Cruise Dates: April 23 - May 14, 2005
Web site: www.ridge2000.org/SEAS/seas.html
Would you like to bring deep-sea research and authentic student
inquiry into your middle and high school science classroom?
Want your students to understand what is happening in the deep ocean?
If so, please join the Student Experiments at Sea (SEAS) program
on its next research cruise, April 23 - May 14.
SEAS is a web-based program where students become the scientists
and see their questions answered as their own experiments "go
to sea". Through the SEAS program, students study mid-ocean
ridge systems, develop proposals for experiments, observe (via the
web portal) as experiments are conducted at sea, analyze genuine
data, and submit their own reports as part of the Student Report
Competition. SEAS students are invited to participate alongside
ridge scientists as they investigate the mysteries of this extreme
environment.
This year's SEAS cruise will follow four student experiments as
they are conducted aboard a deep-sea research cruise to the East
Pacific. The research team, lead by Ruters' scientists Dr.
Costa Vetriani and Dr. Rich Lutz, will be visiting hydrothermal
vents at 9°N on the East Pacific Rise, and will focus on understanding
the factors responsible for the biological community structure found
at these vents. The student experiments, selected through
a formal proposal competition, will be conducted alongside the scientists'
investigations. This year's student experiments are:
- Crabs' Catch of the Day (deep sea crabs feeding preference)
- Water, Water Everywhere - But Not in Here! (equipment testing at
depth)
- Archea Classification and Temperature
- Tubeworm Distribution (understanding where tubeworms are found and
why)
You and your students are invited to join the excitment aboard
the SEAS Web site (www.ridge2000.org/SEAS/seas.html).
Through this portal, you can observe the experiments as they are
conducted at sea, download and analyze the collected data, and participate
in a student experiment report competition in May/June. A
new feature, the "Classroom
to Sea" Lab, allows students to conduct a laboratory exercise
in their classroom and compare their data to data conducted at sea.
Details are all on the Web.
We hope you'll join us on this exciting adventure. Welcome
Aboard!
SEAS is a pilot program funded by the National Science Foundation
and sponsored by the Ridge 2000 research community (http://www.ridge2000.org/).
For more information on how to participate, visit the SEAS Web site
Teacher page or contact Liz Goehring, Ridge 2000 E&O Coordinator
at exg15@psu.edu.
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