Welcome to the South Street Seaport Museum in-school Oceanography program Web pages! The planned schedule and proposed curriculum are listed here, with links to appropriate print-out pages for classroom activities, detailed "scripts" and activity descriptions for each session, and feedback forms (and contact information). As the sessions continue, perhaps we can even include students' work! Helpful if teachers take pictures of students' activities, materials, etc.

Schedule

Days of the program are 3/15/2006, 3/22, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 4/26, 5/3, and 5/10. Sails on Pioneer are scheduled for Thursday May 18 and Friday May 19 (2 sails each day).

The class schedule is:

Curriculum

A summary, week by week, of the class activities and goals follows; click the "script" link to see the details for each class.

Class 1 (3/15/2006) The Magic of Science (click here for "script" )

• If you like mysteries and magic tricks, you'll like science
• Nature does magic tricks, and scientists figure out how
• First step of the best way to solve a mystery: observe carefully! (recording as words, numbers, pictures helps!!)

Class 2 (3/22/2006) A "Solution" to a Mystery (click here for "script" )

• all materials are made of tiny spheres called atoms; about 100 different kinds
• atoms stick to each other according to specific rules, making "molecules"
• table salt is Na and Cl atoms sticking together; water is H and O atoms
• heat is the motion of atoms and molecules
• molecular process of dissolving - concepts and models
• (if time and equipment) microscopic and naked-eye examination of NaCl crystals, compare with brine shrimp eggs

Class 3 (3/29/2006) Salty Chalk Soda (click here for "script" )

• many different kinds of salt: table salt, road salt, baking soda, chalk are a few
• different salts dissolve in different amounts - chalk barely dissolves at all
• salts combine with each other - experiment for class is to make chalk from baking soda & calcium road salt
• effects of vinegar on chalk and other carbonates; comparison with writing chalk, other seashells
• why ocean animals use chalk (calcium carbonate) - mollusks, coral, urchins, sand dollars, etc.
• (advanced - 5th grade?) models of molecules make it easy to see what happens

Class 4 (4/5/2006) More Fuel on the Fire (click here for "script" )

• more kinds of molecules, and models of them: O₂, CH₄, NH₃ (advanced, for 5th grade: tetrahedral bonds)
• energy stored in molecules (what IS energy?)
• burning and energy release, conversion
• modelling the burning of coal, methane (need air! oxygen, to be specific)

Class 5 (4/12/2006) Food for Thought (click here for "script" )

• food is our fuel - what do we need to burn it? (oxygen!) where from? (breathing!)
• molecule modelling of respiration (sugar + oxygen gives water and carbon dioxide and releases energy)
• plants (and algae - like seaweed) make sugar
• molecule modelling of photosynthesis (including capture of Sunlight energy)

Class 6 (4/26/2006) Make your own Ecosystem! (click here for "script" )

• plants and animals help each other - together they form an ecosystem (like an aquarium)
• role-playing review of molecular modelling of photosynthesis/respiration back-and-forth cycling
• close examination of aquaria ingredients
  • salad container (& relate to recycling and reuse)
  • salts & water
  • brine shrimp and eggs
  • algae
• possibly bring 40x microscope, set up TV/camera; Web pictures
• brine shrimp's position in "animal family tree", and classification
• examples of more complicated ecosystems, food chains, food webs
• put eggs into salt water to hatch (observe frequently over next weeks)

Class 7 (5/3/2006) Ecosystems and our Estuary (click here for "script" )

• start with inspection of shrimp aquaria, and reports from students
• salt wedge experiments - stratification; artemia preferences, buoyancy
• start brine shrimp hatchery containers
• investigate how the Hudson and the Atlantic/East River form an estuary

Class 8 (5/10/2006) Web Record of our Activities

• how to put all our investigation results into Web pages
• digital pix, writeups, etc. assembled together
• Web-based "game"/test for evaluation
• human interference with ecosystems; pollution, stewardship
• reminder of behavior on Pioneer, & proper attire, etc.