This
quarter, I’m teaching Introductory Oceanography, a general education class at
UCSB, so I’m constantly looking for new, relevant stories in science, as well
as neat technology and media to use in the classroom to engage students and enhance
learning. I recently came across this website http://earth.nullschool.net/ with some
really sexy visualizations of “current” atmospheric and ocean circulation that
I want to use in the classroom. I think it would be an effective tool to
demonstrate atmospheric circulation, winds, ocean circulation, or waves, either
in a lecture setting, or as a group work lab assignment. Teachers can let students
play around with visualization of atmospheric wind velocities at different
heights in the atmosphere, ocean surface circulation or waves, and sea surface
temperature anomalies relative to the average across years 1981-2011.
One
timely example is to investigate air travel times between New York City and
London by exploring the wind velocity visualization at 250 hPa to observe the
speed of the winds at ~10,500 m above Earth’s surface, the height of the jet
stream in the atmosphere. Students could record the wind velocity from the Earth
visualization, and use the travel distance between NYC and London to calculate
the travel time of a jet flying in the same direction as the jet stream. How might
the travel time change when a jet is flying in the headwind of the jet stream?
Would the flight path be altered in consideration of a strong jet stream?
...and check this out, somebody has already used this visualization tool to enhance this "screamin jet stream" story http://www.iflscience.com/environment/commercial-plane-reaches-near-supersonic-speeds-during-flight-london
...and check this out, somebody has already used this visualization tool to enhance this "screamin jet stream" story http://www.iflscience.com/environment/commercial-plane-reaches-near-supersonic-speeds-during-flight-london
I just wanted to say that, from a student point of view/someone who hasn't really studied oceanography, I think that website with the visualization of atmospheric and ocean circulation is incredibly cool looking. :) I think it would be a great tool/resource to use in your class.
ReplyDeleteI think a key component of the "nullschool" website is that students can "play around" and see what happens if parameters change (e.g., different heights, ocean circulation or waves). And real-life examples (the flight to London) are always good!
ReplyDeleteI think the resolution of the model limits this to introducing atmospheric circulation, surface ocean currents and waves...maybe not the best tool for asking students to really dig into the data, but great for a "big picture" perspective on winds in the atmosphere. Students can begin to build, in their minds, a 3D picture of atmospheric circulation.
ReplyDeleteHi Carly, I would like to learn how to use this platform in order to use it in my Spanish classes. I wonder if I could find some really sexy visualization to teach culture and the reading sections that sometime do not offer that much details to the students. Perhaps one day we can meet so you can show me how to use it. :)
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