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

9907680 Fornari，海洋覆盖了我们星球的三分之二，但地球的“内部空间”在很大程度上不为学生和公众所知。 海洋科学家在地球仪上工作，使用拖曳系统、远程操作或自动驾驶车辆和潜水器（如Alvin）研究海底。 他们每天都在研究和了解海底环境时有新的发现--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。 现在，实时网络通信的出现为学生和公众分享和参与深海探索提供了前所未有的机会。 该项目将为中学（6-8年级）和一般公众建立一个网站，使人们能够几乎实时地每天查阅利用伍兹霍尔海洋学研究所设施进行的深潜和海洋学研究。 今后两年（1999-2001年）将在太平洋和印度洋开展多学科实地方案。 这些航行有来自许多主要海洋学研究所和大学的科学家参加，重点是与洋中脊火山活动有关的各种问题，以及与脊轴热液喷发有关的化学、物理和生物过程。 该网站以教育单元为后盾，将使学生和公众能够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科学原理。 “进入内部空间”网站将由两个主要部分组成。 一系列信息模块（InfoMods）将提供关于海洋和海洋研究人员的一般信息，以及关于每次航行期间将研究的自然系统、参与的科学家以及将使用的数据和样本收集方法和技术的特定航行信息。 各种航海模块（SeaMods）将提供一种机制，使学生和公众能够获得巡航进度的每日更新，包括数据模块，建议学生如何使用数据来发现有趣的东西，以及海底特征和动物的图像，以及船上活动。 航行结束后，将对材料进行编辑和重新包装，以便学生能够通过SeaMods跟踪航行的进展情况，并提供说明性材料，解释数据收集及其分析所依据的科学原则。 这些材料随后将在AIS网站和光盘上提供。 该项目将利用教学组织、合作伙伴和协会（海洋教育协会、马萨诸塞州海洋教育工作者、伍兹霍尔科技教育合作伙伴）以及教材开发商（Turnstone出版集团）1）开发教育模块，2）将材料与国家科学教育标准相关联，3）在课堂上测试模块。 该网站将通过这些团体以及国家科学教师协会（NSTA）和国家海洋教育协会（NMEA）进行宣传。 最后，将通过选定的博物馆和水族馆的“信息亭”提供网址。 这些设施将有一个与网站连接的计算机，从而使公众能够参与正在进行的航行的日常活动，或查看最近航行的结果及其教育单元。 该项目是长期目标的第一阶段，即利用设在世界卫生组织的船只和车辆提供日常海洋学研究的日常机会。 其意图是，这项工作所产生的概念方法将广泛适用于远洋海洋科学家以及经营研究船的大学和机构，并使他们能够在今后利用类似技术在其机构中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所需资金的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.