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Cal-Echoes Research & Outreach Cruise
Cal-Echoes crew
Achievement/Results
IGERT Trainees Ben Fissel, Summer Martin, Nuri “Tessa” Pierce, and PI Dick Norris participated in a nine-day research cruise aboard the R/V Melville (September 25 – October 3, 2010). The Cal-Echoes cruise combined science at sea with science in the classroom. Twenty-five researchers and ten educators traveled along the coast of Southern California. They explored the present-day marine and coastal ecosystems and how they have changed over the past 15,000 years. The project was developed to engage and inspire both teachers and students to learn about the ocean, use oceanography as a tool to explore interdisciplinary topics, and engage in their own science at school and through science fairs. The major goal was to share the experience in a way that could be recreated in classrooms at many times to allow students to see the whole process of science from cruise planning, the trip and then back on shore. Before the cruise, classrooms in Ohio sent in descriptions, artwork and video about what they thought the cruise would be like. High school students sent essays on the same subject. All are posted on line. Educational materials were organized into five daily learning themes. The group created photo albums of how the samples were taken, the organisms collected and life on the ship. They interacted with classrooms through blogs and tweets during and after the cruise. The journey can be relived and explored at http://calechoes.ucsd.edu.
As a multi-disciplinary and collaborative research expedition, this cruise is ideal for high school classrooms to show the interactions of biology, chemistry, physics, math, economics, history, and social science. All materials created are available updates and new materials continue to be shared through the Cal-Echoes blog (http://calechoes.wordpress.com)
Science Goals
Explore the modern ecology and community dynamics of southern California’s marine and coastal ecosystems. Investigate the past to find out why the ocean looks the way it does today and make predictions for the future. Create awareness for our changing ocean and coast, and how these changes will affect humans – particularly concerning where we live, what we eat, and how we can care for the natural world around us.
Education Goals
Bring the experience of being at sea to classroom. Develop a stronger connection between Scripps Institutition of Oceanography and middle and high school classrooms Create an electronic and physical education collection. Be a resource for lesson planning, science fair projects, and future educational initiatives. Excite teachers and students to learn more about the ocean!
Address Goals
This activities sees to engage and inspire both teachers and K-12 students to learn about the ocean, use oceanography as a tool to explore interdisciplinary topics and engage in their own science at school and through science fairs.
The journey can be relived and explored, through the website, blogs, tweets and video. (http://calechoes.wordpress.com)
