to reserve your spot in the event. Letters should be sent to: Kristin Hunter-Thomson, Institute of Marine & Coastal Sciences, 71 Dudley Rd., Rm 103, New Brunswick, NJ 08901.

2) We want to make the experience of interacting with Rutgers University scientists as meaningful as possible for you and your students.  Therefore, we are limiting the number of total participating students at the event to 120 students.

3) However, we want to offer the program to as many schools as possible. Therefore, each school may bring up to 30 students to participate in the program.

What do I need to do as a teacher to have my students participate in Rutgers Ocean Days:

1) We require that you submit a letter from your building administrator as a formal commitment to participating and attending the FREE event to reserve your spot in the event. Letters should be sent to: Kristin Hunter-Thomson, Institute of Marine & Coastal Sciences, 71 Dudley Rd., Rm 103, New Brunswick, NJ 08901.

2) All participating teachers must attend a ROD 2014 Teacher Workshop on February 8, 2014 (snow date February 15, 2014) from 10am to 2pm to review an overview of Rutgers Ocean Days agenda (by grade band), an outline of student expectations for the events, and an exploration of the in-class activities that you will run with your students.

The event will be hosted at the Institute of Marine & Coastal Sciences (71 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ). As we get closer to the date we will send additional information (e.g., parking permit, maps, directions).

3) Have fun supporting your students becoming scientists and ask us for help in making the experience as best as possible for your students!

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