NOAA Teacher at Sea
Vince Rosato & Kim Pratt
Onboard NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown
March 9 – 28, 2006
Mission: Collect oceanographic and climate modeling data
Geographical Area: Bahamas, West Indies
Date: March 20, 2006
Science and Technology Log
On Saturday, we deployed two buoys. A buoy is a floating object that sends science information to scientists. They can have numbers, colors, lights, or whistles on them. The buoys we sent off are a drifting buoy and an ARGO buoy.
A drifting buoy is the size of a basketball and sends its position in the ocean to a satellite where scientists can measure current speed by using its location and by tracking it around. Because it has a sock on it, it’s a good measure of current and it is not affected by the wind. The buoys can last a long time unless they are damaged or destroyed by a ship, run into land, or are stolen by a pirate. There are currently 1,468 drifting buoys worldwide and they cost more than $1500 each. Cabello, Searles and Key Biscayne Community School jointly adopted two of the buoys deployed. Students signed stickers that were attached to the buoy and sent out to sea. To track the buoy, here.
The second buoy that was deployed was an ARGO buoy. The ARGO is interesting because it acts like a little submarine. The ARGO is launched off the ship, floats on the surface, then sinks to certain depth, gathering information on temperature, pressure, salinity, latitude and longitude. The ARGO, acting like a submarine, stays at a certain depth for a while, gathering information, then fills its bladder and rises to the surface, collecting information on the way up. At the surface, the ARGO sends all the information to a satellite for the scientists to use in their labs. To picture a bladder, think of “Professor” from Sponge Bob. Professor fills up with air and floats (like the bladder filling), exhales his air and sinks (like the bladder emptying). This ARGO was special because it had a large sticker from the New Haven Unified School District. So New Haven is literally traveling all over the ocean! To track the ARGO buoy go here.
Interview with Lieutenant Commander, Priscilla Rodriguez, US Public Health Service
On the RON BROWN you will find the Medical Officer, Lieutenant Commander (LCDR), Priscilla Rodriguez. Officer Rodriguez actually is a part of the United States Public Health Service that overlooks the public health system for the whole country and sets the standard for health care. LCDR Rodriguez is a Physician Assistant and her assignment onboard the RON BROWN will last for two years. The most common illness on board a ship is seasickness and LCDR Rodriguez is on the lookout for crew or scientists who are not showing up for meals or who look a little “green.” She explains that your brain and inner ear need to get used to the movement of the ship and once they do you’re okay. In the meantime you may feel nauseous or tired. LCDR Rodriguez has a lot of responsibility on board the ship. She’s responsible for the health care of everyone and if someone gets extremely ill, she has to advise the Captain on whether to go into shore, or get a Coast Guard helicopter to come out and pick him or her up, which is very expensive. LCDR Rodriguez was born in the Dominican Republic, grew up in New York City and presently calls New York City her home where she has just made a cooking video. When she’s not working on the ship, she enjoys playing the guitar or flute, drawing and making videos. She’s currently developing “podcasts” for the Internet and has been interviewing subjects on the ship. In the future, she would like to return to work with AIDS patients in underdeveloped countries and do everything she can to help the world.
Assignment: Draw a picture of what the ARGO buoy does. (How it acts like a submarine). Label each movement – sinks, stays at the same level, and rises. Draw a picture of what you think the ARGO buoy looks like. (Hint: Long, thin, black tube).
Personal Log – Kimberly Pratt
It’s good to be writing logs again. I’ve been having amazing conversations with all the scientists onboard. They’ve been very generous with their time. A special thanks to Dr. Molly for our “up top” chats. Today the scientists from the United Kingdom are working on recovering a sub-surface mooring, so we’ve got time to work on logs, interviews and answer e-mail. Last night I saw squid in the moonlight: one was approximately 1.5 ft, and another was approximately 2.5 ft. They were chasing and eating flying fish! Also fish that look like little swordfish were jumping around. It was a virtual circus! Hello to everyone! Students, keep writing! Make it a good day!
Personal Log – Vince Rosato
New Haven Unified School District, Searles 4th graders and Cabello 5th graders got some press recently. Thanks to fellow teachers for the article and to the Argus newspaper and Educational Service Center Information Officer, Rick LaPlante, for the favorable text. We’ll have another chance to thank ANG for newspapers in education and for the many businesses that sponsor Book Bucks. I’m glad so many in the class are participating in this reading reward program. I also heard the bus is confirmed for our “Reading is Cool” Sharkie field trip to the Hewlett Packard HP Pavilion, home of the Sharks hockey team. It’s always good hearing from you so keep those emails coming and good luck with Book Bucks! In my spare time I’m getting pictures with Juliet around the ship and reading John Climatus’, The Ladder of Divine Ascent.
