Building oceanographic moorings in a non-lab introductory ocean science course

Abstract:

A methodology for building low-cost ocean moorings in an introductory ocean sciences course, using HOBO temperature and light pendants, is presented. The moorings, which collect water temperature and light intensity data at high temporal frequency and at multiple depths, are relatively inexpensive, with a total cost of approximately $15 to $30 per student, depending on the configuration. Deployments of multiple months, or even longer, are possible, but in this presentation two ~3-week long deployments are described. Students in an Introduction to Oceanography course at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington (USA) designed and constructed moorings for deployment in an enclosed harbor at depths of ~8 meters. The HOBO pendants integrated into the moorings were set to log observations at one hour intervals.

After mooring recovery students downloaded data, which were both incorporated into class lessons where feasible, but were also utilized in a fully inquiry-based research paper. The exercise was often cited in students’ evaluations as a highlight, and served to both teach and reinforce oceanographic concepts, introduce students to professional options within ocean science and engineering fields, and provide skills training (by requiring students to work in Excel for data manipulation, for example).