As the school year comes to a close the students and I are preparing for my summer adventure aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy. We have decided that I need to work on three new experiments from Flagstaff, and I have been told that I have to participate in "everything" that happens while aboard the Healy. I am up for the challenge!
To bring Bering Sea science back into the classroom I will conduct the following experiments: as we all know, hydrostatic pressure increases as we delve deep into the ocean, and that Styrofoam responds to these changes in pressure. Many scientists have sent a Styrofoam cup down on a CTD, but what about other forms of Styrofoam.
Manuel and his Styrofoam head, not a bad likeness.
The students at New Start Middle School are interested in knowing if the density of the Styrofoam affects how much it will shrink under hydrostatic pressure. Thus we have three forms of Styrofoam that we have decorated and will be sending down to the Eastern Bering Sea Shelf. We have developed a hypothesis on how the Styrofoam will react and which Styrofoam will shrink the most: The Styrofoam that is the least dense will shrink the most when exerted on by increases in hydrostatic pressure. All our samples have been measured; their circumference, diameter, weight, and observations on pore size have all been logged. Now it is up to me to send them down to the depths, record actually how far we sent them down and bring back the samples for further study in the fall.
Annaly and her plate, truly gorgeous!
My second experiment is to take water samples from Fairbanks and Dutch Harbor and compare them with the samples we took this spring here in Flagstaff. The students are also interested in testing the sea water for some of the components we have studied; e-coli, nitrogen, phosphorus, and dissolved oxygen, which I will have to get help on as I am not sure our sampling materials are designed for salt water.
The boys and styrofoam.
And third, well a message in a bottle. We have a plastic bottle with a letter inside; I have been instructed to launch it into the Bering Sea when we are the furthest from any land. Who knows I think the last person who did this experiment got a response in 24 years, again we are up to the challenge.
FOR MY STUDENTS: How do you think the hydrostatic pressure in Francis Short Pond compares to the Eastern Bering Sea Shelf?