1 / 41

Data by Design: Engineering Solutions for Sea Lion Research

Data by Design: Engineering Solutions for Sea Lion Research. a marine science and engineering curriculum for 5 th – 12 th grades. Lisa Mulcahy, MarEPOsa Dr. William Hanshumaker, OSU Dr. Markus Horning, OSU. Seguam Island, Aleutian Islands, AK July 1970. Steller sea lions. ?.

nuala
Download Presentation

Data by Design: Engineering Solutions for Sea Lion Research

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Data by Design: Engineering Solutions for Sea Lion Research a marine science and engineering curriculum for 5th – 12th grades Lisa Mulcahy, MarEPOsa Dr. William Hanshumaker, OSU Dr. Markus Horning, OSU

  2. Seguam Island, Aleutian Islands, AK July 1970 Stellersea lions

  3. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Seguam Island, Aleutian Islands, AK July 2007 Steller sea lionThe largest of the ‘eared seals’ – otariids • Males:- 2,500 lbs defend territories June - August • Females: up to - 600 lbs

  4. Steller sea lion population 1970’s to 2007 170,000 Endangered Species Act listing & unexplained decline has led to severe restrictions on largest commercial fishery in US (Alaskan groundfish) Steller sea lions counts in Western Alaska 1970’s: > 170,000 2007: 45,000endangered 1970 2007 Source: NMFS

  5. Scientists at OSU are using telemetry to learn how Steller sea lions are dying. Telemetry is the science and technology of measuring things remotely that allows information to be obtained by a wire, radio, satellite, data recorder or other device such as a tag.

  6. Satellite Telemetry in Steller Sea Lions

  7. Curriculum: Marine Science & Engineering

  8. http://www.sealtag.org

  9. How can this curriculum & website address your needs? • Website: visual learners, reading material & teacher background • Curriculum: • Common Core Standards: • Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects • Mathematics • Ocean Literacy Principles • National Science Standards • Oregon Science Engineering Standards

  10. Lessons • 5th – 8th • Buoyancy • Temperature • Populations • 9th – 12th • Engineering Tradeoffs • Thermal Transfer • Electromagnetic shielding

  11. Electromagnetic Shielding NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS • Content Standard A: Science as Inquiry • Content Standard B: Physical Science • Content Standard E: Science and Technology OCEAN LITERACY PRINCIPLES • The Earth supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems. • The ocean is largely unexplored.

  12. Electromagnetic Shielding 9th-12th Test the principles of electromagnetic shielding using a cell phone. Faraday’s Cage • external electrical field causes the charges to rearrange, which cancels the field inside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Faraday_cage.gif

  13. Picture of Faraday’s Cage Setup

  14. Learning Procedure 1. Introduce electromagnetic radiation, how cell phones work, and Faraday’s cage. 2. Ask if radio waves can travel through tissue. Ask students how they would test this. 3. Ask students to predict what will happen to the signal strength (number of bars) of a transmitter in air, in a Faraday’s cage, and under saltwater. 4. Challenge students to think about how they would design a room that would prevent cell phone signals.

  15. Buoyancy NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS • Content Standard B: Physical Science • Content Standard E: Science and Technology • Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives • Content Standard G: History and Nature of Science OCEAN LITERACY PRINCIPLES • Principle 5 & 7 ENGINEERING IN THE OREGON SCIENCE STNDS. Included with your materials

  16. How many batteries? 5th-8th Apply the principles of buoyancy to design their own “transmitter”. Buoyancy : • is a force exerted by a fluid, that opposes an object's weight

  17. Picture of Buoyancy Setup

  18. Learning Procedure Students use the formula for the volume of a cylinder to calculate the water displacement due to buoyancy. Students use the water displacement weight to calculate the number of batteries (pennies) to put in the “tag” for a given amount of floatation. Teachers and students engage in a discussion of tradeoffs.

  19. Activity Adjusts to Grade Level 5th– experiment with how flotation changes with # of batteries 6th – As above, with a discussion introducing tradeoffs 7th – Calculate how many batteries for a specific flotation based on volume, introduce tradeoffs 8th – Calculate how many batteries for a specific flotation based on volume; Discuss tradeoff between battery & floatation 9th-12th – Calculate optimal battery size based on # of transmissions/battery and # of transmissions satellite receives, which decreases with floatation

  20. Formulas/Information • Volume of cylinder (V) = Pi r2 x height • Mass, m = pV • p = density of water 1g/cm3 • Weight of tube = 22.1g • Weight of battery 2.5g

  21. Acknowledgements, Permits • Jo-Ann Mellish (Alaska Sea Life Center), Roger Hill (Wildlife Computers) • Photo credits: Alaska Dept. Fish & Game, Jason Waite • Funding through: • North Pacific Marine Research Program • The National Science FoundationNMFS Permits # 1034-1685, 881-1668

  22. Thank You! For more information contact Lisa Mulcahy at science.writer@mareposa.com Visit our table during the break!

  23. Extra Information for Questions

  24. Pinnipeds: • Seals true seals • Sea lions, fur seals eared seals • Walrus • 35+ species globally • Galápagos fur seal(40 – 140 lbs) • Southern elephant seal(800 – 8,000 lbs) • Shore-, ice-based breeding • resident / migrating • Diet: fish, shellfish, squid, birds Steller sea lion - Prince William Sound, AK

  25. Fin-footed facts: • Dives to 1,700 m depthNorthern elephant seals • Dives of 1 ½ hoursWeddell seals • Bi-annual migrationsNorthern elephant seals swim 20 – 40,000 km / yr • Highly variable suckling period (lactation)1-3 years - Galápagos fur seal 30-40 % milk fat 4-8 days - Harp seal up to 60% milk fat Weddell seal sleeping in ice hole Ross Sea, Antarctica

  26. Pinnipeds in Oregon: • Harbor seals • Northern elephant seals • Steller sea lions • California sea lionsmales outside of breeding season • Very rare visitors: • Northern fur seals • Guadalupe fur seals

  27. Steller sea lion population 1970’s to 2007 170,000 Eastern Steller sea lions counts including Oregon, CA, WA, BC, SE-AK 1970: 20,000 2002: 46,000threatened Steller sea lions counts in Western Alaska 1970’s: > 170,000 2007: 45,000endangered 1970 2007 Source: NMFS

  28. Mortality What LHX tags tell us • Using temperature and light we can infer how the animal died. Non-traumatic death (e.g. disease, starvation)

  29. Predation What LHX tags tell us Dramatic rapid cooling infers that the tag has been released Traumatic death - predation

  30. What have we learned? • From earlier research: • 70% of weaned animals die before the age of 5 • Results since 2005: • 36 young sea lions released with LHX tags in Prince William Sound • 11 animals died • How did they die?

  31. What have we learned? • Conclusion since 2005: • At least 10 of 11 died by predation • Transient killer whales are likely responsible for the majority of deaths in young Steller sea lions

  32. Productivity Mortality Temperature and Dive Pattern in A Sea Otter Temperature can be used to detect births.

  33. The Life History Transmitter Productivity Mortality • LHX2 Tag • Half the size of the old LHX1 tag • Can detect births using the animal’s body temperature

More Related