This video takes students into a NOAA Laboratory in Seattle and discusses ocean acidification and the challenge of measuring the global pH in the oceans.
Students will learn about the competition sponsored by the XPrize Foundation to come up with an engineering solution to accurately capture the data.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This video provides interviews with real scientists doing research to help quantify how acidic our oceans are becoming.
It also provides inspiration for students who want to become scientists and engineers.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be familiar with the terms ocean acidification and climate change.
Differentiation:
From 1:25-2:38, there is a good animation of how carbon dioxide acidifies the ocean and a description of how much carbon we're putting into the ocean.
Beginning at 4:20, the video discusses why ocean acidification is dangerous for marine organisms and compares it to our blood becoming acidic, which can be deadly.
Engineering and science students can use this video as a hook for learning about green careers, the importance of data in science and technology, and connecting to topics such as the scientific method, data analysis, and innovations in science.
Scientist Notes
This is a credible resource to spur students to design instruments for measuring ocean acidification with good accuracy to predict and respond to the impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems. The resource is recommended.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
ETS1: Engineering Design
MS-ETS1-2 Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
HS-ETS1-3 Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
