Session Descriptions--nmea 2016 Sessions are listed alphabetically by primary presenter’s last name. Allen

There are two essential topics in any marine science course: Marine Biology and Marine Ecology. Unfortunately they are very difficult to understand together; thus they are commonly taught as 2 (separate) courses. How does an educator reach the audience and cover both topics comprehensively as 1 course (or 1 unit/topic)? I will demonstrate a very effective activity (that participants can then leave with and use themselves!) that will engage students, bolster their sense of exploration, and increase understanding of these topics. Specifically, I will "marry" taxonomy (from marine biology) & ocean zones (from marine ecology) into 1 exercise that ties both the abiotic & biotic realm together and allows the students to gain a unified grasp of the world ocean.

mmarrero3@mercy.edu, @megmarrrero; greely@usf.edu; geraldine.fauville@gu.se, @Gege1979

How do we know if our projects and programs improve the ocean literacy of students, teachers, the public, or other audiences? The current definition of ocean literacy suggests being ocean literate means understanding a body of content knowledge, but also encomapses the ability to communicate about the ocean in a meaningful way and make informed and responsible decisions regarding the ocean and its resources. Moreover, the content of the Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts of Ocean Literacy reaches far beyond science to include history, sociology, the arts and more. Therefore, it is very difficult to develop instruments that truly encompass all aspects of ocean literacy. While the present Ocean Literacy campaign has roots in the United States, the influence is global. Large scale projects in Europe, Canada, Asia and the Pacific utilize the seven (or eight in Japan) Essential Principles, with the Fundamental Concepts adapted to local and regional issues. The overall goal of an ocean literate society is the same, with the consistent issue of reliably assessing our efforts. This session will encourage a discussion of the types of assessments available to measure ocean literacy as well as suggestions for alternative measures. We will also consider how to reliably compare results across countries and cultures and how to base our measures in appropriate conceptual or theoretical frameworks. In this session, we will facilitate a discussion regarding the ways and means to measure ocean literacy. Questions to consider include: What methods can we use to assess ocean literacy? What is the conceptual framework for the current definition of ocean literacy? How do we develop reliable and valid instruments to assess ocean literacy? How do we assess ocean literacy of diverse (e.g., culturally, linguistically, by age, by ability) audiences? What challenges do we face in assessing ocean literacy? What are the next steps? How can we move this conversation forward?

mpmcg@ufl.edu; rffloyd@ufl.edu

“One in a Thousand” is the title of a new sea turtle book (written for a 5th grade reading level). “One in a Thousand” also describes the proportion of sea turtle hatchlings that probably survive to adulthood. The book (featuring illustrations by Dawn Witherington) has ten chapters. Each chapter has an accompanying lesson plan containing hands-on activities for students. Both the book and lesson plans are freely downloadable in pdf format. Topics include sea turtle biology (all seven species), threats to sea turtles (natural and human-related) and sea turtle conservation. Participants in this session will be the first to see the new curriculum and will learn how to access all of the materials. They will get to try out activities including “Food or Plastic?”, “Marine Debris Math” and VIMS’ “Survivor” (using a PowerPoint presentation). The curriculum was written by a team of educators and sea turtle veterinarians. It was supported by a Florida Sea Turtle license plate grant. Two of the authors also wrote a third grade manatee curriculum and fourth grade cetacean curriculum, both of which have been presented at past NMEA conferences.

mpmcg@ufl.edu

Description: The Florida Microplastic Awareness Project (FMAP) is a citizen science project that was funded by a 2015 NOAA Marine Debris Program Outreach and Education Grant. Microplastics are defined as pieces of plastic less than 5 mm in size. Sources include microbeads found in personal care products, fibers from synthetic fabrics and ropes, fragments from larger plastic items, and nurdles (the form in which plastic is shipped to manufacturers.) Many microplastics are thought to get into the ocean through discharge of effluent from wastewater treatment plants. Studies have shown that microplastics can be eaten by many types of filter feeders, including plankton, corals, bivalves and fishes. While there are still many questions related to the impacts of microplastics still to be answered, it is clear that the amount of microplastic in the ocean is increasing each year. The FMAP has two main goals. The first is to have people discover for themselves how abundant microplastics are in their local waters. The second is to educate others about the problem, and what we all can do to reduce our individual contributions to it. Sixteen coordinators around the state of Florida are training volunteers to collect one-liter water samples and analyze them for the presence of microplastics. In this presentation, we will share the protocols, what the data are showing, and some of the resources available on the project’s website. We will also discuss how we all play a role in reducing the problem.

dwalker@scienceeye.com

There are many forms of teaching the various sciences… books, writing papers, research, videos, slide show and so on. Teaching and learning can also be yummy (another time) and physically active. Join me to participate in some active activities. A couple of them are modified from Project Wild and Project Aquatic Wild, a twist on Twister and “nerding up” the old game of tag. Besides the activities we will be quickly going through, other possibilities will be discussed - audience participation is a must! Why reinvent the wheel when it can be modified to suit our individual needs? Join me in turning games and activities into fun, physical activities that get the blood and brain pumping! All activities with work with younger students (K-5), but a couple definitely works with older students (6-12).

mdemetr@BioPhi.org

Participants will have the opportunity to measure evoked responses in shrimp and explore affordable equipment that can be used with a variety of invertebrate organisms. Students have used this set up to explore the effect of pollutants, drugs, and temperature changes in the nervous system activity of shrimp. Higher level thinking skills should be emphasized with gifted learners rather than focusing on content knowledge accumulation. It is critical for gifted learners to learn to create new postulates, to think logically, and to reason rather than to learn strategies to memorize potentially irrelevant facts. In fact, studies have demonstrated that creativity is perhaps the best defining characteristic of successful scientists. This presentation will present an enhanced construct for teaching science to gifted learners in both standalone TAG education classrooms as well as within the general education classroom. Attendees will be able to apply this across a range of grade levels and subjects. Since the common core is designed to include higher level thinking skills, teachers will need a firm foundation in integrating creativity and other higher level thinking skills within science education programs. Science instruction often focuses on content knowledge even though scientific facts are in constant flux with much of what students learning during their precollege years being no longer scientifically accepted by the time they complete college. While the content of science is constantly evolving, science practices such as the ability to ask the right questions and to discern how to investigate and evaluate their findings are long-standing. Since students have few opportunities to design and refine their own experiments, they benefit from guidance in these areas. We have found that it is critical to have students conduct experiments in phases and to allow students to both work in groups to collaborate as part of a research team, and to conduct some studies individually to ensure each student understands the entire experimental design process.

sjames@txstateaq.org

Come learn and experience the story of Tamu Massif, the World’s Largest Single Volcano, through hands-on activities, videos, and a live chat with science team members. Participants will conduct exercises created by Texas State Aquarium (TSA) education professionals and Dr. William Sager, TSA’s STEM Professional in Residence and Chief Scientist during the 36-day Tamu Massif expedition aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor. Tamu Massif is a volcano the size of New Mexico and lurks 6,500 feet beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The science team undertook a survey of immense proportions mapping an area of the ocean bottom nearly 1 million square kilometers in size. Not only were they able to gather new high-resolution acoustic imagery of this little known volcano, but they also collected 1.7 million magnetic measurements to better understand how such a large volcano was formed. In addition to the science objectives, Texas State Aquarium Manager of Distance Learning and Outreach Suraida Nanez-James connected live with over 4000 educators and students across the globe, giving them a taste of science at sea as they journeyed with the team throughout the history-making expedition. Now, all educators have the opportunity to learn the story of Tamu Massif firsthand and share it with their students and colleagues via resources created through researcher-educator collaborations. Participants will conduct an abbreviated lesson using data from the Tamu Massif expedition. They will then have the chance to connect live with a member of the science team for a short Q&A session about the science and importance of the expedition and the lesson being conducted. Lastly, all participants will be given nationally aligned resources needed to conduct more in depth STEM lessons about Tamu Massif.

bonita.nelson@noaa.gov

Two activities will be completed which demonstrate two effects of climate change in the marine environment (ocean acidification and loss of sea ice) by exploring how these changes in the marine environment influences zooplankton and their prey: juvenile salmon and walleye Pollock (“fish-sticks”). An introductory slide show will describe the ecosystem (North Pacific) and problems examined. Ocean acidification is explored by brief introduction to pH, CO2 cycle and effects of acidification on marine invertebrate shells with a hands-on activity using: water, carbonated water, litmus paper, vinegar, blue mussel shells, food coloring, baking soda and Plaster-of Paris. Participants take home hand-outs and mussel shells. Food web dynamics are examined with an brief introduction describing how varying ocean temperatures changes the nutritional quality of zooplankton which leads to differences in the survival of juvenile fish during “warm” and “cool” years. Hands-on activities include paper fish, two types of bite size candy, paper bags, markers, papers and hand-outs.

mcguire@vims.edu, @slm0713

The National Science Foundation's Graduate K-12 Program (GK-12) from 1999 to 2011 established a model for honing graduate student communication and pedagogical skills in science (Stoll and Ortega, 2013). The popularity and efficacy of the concept continues and institutions are seeking ways to continue GK-12 style models (Ufnar, et al., 2012), especially in light of growing emphasis on Broader Impacts efforts. Some new initiatives have come from the grassroots-graduate students themselves, as in North Carolina’s SciREN project. At VIMS, we sought to combine our experiences managing 5 years of a NSF-funded GK-12 project with this grassroots model. The result is VA SEA Virginia Scientists and Educators Alliance. In VIMS’ earlier GK-12 project, the small number of graduate Fellows funded each year spent 280 hours in the classroom where they developed lesson plans with their partner teacher. With VA SEA, we are facilitating lesson plan development by larger numbers of graduate students at lower cost. After a basic workshop in pedagogy and guided by VIMS educators, the graduate students develop a lesson plan based on their research. They don’t have classroom time requirements; instead, their activities are reviewed and tested by project teachers. After teacher-recommended revisions, the graduate students will present their lessons in an expo setting available to teachers state-wide, making these new resources available to a wider audience of teachers. In this session, VIMS educators will demonstrate one of the completed VA SEA lessons, Sea Turtle CSI.

olsene@citrus.k12.fl.us, @MSSCaptOlsen

The Springs Coast Watershed Project: From the Springs to the Gulf seeks to increase student achievement through inquiry, build teaching capacity, provide students with Marine Science Station (MSS) field experiences, and increase community stewardship of Gulf coast environments. The project engages up to 3,100 students per year from the Citrus County School District in Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) and 45 teachers in teacher professional development directly related to the student MWEEs at the MSS. The project MWEE field experiences, labs, and TPD activities are based at the MSS located in Crystal River, FL. Since 1967, the Citrus County School District has continuously operated the MSS as an integrated component of the elementary, middle, and high school science curriculum for Citrus County students. During that time, the facility has been providing Citrus County students with authentic field-based experiences within critical coastal habitats. This project greatly enhances this educational tradition through the use of NOAA resources and could potentially serve as a model for other districts to use for environmental education.

apappantoniou@hcc.commnet.edu

The digitization of natural history collections has become a priority for many museums. Major natural history museums including the American Museum of Natural History and the Chicago Field Museum are investing time and funds to create digital images of their vast holdings. These digital “specimens” will increase access to the collections held by these museums. Some types of studies may require actual specimens but for much research, digital images and their associated field data are sufficient. For many years students taking my marine science class were required to make a labeled collection of local marine life. These physical collections were often cumbersome to make and bring to class. Frequently they were thrown out at the end of the semester or returned back to the student who most likely discarded them. Physical collections are now unnecessary with the almost universal access to smart phones with high-resolution cameras. Students can make digital collections by simply photographing the specimens and they are more likely to save and perhaps share them with friends and family. Odor problems associated with improper cleaning and preservation of actual specimens are also eliminated. With student permission I can also use some of the digital images as teaching materials in my general biology and marine science classes. The collecting site is a local public beach (Seaside Park, Bridgeport, Connecticut). Students are given a checklist of organisms, which I have developed over several years of conducting fieldtrips to this site. The checklist contains the common and scientific names of local marine organisms. It consists mostly of mollusks, crustaceans and seaweeds that are likely to be found washed up on the beach. In addition to the checklist, students are loaned field guides. I use either the Peterson Field Guide to the Atlantic Seashore or a folding guide called The Ultimate Guide to Shells and Beach Life of the New England Coast. The deliverable assessment for this exercise is a 10-slide PowerPoint presentation that each student submits either electronically or in hard copy. Each slide contains a digital image of the organism they photographed, basic locality information, a classification of the organism starting with phylum and going to species and three “interesting facts” about the organism. Students are given a model slide they can use as template for making their own PowerPoint slides. The model slide lends some uniformity to the project and assures that all students put in the same amount of effort in assembling their digital collection. The site of our collecting trip is used for recreation by many of our students. This assignment helps them develop an appreciation of local marine life that goes beyond the classroom.

The activities that comprise restoration aquaculture are nothing new; however the concept of tying them together as a field of study is a more recent development. Exactly what is or is not restoration aquaculture is open for interpretation, although the concept could be broadly defined as culturing aquatic organisms with the explicit purpose of restoring species or habitats. Examining the outcomes of restoration using cultured organisms would also fall within this field of study. Practitioners of restoration aquaculture include anyone engaged in: finfish or shellfish culture for stock enhancement, native coral nursery/garden management, active creation of living shorelines, direct planting of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), active restoration of SAV propeller scars/blowholes, and oyster reef creation through substrate deployment or larval seeding. While not exhaustive, this list is intended to illustrate some of the activities that would be considered restoration aquaculture. Restoration aquaculture has potential as a tractable tool in educational settings because it encompasses concepts from agriculture, ethics, and ecology to name just a few. Such areas of course only build on the basic biology of the aquatic animals and plants underpinning the field, which are fascinating in their own right. This talk will provide greater detail on all of the above, as well as provide examples of activities that are NOT restoration aquaculture and introduce some broader theoretical concepts.

petrone@udel.edu, @seaPetrone

In this ongoing NOAA-funded project, teachers participate in a hands-on investigation across the Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) Peninsula to investigate how we use our watersheds to build our economy and way of life, and how we are preserving and restoring the watersheds of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. During the professional learning opportunity, teachers participated in classroom and field activities meant to increase content knowledge of watersheds and ecosystems (topics found throughout the current Delaware State Standards) and build a skills base that would raise their confidence in taking students outside. Summer workshop activities are aligned to the newly adopted Next Generation Science Standards and were developed under the supervision of the Delaware Department of Education and other advisors, to ensure maximum applicability to teachers now and in the future. Participants were also provided in-depth training on several technology-based classroom resources including Estuaries 101 and NOAA’s Data in the Classroom. Where possible, teachers were provided connections to Common Core Math and ELA standards, and the arts; and social media was integrated to extend the reach of the experience. During the school year, participants receive support from project staff in the implementation of classroom and field activities, and are granted access to all field sampling and water quality gear. In this session, we will review the design, implementation, and evaluation of this week-long, one-of-a-kind immersion experience, and what the future holds for the project.

petrone@udel.edu, @seaPetrone; @tossey

The science of the dark energy biosphere is a complex one. It involves not only the understanding of biology, but of biology under extreme conditions, and of single-celled microorganisms. In addition to this, an understanding of Earth processes is needed, from plate tectonics to seafloor spreading, from sedimentation to mineralogy. Overviews of chemistry allow for true understanding of biology and geology, and on top of all this, most Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) topics require an understanding of oceanography, which in itself requires knowledge of biology, chemistry, geology and physics. Beyond the scientific knowledge needed, there is an immense amount of technology that is used to explore the deep biosphere. Much of this is foreign to the average citizen, and even the majority of scientists. There is an incredible amount of material that needs to be defined, understood and explored in order to fully grasp the understanding of deep biosphere science. However, many of our outreach participants, or even scientific reviewers, may not have the time, ability or attention span to engage with these new concepts. We need to increase the awareness of not only researchers, but also the general public, of how individual concepts and technologies tie into deep biosphere science, in a way that is accessible, engaging and fits into the limited free time and attention span of today’s population. In collaboration with C-DEBI researchers, Delaware Sea Grant is developing a subset of its popular 15 Second Science video clips, to focus on C-DEBI topics. The #15secondscience videos use visually stimulating video footage and succinct audio to dissect and deliver complex science topics in a more digestible form, for the general public and classroom use. In addition to #15secondscience videos, we are also creating “Dive Deeper” segments which build on the fast-paced videos and provide more detailed information. To expand the learning experience even further, we are creating several virtual reality segments that are viewable using Google Cardboard-style viewers, which we will provide to the audience. The session will include a wealth of information on why and how we create these multimedia resources, and how we are evaluating their effectiveness.