Undergraduates Discover New Ways of Exploring the Ocean… With Data

Silke Severmann, associate professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, teaches the introductory course in oceanography at Rutgers. Her role in this first-year seminar is to introduce students to the application of technologies…
Screenshot of the Ocean Atmosphere Data Investigation activity

EPE Data Investigations Archive

Back in the early days of the OOI, I was part of a small team of designers and developers who were tasked with building tools to support undergraduate education. Our vision consisted of an OOI Ocean Education Portal that included an integrated,…
Profiles of temperature and salinity from an Argo float off Baja
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Introduction to Python – Argo Float Data

This summer, as part of our virtual REU workshop, we introduced students to the basics of using Python to analyze oceanographic data. When we frantically designed the course back in May (during the early even more frantic days of the pandemic),…
A screenshot of a binder notebook, sowing a graph of a CTD profile.
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How to Share and Run Python Notebooks

Python notebooks are a wonderful tool for sharing and collaborating on code. Built on the open-source backbone of the Python programming language, JupyterLab notebooks (their formal name) allow you to include code, text, formulas and images…
Timeseries plot of ocean and air temperatures at NDBC Station 44025 off the coast of NJ.
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Introduction to Python – Part 1

We now live in an ocean of data. And of course, that is literally true for those of us who study the ocean. We've come a long way from the early days of oceanography, when scientists like Nansen, Ekman, and Bjerknes might collect a few…
A collage of 4 data nugget graphs.
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Data Nuggets – Ready to Use Datasets for Educational Activities

A new resource of curated OOI datasets is now available! Check out our new collection of OOI Data Nuggets! OOI Data Nuggets are exemplary datasets curated from data collected by the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories…

Access the Ocean with OOI

Have you been looking for a good (and quick) video introduction of the OOI to show your students? In case you haven't seen this video yet, it's a nice option to consider. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U8uXLefjIk&t=28s This video,…
Picture snapshots from the discrete vs. continuous activity.
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Discrete vs. Continuous Data

There are two key benefits of ocean serving systems: they collect data over long time periods, and in high-resolution. Many oceanographic experiments rely on a single cruise or mooring deployment. But when a location is designated as part…
The 8 Science and Engineering Practices

What Makes a Scientist?

Am I a scientist? That’s a somewhat existential question that I, and others in positions like mine, often find myself asking. I’m sure my friends, and the K-12 teachers I work with, generally think of me as a scientist without any…
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.
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Coastal Population Report

In ocean education, it's often a challenge to convey how humans and the ocean are connected. One good place to start is where people live.