**Students Win "Bragging Rights," For Choosing**

**\"Los huellos\" (Footprints) As Name For Two Undersea Calderas.**

When ocean explorers at sea on an ocean expedition asked for help from
students to name a pair of undersea calderas in the Pacific Ocean near
the Galapagos spreading zone, school classes from across the nation
submitted votes for one of six names suggested by the explorers. The
winning name is \"Los huellos,\" (footprints).  Calderas are large
underwater craters formed by a volcanic explosion or the collapse of a
volcanic cone.

Students in classes that selected the winning name now have \"name
bragging rights.\" They include students in:

-   Ms. Leigh Zinskie\'s 4th period Earth Science class (6^th^ grade) at
    Needwood Middle School in Brunswick, Georgia.

-   Ms. Mary LeJeune\'s Earth Science class (8^th^ grade) at Berwick
    Junior High in Berwick, Louisiana

-   Ms. Anna Butler\'s 1^st^ period and 6^th^ period Life Science
    classes (7^th^ grade) at Lakeside Junior High in Orange Park,
    Florida.

-   Ms. Cathy Webb\'s class at Edmonds Homeschool Resource Center,
    Edmonds, Washington where Ms. Webb\'s students reported the
    craters\' outlines and positions resemble footprints.

-   Ms. Joy Higgins' classes in College Biology (10^th^ grade and Period
    4), and in Anatomy and Physiology (10^th^ grade) at Rockland High
    School in Rockland, Massachusetts where students thought the
    calderas looked like footprints as seen left along a beach.

-   Ms. Tanya Speyrer\'s Environmental Science class (11-12 grades) at
    Bastrop High School in Bastrop, Louisiana. Students there felt that
    the calderas looked like two footprints and that footprints indicate
    something has come and something has left\--a full cycle, like the
    life of a volcano.

-   Ms. Vicki Soutar\'s class in Oceanography (11-12 grades) at Oconee
    County High School in Watkinsville, Georgia. After viewing the sonar
    image of the calderas, her students felt that the calderas looked
    like a giant\'s footprint.

-   Mr. John Dello Russo\'s Environment I class (11^th^ grade) at
    Greater Lawrence Technical School in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where
    his students thought the calderas reminded them of the achievements
    of the first steps, or footprints left behind on the moon and its
    correlation to the mysteries of our magnificent ocean depths.

-   Ms. Carol Bayless' 1^st^ period Earth Science class (8^th^ grade) at
    Creekland Middle School in Lawrenceville, Georgia

-   Ms. Mina Marsden's, Aquatic Science & Independent  Study classes
    (10-12 grades) at Roosevelt High School in San Antonio, Texas\
              \
    Teachers were asked to have classes review coverage of the ocean
    exploration at sea, by visiting the mission named, "Galapagos: Where
    Ridge Meets Hotspot," at
    <http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/05galapagos/> The
    mission is sponsored by NOAA and the National Science Foundation. By
    reading the daily logs from scientists at sea and other sections of
    NOAA's Ocean Explorer Web coverage, students become virtual
    explorers on the mission. Scientist-explorers mapped two underwater
    calderas that were previously discovered, but not yet named. A sonar
    map of the calderas is at:
    <http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/05galapagos/logs/dec5/media/las_calderas_max_600.html>.

Classes were invited to choose their favorite from these possible names:
Hot Feet, Snake Eyes, Moon Boots, Spectacles, Los gemelos (Twins) and
Los huellos (Footprints). The single name covers both calderas. While
"Los huellos," received the greatest number of votes, \"Snake Eyes,\"
and "Moon Boots" were nearly tied for second most popular choice.\
\
\"Snake Eyes,\" was the choice of Mrs. Leigh Zinskie\'s Earth Science
classes in 1st, 2^nd^ and 3^rd^ periods (6^th^ grade) at  Needwood
Middle School in Brunswick, Georgia. Also choosing \"Snake Eyes,\" were
students in Ms. Kristen English and Ms. Jeanne Schultz's 3^rd^ period
Earth Science class (6^th^ grade), at Haynes Bridge Middle School in
Alpharetta, Georgia. Ms. Lauer\'s 2^nd^ period (8^th^ grade) Earth
Science class at East Columbus Magnet Academy in Columbus, Georgia chose
\"Snake Eyes\" for the name of the caldera, because \"they look oval
like a snake\'s eyes,\" and Ms. Delilah Stemke\'s Enrichment
After-School GATE Science class named Science Odessey (6-8 grades), at
Redwood Middle School in Napa, California also voted for \"Snake Eyes\"
because of the look of the calderas on the sonar image. Ms. Christina
Marks' G&T Science class (5^th^ grade) at Wm. H. Ross School in Margate,
New Jersey, chose "Snake Eyes," because students thought it looked like
a snake's eyes staring at them.

\"Moon Boots,\" was selected by Ms. Chantelle Rose\'s class in Physical
Science (9-12 grades) at Graham High School in St. Paris, Ohio. \"My
students selected \'Moon Boots\' because they felt the calderas reminded
them of the steps Neil Armstrong immortalized at the Sea of
Tranquility on July 20, 1969.  I am an enthusiastic space 'geek' and it
has rubbed off on my students.  It is also neat to have a connection
between the two final frontiers\...space and the deep ocean!,\" she
said. \"Moon Boots\" was also the choice of Anna Butler\'s 3^rd^ and
5^th^ period Advanced Life Science classes (7^th^ grade), at Lakeside
Junior High in Orange Park, Florida, while her 2^nd^ period class voted
for \"Hot Feet.\" Ms.Carol Bayless' 2^nd^ period Earth Science class at
Creekland Middle School in Lawrenceville, Georgia chose "Moon Boots,"
while her 3rd and 4th period classes chose "Los gemelos."

Mr. Mark Tohulka\'s Honors Marine Science class (10-12 grades) at MAST
Academy High School in Miami chose \"Hot Feet,\" because students liked
the reference to \"heat\" for volcanic features, as well as the
remarkable resemblance to footprints. Also choosing \"Hot Feet\" was Ms.
Jeanne Schultz's 4^th^ Period Earth Science class (6th grade) at Haynes
Bridge Middle School in Alpharetta, Georgia "Hot Feet," was selected by
Ms. Mellie Lewis' Science class (5^th^ grade) at Atholton Elementary
School in Columbia, Maryland because students there thought the calderas
looked like two footprints in a very hot environment.

Ms. Cindy Drouhard\'s Life Science class (6^th^ grade) at Calapooia
Middle School in Albany, Oregon selected the name \"Spectacles,\"
because students thought the pair of calderas looked like glasses and
that it was a fun name.. Ms. Drouhard\'s 4^th^ period Earth Science
class (8^th^ grade) voted for \"Moon Boots,\" because students thought
that the ridges on the bottom of the boots are similar to what the
topography looks like surrounding the caldera. Also, it was stated that
Napoleon Dynamite wore moon boots and he is thought to be a great
American hero. Her 8^th^ grade Earth Science class thought the calderas
looked like footsteps or a shoeprint and that \"Moon Boots,\" is a cool
name. Different name, but same reason\--\"Snake Eyes\" was the choice of
Ms. Drouhard\'s 6^th^ period Life Science class (6^th^ Grade) because
they thought it was a cool name. Ms. Drouhard\'s 8^th^ period 8^th^
grade Earth Science class voted for "Los gemelos (twins)" because
students believed a Spanish name should be used. \"Los gemelos\" was
also the choice of  Chris Upton\'s Biology class (10^th^ grade) at
American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, Connecticut. And students
in Ms. Christine Kerrigan\'s 4^th^ grade class at Campbell Park
Elementary, in St. Petersburg, Florida selected Los gemelos because they
have identical twins, one in Ms. Kerrigan\'s class and one in the other
4^th^ grade class.\