Physical oceanography in the classroom: interactive and relevant

In today's world there is a growing awareness that the oceans play a major role in weather and climate, and that understanding the oceans is crucial. Tools are now available enabling teachers to bring physical oceanography into the classroom through a series of engaging activities that fit within the National Education Standards. One such tool is a CD-ROM, 'Visit to an Ocean Planet,' produced by the TOPEX/Poseidon project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on behalf of a mission jointly managed by NASA and CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale - the French space agency). The CD-ROM complements other materials, including posters, activities such as 'Make an El Niño pudding', a coloring book, a suite of brochures and lithographs, and slides. Many of the hard-copy materials are also available on the web. Materials and activities are designed such that relatively complex oceanographic and climatic events such as El Niño and La Niña can be demonstrated and understood though basic concepts and inquiry.

The 'Visit to an Ocean Planet' CD-ROM is designed for middle school science students but it can be used at many levels including the university undergraduate level. The CD-ROM is divided into three sections, the 'mission' which concentrates on basics of satellites, orbits, measurement systems and the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite, a 'guide' which contains teaching materials in ocean sciences, and 'expeditions' which contains exploratory material. These sections provide a first hand look into the world of science, engineering and research principles as well as conveying basic science concepts. The 'guide' section contains teaching materials ready for direct import into the class. They consist of background materials, classroom activities, movies and images for three topics: climate, oceans, and life. Within each topic, materials are provided for the themes of measurements, systems and interactions, process and change, human interactions, scale and structure, and energy. Guidelines are provided that show how the material is aligned with the National Education Standards. The 'expedition' section allows students to interactively plan a scientific expedition, to the Gulf of Mexico, based on real data from a variety of oceanographic satellites. Also in this section, students can investigate oceanography as a career by following the studies of a group of contemporary oceanographers. A unit on El Niño completes this section.

The 'Visit to an Ocean Planet' CD-ROM, and most educational materials are available through the web at http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov or by contacting topex@jpl.nasa.gov. Packages of materials are available for workshops from topex@jpl.nasa.gov. Most materials are free of charge in an effort to make them available to all educators.