Important Ship

     The Challenger Expedition is an important ship in the history of oceanography because it was one of the first ships to study the sea. From 1872-1876, the Challenger sailed all over the world studying the ocean and collection specimens. Over four years, the Challenger collected hundreds of samples, the crew, however, did not label them properly which caused them to lose track of which samples came from where. Although the Challenger Expedition could have done a better job organizing their sample, the fact that the expedition was one of the first of its kind is what makes it important.

   

Oceanography Over Time

   


           Over the course of history, oceanography has changed dramatically. For hundreds of years humankind thought that the world was flat and that the oceans suddenly stopped at a certain point. Ferdinand Magellan, however, set out to prove everyone wrong. Magellan set out from Portugal and set out on a voyage to sail around the world. It took close to three years for the expedition to make it back to Portugal and prove that the world was round. Magellan, unfortunately, died along the way in the Philippines. However, proving that the world was round changed the way humankind viewed oceanography forever.

5 Reasons to study the ocean

     There are numerous reasons we should study the ocean. Here are a few:



1. There are vast amounts of resources in the ocean, such as oil.

2. We know very little about the deep sea.

3. Because the ocean covers 72% of the entire earth.

4. We will have a better understanding on what it takes to survive in harsh environments.

5. Exploring the ocean leads to new innovative ideas.

     I think we should explore the ocean for all of these reasons plus the fact that the ocean is a really cool environment.

Race results

My teams boat did not do very well in the race due to the fact that our sail worked better backwards than forwards, a fact that we did not know until the 3rd of the three trials. Our times got drastically better once we sailed it backwards. The times are as follows:
1- 14s
2-11s
3-8s
If I had to do this again I would make our boat wider and use a different sail design. I liked working in groups and designing the boat more than racing it.

Boat design

   My boat was build out of the bottom of an orange juice container, tape, pipe cleaners and a taco bell gift card. At first we had two sails because we thought that our first sail was going to be too low. However, the second sail caused the boat to crash into the sides every time so we had to take it off. The boat would still not go straight so Mrs. Wood told us to try it with our boat facing backwards. For some reason,  our boat sailed better backwards than forwards.

     My favorite marine animal from the first two weeks of fish ID is the Beluga Whale.

Common Name: Beluga Whale
Scientific Name: Delphinapterus leucas
Adaptations: Can survive in the extreme cold of the Arctic Ocean
Habitat: Shallow waters close to the coast in arctic regions
Endangered/Threatened/ or Not? Near threatened
Why I chose this animal: I chose this animal because I like the way it looks and think that it is really cool.

Oceanographers and their instruments

     FLIP

             

     Biological Oceanographer- Biological Oceanographers use tools such as microscopes and nets in order to obtain and study the plants and animals inhabiting the ocean.
   
     Chemical Oceanographers- use satellites in order to study the wind, waves, tides and currents of the ocean.

     Geological Oceanographers- study the physical features of the ocean floor using sonar which they use to aid them in making bathymetric maps.

     Geophysical Oceanographers- Study oil below the ocean floor with the aid of drilling ships

     Oceanographic Engineers- Make instruments such as FLIP (seen above) to aid oceanographers in their research