Zephyr Education Foundation is proud to announce the launch of our new Ocean Scientist Program, which integrates the invaluable hands-on learning environment of a nearshore oceanographic cruise with follow-up web-based classroom activities for your school. Our new Ocean Scientist Program curriculum is designed with a clear set of tasks for your students to bring what they’ve learned in the field, back into the classroom. Using the Aecern online educational teaching platform, our Ocean Scientist Program curriculum meets Next Generation Science Standards for middle school Life Sciences Ecology (MS-LS1-5, LS1-6, LS2-1, LS2-2, LS2-3, & LS2-4).
How It Works
Students enjoy the hands-on learning environment of a nearshore oceanographic cruise in Vineyard Sound near Woods Hole, MA. Students participate in using oceanographic sampling equipment, including an oceanographic mooring and data loggers, a towed camera array and dredge, and plankton nets to create a data-driven ecological picture of nearshore biological communities, just as professional scientists do. Students collect data themselves using their own smart-phone or iPads equipped with our downloaded app (devices available from Zephyr upon request.) Back on shore, students venture into WHOI’s working seawater lab where they get up close and personal with local marine animals to learn how scientists answer questions about marine organisms in a controlled laboratory setting.
Following the Zephyr field trip, teachers will have access to continued learning with student’s own data using the Aecern Discovery Hub and a standards-aligned curriculum. The curriculum is designed to integrate the hands-on work that students perform in the field to answer scientific questions about populations of organisms in eelgrass habitat, nutrient cycling and photosynthesis in the oceanic environment, connections between land and ocean ecosystems, and human impacts on those environments.
Zephyr’s Ocean Scientist Program connects students with real-world science that captivates their curiosity about the natural world, paving the way for future learning and STEM careers. Ocean Scientist empowers young students to ask insightful scientific questions and engage as stewards of their ocean.
Benefits for teachers include:
* Optional pre-trip videos to prepare your students for the Zephyr field trip
* Easy to implement curriculum for Middle School NGSS Life Science Ecology
* Integration of real data collected in the field with interactive classroom learning
* Field data is collected using student’s own smart-phones or iPads (devices available from Zephyr upon request.)
* Teachers have complete control of screening and using student data
* Comparison of class data with real oceanographic data from scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
* Comparative data with other Zephyr school trips
* Customizable; our educators are happy to discuss options to help tailor your experience for your class
The Ocean Scientist Program is designed with teachers in mind. We suggest it be used in order from pre-trip videos, through the field trip, and post-trip classroom activities. Zephyr will provide Ocean Scientist Program resources and step-by-step instructions at no charge when you sign up for your class field trip, and here on this web page when our 2015 field trip season begins. Teachers are more than welcome to use all, or any part of our Ocean Scientist Program curriculum. Please check back for our full curriculum and resources beginning in late March 2015.