Curated OER
Hydrothermal Vent Challenge
Give our ocean voyagers the "Hydrothermal Vent Challenge!" It is a worksheet that guides them through an exploration of hydrothermal vents and the chemical reactions that occur when lava meets seawater. Using a collection of websites,...
Curated OER
Hydrothermal Vent Challenge
Students discover common features of hydrothermal vent fluids. They use this knowledge to locate possible undiscovered hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.
Curated OER
Towers of the Lost City
Middle school marine scientists compare the pH change in distilled and saltwater as acetic acid is added one drop at a time. Then they compare the pH change in both when sodium hydroxide is added. This experiment demonstrates the...
NOAA
Lost City Chemistry Detectives
In 1977, scientists discovered hot springs in the middle of deep, cold ocean waters near the Galapagos Islands. Scholars research the chemical reactions that explain what scientists found at the Lost City. A discussion connects many...
NOAA
The Oceanographic Yo-yo
How does chemistry help deep-sea explorers? Part four of a five-part series of lessons from aboard the Okeanos Explorer introduces middle school scientists to technologies used in ocean exploration. Groups work together to analyze data...
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Mystery of the Megaplume
Read through the extensive background information and then lead your geology or physical oceanography class through an investigation of actual temperature anomaly data from the Juan de Fuca ridge. They translate the data onto a plot,...
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The Tell-Tale Plume
Students examine hydrothermal vents. In this ocean lesson, students identify changes in physical and chemical properties of sea water caused by hydrothermal vents.
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Yo-Yos, Tow-Yos and pH, Oh My!
Pupils explore how hydrothermal vents are formed and where they are located on the ocean floor. They study how scientists use CTDs to locate hydrothermal vents.
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The Big Balancing Act
Students describe chemical changes occurring in hydrothermal circulation systems. They make inferences about the significance of these systems to ocean chemical balance compared to terrestrial runoff.
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Strange Bugs
As individuals or in small groups, marine biologists research and discuss archaea and their unusual behavior as compared to bacteria. Teach them about the chemical makeup of the cell membrane of these strange organisms. This complex...
NOAA
Where There's Smoke, There's ...
A remotely operated vehicle approaching a volcano was engulfed by molten sulfur where the plumes of fluids contained the highest concentrations of aluminum ever recorded. This isn't science fiction or an April fools joke, though it did...
Curated OER
Where There's Smoke......
Students use fundamental relationships between melting points, boiling points, solubility, temperature and pressure to develop explanations. In this chemistry lesson plan students complete an activity.
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Let's Make a Tubeworm!
Students discuss deep-sea chemosynthetic communities then create a poster of a three-dimensional tubeworm. In this creative lesson students create their own tubeworm and write a written report on it.
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Precipitates and Black Smokers
Students discuss how hydrothermal fluid is different from seawater and what happens to it as it passes through the oceanic crust. They observe and manipulate calcuim chloride and baking soda to comprehend how precipates form.
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Reduced Fare
Students discover the relationship between tectonic plate boundaries and the communities of life that thrive at such boundaries. In this biology lesson, students find that methane from oxidized carbon in sediments provides nutrients for...
Curated OER
What is Biocomplexity?
Students dicuss different aspects of biocomplexity. They demonstrate synthesis of complex concepts by creating before and after posters expressing how the concepts of biocomplexity have ben internalized. Students define the term...
Curated OER
The Chemosynthetic Cafe
Students study photosynthesis and chemosynthesis. In this chemosynthetic instructional activity students explain the processes of these and define terms.
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Biochemistry Detectives
Students explore the process of chemosynthesis and relate it to the biological communities in cold seeps. In this biochemistry lesson students interpret analyses of enzyme activity and draw inferences about organisms in cold seep...
Curated OER
Rock Eaters of the Gulf of Alaska
Students compare and contrast the processes of photosynthesis and chemosynthesis. They identify and describe sources of energy used by various organisms for chemosynthesis.