Science Under the Sea: Philippe Cousteau Live from Aquarius
Science Under the Sea
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Teacher's Guide
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Science Under the Sea is produced by a consortium of organizations including the University of North Carolina and EarthEcho International. Credits
Watch webcasts from the coral reef off the Florida Keys, 50 feet under water, live in your classroom — and integrate them into your beginning-of-the-year curriculum.
On August 25 and 26, North Carolina high school and middle school students will meet with marine scientists from UNC-Chapel Hill to learn about coral reefs. What makes this meeting unusual? The scientists will be located under fifty feet of water in Aquarius, the only working underwater lab in the world. While the professors and graduate students dive and conduct research there for two weeks, the students will be able to contribute to the mission by designing experiments, and by participating in a web-based video conference with the "aquanauts." This live link-up will allow the students to interact with the researchers while they are diving on the reef, and to ask questions about oceanographic research and the Aquarius facility.
The links at left will take you to the webcast schedule, information about Aquarius, technical requirements, and resources for teachers and students.
Aquarius
Aquarius is located 3.5 miles offshore of Key Largo and rests on the sea floor, 63 feet deep. It is run by the National Undersea Research Center associated with UNC-Wilmington, and is owned by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). During Aquarius missions, divers do not return to the surface after each dive, but to the confines of the Aquarius facility, where they eat, sleep and plan for the next dive's adventures. NOAA has added two extra days to the August mission in order to support this unique educational outreach project.
Science and classrooms
From the UNC team, marine scientists Drs. Chris Martens and John Bruno and their graduate students will be leading the scientific outreach effort as they research corals and sponges, the two most common organisms on the reef. They aim to better understand the interactions between sponges, nutrients, and coral reef health. As they conduct their experiments, Phillipe Cousteau (grandson of Jacques Cousteau), president of Earth Echo International, will chronicle their studies of reef ecology and chemistry in a short documentary film, and will also facilitate the live internet link-up with the North Carolina students. In addition, LEARN NC, North Carolina teachers, and the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center are working with the group to integrate North Carolina curriculum goals into the project activities. This innovative collaboration will bring current scientific research into North Carolina classrooms, cultivating interest in science among students and educating the public about the global crisis of coral reef decline.
According to the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), 24 percent of the world's coral reefs are in imminent danger of collapse, especially in the Caribbean, where 56 percent of reefs were determined to be in "critical" condition. This decline is detrimental for marine life, but also for the communities of people who depend on coral reefs for food, tourism income, and other resources. The 2004 GCRMN report states that human activities are still the primary driver of coral reef decline, and that better management practices are desperately needed in order to reverse this trend.
Get involved
Teachers and students can watch the webcasts live in their classrooms on August 25 and 26. To provide an educational context, LEARN NC and North Carolina educators have developed resources for teachers, including a teacher's guide, student field guides, and additional content. The links at left will provide you with more information.
