Ship2Shore with Grade 3 students in New York State

Last week Maia and I had a virtual presentation with educators in three different cities in New York State. On June 20, at 6am we connected to the Watkins Glen Elementary School in New York State. There were 40 students from two Grade 3 classes. The distance learning lesson started on deck by showing the Pacific ocean from deck. The kids met ROPOS; they viewed his hands and eyes from close-up. Then, we moved into the ROPOS control room, and the children saw how ROPOS is controlled with a joy stick by a team of four pilots: three for controlling the hands and ROPOS itself, plus one for navigating.

Then we talked about pressure: how pressure works differently in solids versus liquids. When we apply force to a solid object, the pressure is local. For example, I had the children press their fingers to their hands so they could feel that the pressure is applied in one place. However, when that object is in water, the water applies pressure all around the object. For example, if we send a styrofoam cup to the deep ocean, the pressure will be applied all around it and the cup will be compressed from all directions equally. To demonstrate this, I showed students a regular styrofoam cup and also one that had been compressed to half its height by the pressure of the deep ocean.

A regular size and a compressed styrofoam cup 

Deep sea researchers like to write and paint on these cups for their family and friends. I showed the Grade 3 students an example of a compressed cup painted as a neat graduation gift. I was planning to paint cups for the two classes as mementos of our Pacific to Atlantic coast virtual class. I asked them what they want me to paint on the cups… killer whales it is:) So, I painted one cup for each class.

It was so much fun to paint cups for those wonderful children

Each cup had the school name (Watkins Glen), the names of the students, a killer whale, and "Pacific Ocean @ 2660m". These cups were sent into the deep ocean--they're being compressed as I am writing this--and they will be mailed to the teachers, Mrs. Brittany Wickham and Mrs. Cheryl Hazlitt. During our session, the kids also met with our freshly retrieved tubeworms, which live around hydrothermal vents in high pressure, high temperature and dark.

It was so fascinating to connect with the kids from Watkins Glen Elementary School. They were so enthusiastic! They asked very smart questions such as, what eats the tubeworms and what happens if we send a human being to the depths where ROPOS can go.

It really was a cheerful and enjoyable session. It was great to connect with children on the other side of the continent. We received a warm and happy email from the K-12 Program Manager for NYSERNet (New York State Education and Research Network), saying "we will make NEPTUNE Canada a household name in New York." As our next collaboration with NYSERNet, we will do a remote presentation at the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Conference on June 26, 2012, introducing NEPTUNE Canada and the Ship2Shore Marine Educator Program.

Goksenin Sen
Marine Educator