Teachers

Key Concept
Upwelling is a term used to denote water that rises to the ocean's surface from depth. It is caused by wind patterns, and is beneficial because the cold, deep water contains nutrients and dissolved gases, that with sunlight, create favorable conditions in which phytoplankton can photosynthesize. Phytoplankton are the base of oceanic food webs; therefore, areas of upwelling are important ecologically and economically.

Synopsis
Students will use satellite-derived maps of Sea Surface Temperature and/or ocean color (chlorophyll) to identify areas of upwelling. They will predict areas of ecologic and economic importance by evaluating the rate and duration of upwelling.

Background Scenario
People in Peru have come to rely on cool, deep water to rise and bring nutrients to the surface. The small fish that are their livelihood eat the microscopic marine plants that use these nutrients. There are years in which the cool, nutrient-rich water does come to the surface, providing enough fish for everyone. In some years, there are hardly any fish. These years are tough on the coastal people who make their living from fishing. Can the fluctuations be predicted? Is Peru the only place where there are such fluctuations?

Visit the Background Scenario page for a more in depth discussion.

Goals
In this lesson, students will:

• Learn how to read satellite maps
• Understand the importance of upwelling areas
• Analyze maps to predict areas of high fish productivity
• Compare their predictions of fish productivity to actual catch data

Science Process Skills
Observing, interpreting, predicting, comparing, communicating

Concept Connections
photosynthesis and respiration, food chain and webs, trophic levels

Vocabulary
upwelling, nutrients, latitude, photosynthesis, phytoplankton, friction, Coriolis Effect, Ekman Depth, Ekman Transport, trophic levels, trophic transfer

Materials
Computer
Internet Access
Color printer (teacher may want to make color overheads of SST maps as well)
Background Power Point

Grade Level: grades 9-12

Key Question
Can fluctuations in ocean temepratures be predicted?

Teacher Preparation
Begin the lesson by asking the Key Question. The students’ answers will help you become familiar with their knowledge of ocean upwelling. The PowerPoint presentation is provided to give the students the necessary background information to complete this lesson.

Begin the inquiry by generating student questions relating to the ocean upwelling and sea surface temperatures data provided in the PowerPoint presentation.  As the students generate questions, record those questions on the board.

Once the students have all the necessary background information, you may begin asking them the "Active Inquiry Questions". Guide the students with this series of questions, provided on the student page, to get them started on the inquiry part of the lesson. These questions are designed to guide your students through their study of the ocean upwelling data. Their inquiries and subsequent findings will lead them to more complex questions that they can record for further investigation. Your goal is to help the students generate questions that can later be used in a hypothesis for research. Also available is a Guidelines for a Good Research Question link. This link will help students become familiar with the process of creating a good scientific question that can be answered using the data provided by the NOAA/NESDIS website.

Once the students have generated enough questions, split them up into groups of three or four. Each group is assigned a different question to investigate. Lead each group through the Researching a Hypothesis link to help guide them in researching a hypothesis. It should take a 90-minute class period to provide background, generate questions, look at data, assign groups, and go over methodology. The following day, the students can use the class time to investigate their hypotheses and present their results. It is important that you not feel like you have to have all the answers. Remember this is inquiry – let the students teach you!

Active Inquiry Questions
Here are a few examples the teacher can give the students to get them started. Following each question is a link to data that will help answer the question. All external links open in a new window. The maps below show experimental NOAA/NESDIS data and should be interpreted with caution.

1. Pick any monthly-averaged SST map from the following website. Can you identify areas that show colder temperatures than surrounding waters? (Focus on the equatorial Pacific or coastal regions first since we know they are usually most prominent.) http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/oisst/index.html



2. Look at a few months in chronological order. Do you see any upwelling areas that are continuous over that time span?
   
   
3. One new tool that scientists use to evaluate many quantities, both in and out of the ocean, is animation. A static map of one month offers a great deal of information, but a 'movie' can show a different perspective by looking at how certain things change over time. Look at the following two animationsof SST and ocean color. They are both from the same year (2001). Do they agree with each other in terms of the prominent upwelling areas? (Consider both space and time in your assessment).
   
   Animations will open in a new window. Click on Refresh to replay animations.
   SST Animation
   
   Ocean Color Animation
   
   
4. Which animation (SST or ocean color) do you think is better? If you were a scientist, with which one would you prefer to work? Why?

Upwelling Investigation
Use SST data and fishery catch data to explain the differences between the El Nino and La Nino events?

1. To Find the El Nino/La Nina Events:
   
   a . Look at the following map of SST for January of 2001. Identify areas that are colder than surrounding waters at the same latitude.
   
   http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/oisst/monthly/gif/200001.gif
   
   b. Now compare a map of January 1998 with one of 2001. Despite the fact that both maps are of January, do you see a difference? (Hint: January of 1998 was in the middle of a large El Nino event.)
   
   http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/oisst/monthly/gif/199801.gif
   
   Be able to identify the El Nino/La Nina events through SST data. Describe the differences you can observe through satellite data.
   
   
2. Evaluate the rate and duration of upwellings in specific upwelling localities in 1996 and 1998.
   
   a. Look at the SST maps for 1996 in chronological order. Assess the following areas (which are known to be productive coastal upwelling areas) in terms of rate and duration of upwelling: (a)California/Oregon (b) Peru (c) Northwestern tip of Africa (d) Southwestern tip of Africa. Use "low", "moderate", or "high" for rate, and use "short" (< 8 months) or "long" (> 8 months) for duration. Do the same for 1998.
   Rate and Duration Worksheet (MS Excel)
   
   b. Focusing on California/Oregon, assess which of the two years would have produced a higher yield from fishing.
   What is the evidence that you use to determine fishing possibilities?
   Or consider, what is the biological result of upwelling events?
   Going even further, can you tell which months would have had highest fishing yield?
   Remember there is a few-months' delay between upwelling and increased numbers of fish.
   
   
3. Go to the National Marine Fisheries website and look up the landings for Oregon for both of the above years.
   
   Fill in the fields as follows:
   Species: All species combined Year Range: From: 1996 To: 1996 Time Frame: Year by Month Geographical Area: Oregon Output Form: Table, then hit Submit Query.
   http://www.st.nmfs.gov/st1/commercial/landings/monthly_landings.html
   
   Compare your upwelling evaluations with the fishery data for both years.
   How well do they agree?
   Is there some way you can improve your upwelling evaluation based on the comparison?
   
   
4. Look at the most recently available maps of SST.
   What predictions can you make about fisheries in the near future for the Oregon coast?
   Now, you have the tools to predict fishing potential at any upwelling site in the world's ocean!