Liberty Science Center 11th Grade:

Liberty Science Center 11th Grade:

Designing an Underwater Research Base

Grade Levels: 11th grade Chemistry or Physics.

Learning Standard: NYS Standards 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7

Topics Covered by This Lesson:

This Lesson covers the following topics: convection currents, potential energy of the ocean, underwater volcanoes, buoyancy, energy efficiency of geodesic domes, sound waves, optical fibers, and seismic and Torsional waves resulting from tectonic plates.

Time Requirements:

Approximately 2 hours (consecutive days) Class Time, and 3 hours for preparation and presentation of post-Visit assignments.

Pre-Visit:

Purpose: Two-day experiment to examine the process of rock weathering.

Objective: Students will conduct an experiment emulates the process of rock weathering (see experimental procedure). Students will make predictions and observations of the process that provides salt that eventually drains into the ocean.

Materials: soil, modeling clay, 2 paper cups, table salt, paper plate, tap water.

Visit:

Keeping their Post-Visit assignments in mind, students will be instructed to visit as many of LSC’s Challenge Exhibits as time allows (should be at least three-four). Information provided via these challenges should be noted and retained for application to the post-visit assignment.

Applicable Challenges: Convection Currents, Ocean Renewable, Equest, Estuary Tanks, Hoberman Sphere, Resonance Tube, Pipelines for Light, and Torsional Wave.

Post-Visit:

Each team of 4 students will be instructed to utilize what they learned at LSC and design an underwater research base that takes into account the following:

1) size requirements

2) transportation of supplies to the base (including OXYGEN)

3) building structure that accommodates the foundation of the ocean floor

4) the type of research to be conducted at this base

5) energy supplies, and

6) pressure and temperature changes. Each team will construct a two-page description of their structure, addressing the appropriate considerations, and will present their idea to the class.

Possible Questions:

Due to the nature of this lesson, all applicable questions should be answered via the students’ independent investigation of the various Challenges. Such questions are essential to the discovery based learning process, which culminates in the research base’s design.

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