Assessing Inner Space Through Exploration of the Deep Sea Floor Facilitating Education and Outreach Through Scientific Discovery

[9907680]福纳里，海洋覆盖了地球的三分之二，然而地球的“内部空间”在很大程度上对学生和公众来说是未知的。海洋科学家在全球各地的船上工作，使用拖曳系统、远程操作或自动驾驶车辆以及像阿尔文这样的潜水器来研究海底。每天，当他们研究和了解海底环境时，他们都会有新的发现——在海底喷发的火山，由地球内部的热量驱动的壮观的温泉，以及在温泉周围形成生命绿洲的外来生物群落。实时网络通讯的出现为学生和公众分享和参与深海探索提供了无与伦比的机会。该项目将为中学（6-8年级）和一般公众开发一个网站，提供使用伍兹霍尔海洋研究所（WHOI）设施进行的深海潜水和海洋学研究的近乎实时的每日访问。今后两年（1999-2001年）将在太平洋和印度洋开展多学科实地项目。这些巡航有来自许多主要海洋学机构和大学的科学家参与，重点研究与洋中脊火山活动有关的各种问题，以及与脊轴热液喷口有关的化学、物理和生物过程。该网站以教育模块为基础，让学生和公众分享海上科学研究的日常挑战和发现，并通过对自然环境的研究了解基本的科学原理。“进入内太空”网站将由两个主要部分组成。一系列信息模块（InfoMods）将提供关于海洋和研究海洋的人的一般信息，以及关于每次巡航期间要研究的自然系统、参与的科学家、数据和样本收集方法和将要使用的技术的特定巡航信息。不同的航海模块（SeaMods）将提供机制，使学生和公众能够获取每日更新的航行进度，包括数据模块，建议学生如何使用数据发现有趣的东西，海底特征和动物的图像，以及船上的活动。航行结束后，这些材料将被编辑和重新包装，以便学生可以通过SeaMods了解航行的进展，并使用说明性材料解释数据收集及其分析的科学原理。然后，这些材料将在AIS网站和cd - rom上提供。该项目将利用教学组织、合作伙伴和社团（海洋教育协会、马萨诸塞州海洋教育者、伍兹霍尔科学和技术教育伙伴关系）以及教材开发商（Turnstone出版集团），1)开发教育模块，2)将教材与国家科学教育标准相关联，3)在课堂上测试这些模块。该网站将通过这些团体以及国家科学教师协会和国家海洋教育协会进行广告宣传。最后，网站将通过选定的博物馆和水族馆的“信息亭”提供。这些设施将设有电脑连接到网站，从而使公众可以在巡游进行时参与巡游的日常活动，或查看最近一次巡游的结果及其教育模块。该项目是一项长期目标的第一阶段，该目标是利用WHOI的船只和车辆提供日常海洋学研究的常规通道。其目的是，这项工作所形成的概念方法将广泛适用于远洋海洋科学家、经营研究船的大学和机构，并使他们将来能够在其机构使用类似的技术来促进海洋科学教育和公众宣传。考虑到这些长期目标，WHOI已承诺为该项目分摊大量费用（约为NSF要求资金的2.5倍）。

9907680Fornari,The oceans cover two-thirds of our planet, and yet the Earth's "inner space" is largely unknown to students and the general public. Marine scientists work from ships all over the globe to study the seafloor using towed systems, remotely operated or autonomous vehicles, and submersibles, such as Alvin. Every day they make new discoveries as they study and learn about the ocean floor environment-the volcanoes that erupt beneath the ocean, the spectacular hot springs that are driven by heat from the interior of the Earth, and the exotic communities of organisms that form oases of life around the hot springs. The advent of real-time, web-based communications now provides an unparalleled opportunity for students and the general public to share and participate in the exploration of the deep ocean. The project will develop a web site for middle school (grades 6-8) and the general public that will provide near real-time, daily access to deep submergence and oceanographic research that is conducted using the facilities of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Multidisciplinary field programs will take place over the next two years (1999-2001) in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. These cruises involve scientists from many leading oceanographic institutions and universities, and focus on various problems associated with mid-ocean ridge volcanism, and the chemical, physical and biological processes associated with hydrothermal venting at the ridge axis. Backed by educational modules, the web site will allow students and the general public to share in the daily challenges and discoveries of scientific research at sea, and to learn about basic scientific principles through studies of the natural environment. The "Access to Inner Space (AIS)" web site will consist of two major components. A series of Information Modules (InfoMods) will provide both general information about the oceans and the people that study them, as well as cruise-specific information about the natural systems to be studied during each cruise, the participating scientists, and the data and sample-collecting methodologies and technologies to be used. Various Seagoing Modules (SeaMods) will provide the mechanism to enable students and the public to access daily updates of the progress of the cruise, including data modules with suggestions of how students might use the data to discover something interesting, and images of seafloor features and animals, and shipboard activities. Post-cruise, the material will be edited and repackaged so that students can follow the progress of the voyage through the SeaMods, with illustrative materials to explain the scientific principles underlying the collection of data and its analysis. This material will then be made available both on the AIS web site and on CD-ROMs. The project will draw on teaching organizations, partnerships and societies (Sea Education Association, Massachusetts Marine Educators, Woods Hole Science and Technology Education Partnership), as well as educational materials developers (Turnstone Publishing Group) to 1) develop the educational modules, 2) correlate materials with national science education standards, and 3) test the modules in the classroom. The web site will be advertised through these same groups, as well as through the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the National Marine Education Association (NMEA). Finally, the web site will be provided through "kiosks" in selected museums and aquaria. These would house a computer link to the web site, thereby allowing the general public to participate in the daily activities of the cruises when they are in progress, or to look at the results from the most recent cruise and its educational modules. This project represents the first stage of a long-term goal to provide routine access to daily oceanographic research using ships and vehicles based at WHOI. The intention is that the conceptual approach developed as a result of this work will have broad application for ocean-going marine scientists, and for universities and institutions that operate research vessels, and will allow them to use similar techniques to promote ocean science education and public outreach at their institutions in the future. In consideration of these long-term objectives, WHOI has committed a significant amount (~2.5 times the funds requested from NSF) of cost sharing for this project.