Oceanography Home

What’s Makes the Ocean Unique along the Central California Coast?

Communicating Results with Powerpoint and Videos

Main Goals:

Ø Use Pt Lobos to learn about the unique biologic ecosystem and physical characteristics along the central California coast.

Ø Learn more about these systems from internet resources.

Ø Create powerpoints and/or videos that will explain these characteristics to an audience of Cape Fear Community College Students in coastal North Carolina.

Making Powerpoints or Videos

· Learn where class photos and/or videos are stored and how to access them.

· Work in groups.

· Have each member of the group become expert in one or two of the animals, ecosystems, or characteristics we observed on the field trip.

o Tips for good websites for more information are on a following page.

o Try to find out what each organism or physical feature adds to the overall ocean/coastal system along the central coast of California

· Come together as a group to create a powerpoint or video that explains these systems including examples that we saw on the field trip. You can include images from the internet from other places on the central coast if you like.

Website and Textbook Tips

These are good, informative, accurate websites on the topics we’ve are studying. The links are available on the class website so that you don’t have to copy them into the browser.

http://www.mpcfaculty.net/alfred_hochstaedter/oceanography.htm

or Google “MPC Oceanography”

Marine mammals

Textbook: Trujillo and Thurman, 10ed: Ch 14, pp. 418-421

http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/education/marine-mammal-information/

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/

http://seaotterresearch.org/default.html

http://www.sanctuarysimon.org/monterey/sections/marineMammals/overview.php?sec=mm

(Be sure “Monterey Bay” is clicked on the top row, then click the different boxes on the second row along the top, i.e., “maps and graphs”, “projects”, etc…)

The kelp forest ecosystem

Textbook: Trujillo and Thurman, 10ed: Ch 15, pp. 448-449

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/monterey/ax/primary_fs.html

(This one is really nice; be sure to go here and click on “Kelp Forest” and “Full Version”)

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/efc/kelp.aspx

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/about/ecosystems/kelpdesc.html

http://www.sanctuarysimon.org/monterey/sections/kelpForests/overview.php?sec=kf

Shoreline characteristics

Textbook: Trujillo and Thurman, 10ed: Ch 10, 302-303, especially the image on 303. Whole chapter for more info.

http://www.sanctuarysimon.org/monterey/sections/rocksIslands/overview.php?sec=ri

http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/response.pl?site=cc&index=1&loc=1

(photographs of the coast before and after the storms of the 1998 El Nino winter)

Winds, waves, ocean temperatures, oceanography of the coastal ocean

Textbook (waves): Trujillo and Thurman, 10ed: Ch 8, pp. 245-248

Textbook (everything else): Trujillo and Thurman, 10ed: Ch 13, pp. 376-378 (image on 378 is a great summary), Ch 7, pp. 206-207

http://www.sanctuarysimon.org/monterey/sections/oceanography/overview.php?sec=o

(A must see. Be sure “Monterey Bay” is clicked on the top row, then click the different boxes on the second row along the top, i.e., “maps and graphs”, “projects”, etc…)

http://www.cencoos.org/sections/products/wave_climatology.shtml

(a nice graph showing an average year of waves from Pt Reyes)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2010/02/13/BATA1C1AAA.DTL&o=

(Big waves at Mavericks. Look at the next one too.)

http://www.maverickssurf.com/wave/geog.php

(What causes the big waves at Mavericks)

http://204.115.180.244/CeNCOOS/DataPortal.html

(click on buoys to compare typical winter and summer month wind, wave, and water temperature conditions. Ask for help if you need it.)

http://www.mbari.org/bog/Projects/MOOS/M1.html

(Ocean temperature in Monterey Bay. Ask for help if you need it.)

http://docents.info/docent/r/water-safety/index.htm

(Very nice explanation of how weather, upwelling, and food webs fit together.)