This is the first of a three part series of investigations of major ocean processes using salinity as an example. A cross section of the Atlantic running north to south, from 65N to 75S, and running from the surface to a depth of 5,000 meters shows the salinty structure of the ocean. In this investigation students create a color code for salinity values and colorize the cross section. The analytical prompts lead students to a discovery of the major ocean water masses and the physical mechanisms behind the vertical and horizontal structure of the sea. This is the second of a three part series of investigations of major ocean processes using salinity as an example.
Students plot the data on a complex line graph using dual y-axes.
This is the third, and most complex, of a three part series that investigate ocean processes using salinity as an example. In 1990 about 60,000 Nike sneakers were washed overboard in rough seas. As the years rolled by the sneakers washed up at various locations around the north Pacific. In this investigation the location of the original spill and the locations of their landfalls are plotted on a map of the Pacific. The analytical prompts make use of the dates and distances of travel to calculate the speed and direction of the major surface currents in the north Pacific gyre.