Final Paper

After taking Marine Biology last year I thought it would be a good idea to take Oceanography. Many people told me how they were kind of similar. I really wanted to learn about the ocean because there were many things I did not understand. I hoped this class would answer some of those questions. I did end up learning many things about the ocean. I learned more than I thought I would. I learned about the physics, sand, salinity, temperature, currents, and history of the ocean. I learned about how there are people who set up underwater observatories to view the ocean for extended periods of time. I liked that we got to create our own observatory. I got to understand how much preparation goes into an operation like that. I also learned about different types of sand in this class. We examined sand under the microscopes and noticed unique colors, shapes, and sizes to each of them. I now know that you can identify where sand has been by its appearance. Another thing we studied was salinity. I know that salinity affects the way things float because we did a lab on it using hydrometers. I also know that the salinity of oceans affects the temperature. The temperature then can affect the weather. Warmer water temperatures promote wild weather like hurricanes. We also learned about ocean currents in this course. The thing that I remember most is the video we watched one day about plastic waste. The video showed how waste can travel thousands of miles across the ocean and land on other coasts. It is amazing how powerful and huge some currents are. Lastly, we all researched and and learned about the history of the ocean. I liked listening to peoples presentations on sailors who traveled the ocean finding new land and discovering parts of the ocean people never knew about. Overall, I really enjoyed taking Oceanography and I think I got a lot out of it.

Moon and Tides Connection

MOON & TIDES BLOG

The moon affects the currents with its gravitational pull. The 

water bulges together and this is called high tide. Everywhere 

else that does not have the water bulge is called low tide. the

reason why the sun has no effect on the tides is because it is 

so far away. if it was closer, it would have the same affects, 

but would also burn the water up. the tides depend on how

close the moon is to the earth so when the moon is full the 

tide is at its highest, and when it is a new moon it is at its 

lowest.

Hydrometer Blog

Lab Report

The other day in class we did a lab on the way things float in different types of water. Using a hydrometer which was a water dropper filled with metal balls, we could see the depth of the object floating. We noticed that the hydrometer was at different depths in each glass of water. The experiment was to show us how salinity in water affects the way things float. Glasses with more salt in them made the object float higher and glasses with lower salinity made the hydrometer float with more depth.

Questions

1. Define the term salinity.

Of, relating to, or containing salt; salty

 

2. If you add salt to a water solution, will a hydrometer float higher or lower in the water? Explain your choice.

If you add salt to the water the object will float higher because it will have less water %.

 

3. What effect does the addition of salt have on the properties of water?

Salt granules tend to absorb water. When there is more salt than water you will most likely have no water left after a while

 

4.Is it easier to float in the ocean than in a swimming pool? Explain why or why not.

Yes it is because there is more salt in the ocean. The greater the salinity, the more you float.

 

5. Define the term density.

Density is the amount of stuff in a mass. If two objects the size of a basketball are put on a balance scale, the one with the greater density will weigh more., even though it looks the same size.

 

 6. The salinity of seawater is also affected by the temperature of a body of water. Explain how temperature causes differences in the salinity of water.

The warmer water has more salt because they can dissolve more.

It's All Connected

In class we learned a lot about wind patterns and currents. Wind patterns greatly influence the currents in Oceans. The reason is because the wind pushes up against the water and constantly pushes the waves in that direction. Because of this, water is constantly moving on the Earth. For instance, Water off the shore of California is usually a lot colder because it is being pushed from up towards Alaska toward the equator. And water from the Equator is pushed either NE or it is pushed down south. It is warmer on the equator because of the angle the sun light hits it. It is stronger there than any other part of the globe. The air from towards the equator brings a lot of moisture and heat. If a hurricane were to pick up a message in a bottle off the coast it could also affect where it would end up. The warm water coming from towards the equator brings dolphins/sharks and other tropical sealife and when the water goes back out towards the equator it probably picks up a lot of human waste which is unfortunate. I am happy that there is international law over what we throw out in the ocean, because if it were only local law, we would still be getting affected by the choices of a country across the globe. We should try and dispose waste in space instead of the ocean, because the oceans are limited but as far as we know space has literally infinite space.

Which Way the Winds Blow

 

Which Way The Winds Blow

Earth, as we scientists know, is heated unevenly.  This is due to the fact that the Earth is a sphere. Also, Earth is tilted about 23 degrees.  Therefore, light rays are hitting different places at different strengths.  Near the equator, the temperature is very warm and humid, but at the poles, the weather is mostly frigid cold.  This is due to light rays.  Angled light rays are weaker rays that their paths are changed because of clouds and also being reflected off of Earth.  However, straight light rays are stronger and they make places warmer.  What I learned from the "Global Wind Patterns" activity is that light rays are affected due to clouds and the Earth reflecting light.

Earth's rotation affects the movement of air and water masses.  This happens because of the Coriolis affect.  The Coriolis affect is the deflection of moving objects.  We did an activity where we placed water on a spinner and as it spun, the water spun off the paper and made a spiral design.  It showed me that the Coriolis affect makes the water displace to different locations.

Global wind patterns are divided into several sections.  Polar easterlies are at about 60-90 degrees, and they blow irregularly from the east and the north.  Westerlies are at about 30-60 degrees and they blow from the north and from the west.  Horse Latitudes are where the westerlies meet trade winds at about 30 degrees.  This region has a lot of high pressure and it is extra dry.  Lastly, trade winds are about 30 degrees south and they blow from the northeast towards the equator.

LOGGER HEAD ISLAND REPORT

On the side of the island with the sea turtle nesting we needed to consider the precautions of the public being a disturbance, and we also needed relocate the police and fire station on one side of it and the research center on the other for patrol. We made a timer on the street lights so that they do not disturb the nesting. We placed our fishing dock on the lagoon side of the island because its calm  and peaceful over there and lots of fish will stay over there.Our golf course could be flooded by the oceanic side of the island but its close tot he lagoon as well so it may not have any issues. We placed a large netting around the sides so that the golf balls don't enter the ocean. The economic benefits are the public housing is mostly on the lagoon side away from the economic stuff. Humans negatively impact the coastal ecosystems with there rowdiness, pollution, and the electricity distributed around the streets. With healthy vegetation and economy we can severely prevent the issues of storms starting. Our stop lights were solar powered.

sand

Sand Reflection

• maui,black and yellow, magnetite pos., size 4, well rounded, well sorted, minerals
• bonaire, white, megnetite neg., size 25, angular, moderatley sorted, minerals
• virgins, white, mag neg., size 30, angular, rounded, minerals
• desert islands, orange and white, non mag, size 25, subangular, well rounded, mineral

     

  Hampton had more color of orange, yellow, and white where Maui colors where white. With the magnetite of the two only Maui was magnetic. Hampton size of the sand is medium and the size of Maui’s sand is small. The sorting of both of them was well. The composition for Hampton was mineral and the composition was mostly rocks.