The OOI Ocean Data Labs Project

The National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is advancing our ability to understand the natural world by collecting large quantities of data to address complex oceanographic processes. This expanded access to data also provides professors in the geosciences with new opportunities to engage undergraduate students in authentic data experiences using real-world data sets to teach geoscience processes.

However, students struggle to work with data based on their limited experience and exposure to different data types and sources. Also, supporting students in engaging with the data can be challenging for professors too, as there is a lack of adequate tools to easily digest and manipulate large data sets for in-class learning experiences.

Therefore, the OOI Ocean Data Labs Project (formerly called Data Explorations), with funding from NSF, is developing, testing, refining, and disseminating easy to use, interactive Data Explorations and Data Lab Notebooks that will allow undergraduates to use authentic data in accessible ways while being easy for professors to integrate into their teaching.


Recent Blog Posts

OOI Tree 2013-06-25
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The Circle of OOI

The complexity of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, simplified to a nice simple circle.
1 week change in Sea Surface Temperature from July 12 to 19, 2013
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The End of Upwelling

What a difference a week makes. Late last week, the waters off New Jersey were between 5-15 degrees below normal. They're not any more.
A sea surface temperature satellite image map, alongside a NDBC buoy on the water

Satellites vs. Buoys

A little while back, I received the following question from a Visual Ocean visitor: "When might satellite sst data be more informative than buoy data?"
Red, white and blue map of SST Gradients in the Mid Atlantic on July 4, 2013
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The Ocean in Red, White and Blue

To celebrate Independence Day, I thought it would be fun to dress up the ocean in a little red, white and blue.
False-color image from NOAA-18 at 4:36pm on June 7, 2013
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Tropical Storm Andrea clouds up the ocean

This week, was the start of the 2013 Hurricane Season, and already forecasters have declared the first storm of the season, Tropical Storm Andrea.
NGSS Middle School performance expectations for Weather and Climate - page 58
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Next Generation Activity Development

Last week, I had an opportunity to look through the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) alongside many other ocean educators at the COSEE Network Meeting. Our goal was to figure out how the NGSS could be used to develop activities.