New Ocean Color-hands-on activity National Aeronautics and Space Administration Tell you a bit about NASA Science. New Ocean Color-hands-on activity designed to teach how scientists measure ocean biology Stephanie Schollaert Uz

New Ocean Color -hands-on activity designed to teach how scientists measure ocean biology Spectrophotometry activity: Make littleBits® electronic kits using red-green-blue LED light and light sensor. Measure light absorption by water samples vs control: blue (plant food) for oligotrophic ocean green (food dye, drop of milk) for productive water tan (tea) for Color Dissolved Organic Matter Calculate ratios of absorption by colored/clear water, plot spectra, compare measurements of each sample. Discuss ocean color satellite measurements. Karenia brevis bloom near west coast of Florida August 8, 2014 in visible bands of the Aqua MODIS sensor. Image courtesy of NASA Ocean Color Group. Debuted at recent public venues: Ocean-theme Family Fun Fair at McKinley Elementary School, Arlington, VA. Assisted by student intern from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Ocean Color introduction on November 14th for physics-focused high school seniors from Anne Arundel, MD preparing to conduct their own remote sensing science project. ‘Water World’ Sunday Experiment on November 16th at the NASA GSFC Visitor’s Center, Greenbelt, MD. Assisted by student intern from St. Alban’s High School. Picture including children has signed (e-mailed) consent of their parents (on file with Stephanie Schollaert Uz). Events reached approximately 250 people (150 Fun Fair, 15 Physics Seniors, 75 Sunday Experiment, ages 4-adult). People changed knowledge. Learned about ocean optics, how phytoplankton can be measured in situ, how those measurements can be used to calibrate ocean color measurements and how important and how recent it is that satellites have been able to get a large scale view of Earth’s chlorophyll concentrations (a proxy for phytoplankton). The importance of phytoplankton and why we care about phytoplankton was also learned. Goals were met and we were pleasantly surprised by the interest and enthusiasm with which all participants – young and old – took careful measurements, recorded them, calculated ratios and plotted spectra. Even younger kids participated throughout the entire activity and seemed to gain some understanding, Stephanie Schollaert Uz stephanie.uz@nasa.gov