Great White

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OMG OMG OMG





























Can you imagine being in the water with that animal???

Japan Earthquake Video

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Here is the link to the National Geographic film on the Japan earthquake.


All the Blue Planet Assignments

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There has been some confusion about what assignment goes with which video. Below is a list of blog posts that need to be completed for each video.

Open Ocean: Create a blog post describing a unique aspect of the ocean.

Frozen Seas: Choose one animal in the video. Discuss the biotic and abiotic adaptations that allow it to survive in the Arctic or Antarctic.

Seasonal Seas: Choose one organism in the video and discuss the food web it is a part of. What eats it? What does it eat?

The Deep: Choose one animal from each of the photic zones (aphotic, dysphotic and euphotic) and discuss each one's adaptations for life in that zone.

Coral Seas: Describe the relationship between two organisms in the video. Be sure to discuss how each benefits from the relationship.


Sea Surface Maps for Your Currents Lab

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When the lab asks you to look at the sea surface temperatures for January and July, use these pictures.






Windward On

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Today, get the Currents Lab finished up.

As your quiz, go here and get yourself sailed around the world.

Water, Water, Everywhere

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You have two blog posts over water. Keep in mind that these are assignments that should be telling me whether or not you understand the concepts involved.

1) Get (preferably take) a picture that shows the properties of cohesion, adhesion and surface tension. Write at least two good sentences for each picture describing how it exhibits these properties.

2) Answer the appropriate question from your handout.

The Amazing Octopus

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Okay, I can't help it. I am simultaneously fascinated and creeped out by the sight of an octopus. They are just so weird.



Wait a minute...a SIX HUNDRED POUND OCTOPUS??????

If you are having trouble viewing through here, go to the original National Geographic site.

Another As of Today

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The Awesome Ocean assignment has two parts.
1. The first one is the 3:10 to Earth that we did at the very beginning. You need three slides in a Google presentation about something new you learned while doing the worksheet. You also need to have a short description about each slide.
2. The second part is the Open Ocean blog post. What did you find most interesting about the video.

Plate Tectonics also has two parts to it.
1. We took a quiz.
2. You also created a map of the ocean floor along a certain latitude line. In a blog post, discuss the plates and the plate boundaries that your latitude line crosses. What type of geologic structures can you see?

The Frozen Seas blog post asked you to choose an animal in the video and discuss the biotic and abiotic adaptations the animal has that allow it to survive in the Arctic or Antarctic.



Here is how I am grading your blog posts. Remember that these are essentially writing assignments!

Blog Post Grading
4 – Exceptional
Post answers the question provided
Post is original, thoughtful and provides insight to your learning
Post refers to specific examples used in class or external sources (internet, video)
Post is thoughtful and coherent and well organized
Post uses examples, pictures, videos, research, and external links
Post uses correct grammar and spelling
Post is titled appropriately

3 – Satisfactory
Post is missing one or more of the above, but still shows understanding and a thoughtful response

2 – Underdeveloped
Post is more of a description, summary or bullet list of ideas
Enough errors in conventions that it is distracting from the writing

1 – Limited
Post is a legitimate attempt to answer the question, but does not show real evidence of learning
General description that could describe any situation

0 – No Credit
Post is missing or just a couple hurried sentences so you can say you got it done

As of Today

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Here are the things you need to have completed today:

1. Set up a working Google account.

2. Finish the Ocean Geography worksheet and share it back with me.

3. Create a blog.

4. Share your blog with me.

5. Create a 3:10 to Earth presentation about something you found interesting when you completed your worksheet.
You must have three slides that show for ten seconds each.
Each slide must have a picture. You may add up to five words, but no more.

6. Create a new blog post with a script of what you would say as you present the 3:10 presentation. Each slide should have a few sentences, but remember they only show for ten seconds!

7. Add Land Locked Ocean Science to your Google Reader and Follow this blog.

Antarctica Icebergs

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Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions.

Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form.

When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe.

Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.

These came to me in an e-mail, apparently taken by Norwegian sailor Oyvind Tangen from aboard a research vessel. The iceberg photographs were snapped in an area several hundred miles north of the Antarctic.