ARMADA logo ARMADA Project -- Research and Mentoring Experiences for Teachers


   
Late Summer Ecosystems Monitoring (ECOMON) survey of the Northeast shelf ecosystem

Tamara Browning, ARMADA Master Teacher
Katherine McCormack, ARMADA Mentee

Print Resources
  • AMS/NOAA Cooperative Program for Earth System Education (2004) DataStreme Ocean. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA
    This text accompanies the graduate level professional development course that I am currently taking. The course is an initiative of The American Meteorological Society and NOAA and aims to provide science teachers with an in depth understanding of the role of the ocean in the Earth system and to encourage the use of on-line, near real-time ocean data, maps and charts in the classroom. So far the text chapters (and their online components) that have most directly related to my research experience are those on the properties of ocean water, marine sediments and ocean currents. Later course chapters will address marine ecosystems and life in the ocean.
  • Buchsbaum, R. and Milne, L. J. (1967) The Lower Animals: Living Invertebrates of the World. Doubleday & Company Inc., NY
    This illustrated book provides an in-depth account of the individual invertebrate phyla. The chapters on jellyfish, comb jellies and crustaceans were of most relevance to me.
  • Falkowski, P. G. (2002) The Ocean's Invisible Forest, Scientific American p56- 61, August 2002 issue
    This review article examines the role of phytoplankton in the global carbon cycle and the critical role they play in regulating Earth's Climate.
  • Kunzig, R (2000) Mapping the Deep - The Extraordinary Story of Ocean Science. Sort of Books, London,U.K.
    This book is similar in scope and intended audience to the one cited above. The chapter on "Fantastic, Glistening Jellies" provides a historical perspective to the discovery and study of gelatinous zooplankton and gives brief biographical sketches of the several scientists who currently work in this field of marine biology.
  • NOAA Ocean Explorer (2003) Learning Ocean Science through Ocean Exploration- a curriculum for grades 6-12.
    Print version of lesson plan materials available online at http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov Two lesson plans on analyzing marine sediments from the east coast continental shelf are included in this publication. One aspect of the scientific work on the research cruise involved the collection of shelf sediments, so I felt that these lesson plans could provide a starting point for developing student activities for my own classroom.
  • Prager, E. J (2000) The Oceans. McGraw Hill, NY
    This book aims to provide the public with a broad understanding of the ocean world. The "Biological Ocean" chapter outlined the basics of the main zooplankton groups - jellyfish, siphonophores, comb jellies, copepods, euphausids, amphipods, pteropods and arrow worms - in an easy to read manner.
  • Summerhayes, C.P and Thorpe S.A (1996) Oceanography, an Illustrated Guide. John Wiley and Sons, NY
    This is an undergraduate level oceanography text book that is lavishly illustrated with color photos and diagrams. Several chapters provide detailed information relevant to my research experience: Ocean Diversity (chapter 15) Includes zooplankton diversity in the ocean, and provides quantitative data on euphausids and mysids. Life in Estuaries, Salt Marshes, Lagoons and Coastal Waters (Chapter 16) Presents information on the spatial and temporal variation of zooplankton and their predators (the jellies) in UK coastal waters. Marine Instrumentation (Chapter 19) Described the sampling instruments and other kinds of ship board technology used by oceanographers.
  • Todd, C.D., Laverack, M.S. & Boxshall G. A. (1996) Coastal Marine Zooplankton (Second Edition) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
    This is a student manual for the identification of marine zooplankton. It is a photographic guide to all the major groups including larval fish and squid. It includes information on taxonomy, morphology and behavior and provides a key reference work to help in the identification of individual genera and species.
Web Resources
  • From the Top of the World to the Bottom of the Food Web
    http://www.bigelow.org/foodweb/
    An educational website from the Bigelow Ocean Science Laboratory that highlights marine phytoplankton and NASA programs that study ocean color (middle to high school)
Audio/Visual Resources
  • The Blue Planet (2002) Video series on the ocean from the BBC, UK
    Selected segments from the episodes on the Open Ocean, Seasonal Seas and The Frozen Ocean show images of both phytoplankton and zooplankton. These would be useful clips to use in the classroom.
  • Jellies and Other Ocean Drifters. (1996) Video from Montery Bay Aquarium, CA.
    This 35 minute video shows wonderful moving images of jellies, comb jellies, salps and siphonophores and is accompanied by a lyrical musical background score. It is calming and almost soporific at times and sections of it could provide an interesting visual introduction to these creatures of the planktonic world.