Audiences: Focused on reaching requirements of the Boy Scouts Oceanography Merit Badge. Boy Scouts range from grades hours.

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1 Oceangraphy Merit Badge Objective: Intrduce students t the study f ceangraphy by fcusing n the prperties f sea water, planktn, waves, and the gegraphy f the sea flr. We will custmize ur Save the Bay prgram t fcus n Narragansett Bay s prperties. Audiences: Fcused n reaching requirements f the By Scuts Oceangraphy Merit Badge. By Scuts range frm grades hurs. Gals: The By Scuts will be able t 1. Identify the fur types f ceangraphy. 2. Define the chemical prperties f water and learn hw they are tested. 3. Identify the unique prperties f water. 4. Identify bilgically imprtant prperties f seawater by a planktn tw. 5. Understand the different tpgraphy f the bay and cean. Materials: Intrductin- STB chart, phts f 4 types f ceangraphy, Statin One- xygen & hydrgen atms, pennies, drpper, YSI, refractmeter, thermmeter, hydrmeter Statin Tw-pictures f planktn, benths, nektn; planktn tw Statin Three- weather instruments Activities: Intrductin 1. Save the Bay Intrductin (10 min): a. Wh? Save the Bay What? Educate, Prtect, and Restre Why? T ensure that the peple within the Narragansett Bay watershed are infrmed abut the need fr a healthy Narragansett Bay and land surrunding it. Be sure that they are prvided with ways they can help t Save the Bay. 2. Oceangraphy Intrductin (10 min): What is Oceangraphy? (Nt ne single definitin- divided between fur branches.) a. Shw large psters f ceangraphy braches and have the scuts discuss the prperties f each. b. Discuss why it is imprtant t study the cean and Narragansett Bay. i. Reference Sectin has additinal infrmatin abut branches and imprtance. 3. Discuss hw prgram will wrk. Scuts will divide int 3 grups and rtate t statins every 30 minutes. Statins Divide int 3 Statins. Rtate every 30 minutes. (90 minutes) 1. Water Chemistry a. Why is water special? i. Have the large mdels f xygen and hydrgen atms.

2 1. Ask the scuts what the smallest parts that all living things are made up f. Cntinue t say that Atms cmbine t make mlecules. 2. Shw them hw xygen and hydrgen cmbine t make water. ii. Explain the prperties that make water special. 1. Chesin- the intermlecular attractin between likemlecules- WATER STICKS TO WATERa. Use a penny t see hw many drps f water can fit n the tp f a penny. 2. Adhesin- tendency f dissimilar particles and/r surfaces t cling t ne anther WATER STICKS TO OTHER MOLECULES- 3. Water expands when it freezes. Think abut an ice tray what happens t the water. iii. Is cean water just water mlecules? 1. Explain that there are ther gases and nutrients in sea water. 2. Ask them if they can think f any elements, gases, r nutrients that may be in the Bay. 3. Cnservative elements: sdium (Na), chlride (Cl-), sulfate (SO4), magnesium (Mg 2+), calcium (Ca), and ptassium (K) b. Water chemistry. Nw that we knw it is unique, hw d we test water s prperties? i. Cllect a water sample. 1. Use a YSI after first prperty test, if available, t shw that there are different ways t test water prperties. ii. Test fr salinity by using a refractmeter. 1. Ask them hw evapratin r precipitatin wuld change the salinity f water. iii. Test fr Temperature by using a thermmeter. iv. Test fr density by using a hydrmeter. 2. Planktn a. Discuss sme f the bilgically imprtant prperties f seawater. i. Shw the large pictures and have the scuts cme up with a definitin fr the grup. 1. Benths 2. Nektn 3. Planktn b. Planktn Cllectin n Alletta Mrris i. Staff sets up nets ii. Staff discusses planktn- zplanktn, phytplanktn iii. Staff uses micrscpe t find and fcus n planktn. Nw, the scuts can see the planktn n the TV.

3 iv. Scuts will use identificatin materials t identify planktn. 3. Water and Weather This statin will invlve three main bservatins that uncver the principle causes f weather and climate. a. Wind Directin and intensity i. Using a cmpass, anemmeter, and the pwer f individual bservatins we will determine the dminant wind directin and speed. 1. This will invlve learning cmpass directins and ding speed calculatins using nautical miles. If we are in r arund the water we will bserve the effects f the wind n wave actin. ii. During these bservatins the scuts shuld discuss the effect f large bdies f water n the weather and climate. 1. Accunt fr Strm Surge, tsunami, tidal wave, and tidal bre. b. Clud Cver i. Using a clud chart and active bservatin we will determine the type f cluds and the %cver in the visible sky. ii. Frm this we can extraplate the effects f cluds n the prductivity f phytplanktn and the disslved xygen in the bay. iii. We can als discuss what varius clud types mean with regards t changes in weather and precipitatin. c. Tides i. Using bservatins and a tide table we will determine the state f the tide at the time f the bservatins and relate this t the currents that will affect the bay at that time. ii. This discussin can center n the gravitatinal relatinship between the earth, mn, and sun that creates the tides. iii. Discuss specifics f cean waves- Sea, swell, surf, and breakers. Cnclusin (10 minutes) 1. Bring the grups tgether and talk abut the different branches f ceangraphy and hw they can expand their knwledge with mre research. 2. Save The Bay Clsing with emphasis n Imprtance f Oceangraphy.

4 Reference Materials The fur branches f ceangraphy: Bilgical ceangraphy (marine bilgy) study f plants, animals, and micrbes f the ceans and their eclgical interactin with the cean Chemical ceangraphy (marine chemistry) Study f the chemistry f the cean and its chemical interactin with the atmsphere Gelgical ceangraphy (marine gelgy) Study f the gelgy f the cean flr including plate tectnics Physical ceangraphy (marine physics) Study f cean s physical attributes including salinity, mixing, waves, tides) Describe at least five reasns why it is imprtant fr peple t learn abut the ceans Fd surce New supplies f fresh water by use f desalinatin plants Surce f the wrld s salt supply Many different chemicals and minerals are fund in the ceans Oil and gas trapped beneath the seaflr Slar, Wind, and water energy Study the cean t learn affects n weather and climate patterns Water Prperties Salinity- measurement f the amunt f salts disslved in a water sample. It is measured in parts per thusand (ppt) What are sme surces f salinity in Narragansett Bay? Tides. The level f the tide affects the amunt f salt water mixing with freshwater. If the tide is incming- the salinity will be higher- if the tide is utging the water is rushing ut f the bay and the salinity will be lwer. Precipitatin. Rain/Snw/Sleet all affect the amunt f fresh water levels in the Bay. If there has been a lt f rain within the past cuple f days the salinity will be affected. Depth f water clumn. The depth f water that yu take yur salinity measurements. Runff. Runff is water running ff f the land and int the nearest river, lake, stream r Bay. Runff is a cntributr t salts in the Bay due t chemicals put n the land that cntain salts. Hw t measure salinity in Narragansett Bay. The instrument we use t measure salinity in the water is called a YSI meter. It is used t measure DO, temperature, and salinity. Basically it is a small

5 cmputer with a prbe, attached t the bttm f the crd, which des all the wrk fr yu. Questins t think abut after yu are dne with all f yur measurements. Did the salinity measurements increase r decrease as yu went further int the water clumn? Why? What was the tide ding when yu did yur test? Hw did it affect yur results? What part f the Bay where yu in when yu tk yur measurements? Hw did that affect yur results? Temperature- Temperature is the measure f the average mvement f atms and mlecules within the water system. What are sme f the surces that affect temperature in Narragansett Bay? Sun. The presence r absence f the sun can increase r decrease the temperature f the water. Plants. The increased prductin f plants due t t many nutrients in the water can increase the temperature f the water because their verabundance slws dwn the natural mvement f water and the plants act as a sun trap. Strmwater Runff. Run-ff brings chemicals frm the land int the bay. This can increase the temperature f the water directly r cause a chemical reactin that prduces heat as a byprduct. Nuclear Pwer Plant. Thermal pllutin frm pwer plant cling statins can raise nearby water temperatures. Measured by mercury thermmeter and YSI. Density- measure f the amunt f material held in a certain space. Measured by a hydrmeter Determined by the interactins between salinity, temperature, and pressure There are many different salts, gases, and nutrients in the seawater. Cnservative elements: sdium (Na), chlride (Cl-), sulfate (SO4), magnesium (Mg 2+), calcium (Ca), and ptassium (K) T use the YSI meter: The crd is marked in meters (silver duct tape) and half meters ( green tape) Yu will be taking readings at different depths surface (planktnic zne) middle (nektnic zne) the bttm (benthic zne) Smene will tell yu the depth f water the bat is in fr yu t get the depth yu shuld be measuring at OR yu can lk n Captain Eric s fish finder/ GPS t find ut the depth fr yurself. Salinity is measured in parts per thusand (ppt)

6 Planktn Planktn are micrscpic plants and animals in the water that frm the basis f the fd chain in Narragansett Bay. There are tw types f planktn: phytplanktn (plant) and zplanktn (animal). Hw des planktn get int the water? Reprductin. Planktn gets in the water frm plants and animals reprducing. Planktn are basically plant and animal babies. Sunlight. The sun s rays plays a very imprtant par tin the prductin f phytplanktn. Hw d we cllect planktn frm the water? We cllect planktn using a planktn tw net. The net has very fine mesh (small hles) that nly allw water t escape. The planktn get caught in the net. Imprtant Definitins during Weather Strm surge- ffshre rise f water assciated with a lw pressure weather system Tsunami- Series f water waves caused by the displacement f a large vlume f bdy f water Tidal bre- large mvement f water frmed by the funneling f the incming tide int a river r narrw bay Sea- refers t a large expanse f saline water cnnected with an cean and cmmnly used as a synnym fr cean Swell- frmatin f lng wavelength surface waves Surf- where water breaks at surface Breakers- frm when the trugh (r wave) hits the bttm and rises tward the shre, the crest falls, then the wave breaks up