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City Surf Project Science Modules - Coggle Diagram
City Surf Project Science Modules
A - Waves & Tides Lessons
A1: What makes tides?
Moon+Earth (+Sun) Orbits
why twice a day?
tides are different across the globe
ACTIVITY: Observations within a day or across days of tides: how to they change by the hour and day? What changes with them?
MATERIALS: Print-out sheet with graphic of earth/moon
A2: What makes waves?
winds make waves!
in the winter, storms make lots of waves
in the summer, daily breezes do (small waves)
ACTIVITY: Observations of waves, stormy vs calm days. What makes waves in your bathtub? (Can use a shallow basin as an example)
MATERIALS: Printout of "overlapping swells" graphic
A3: Physical Geography of the Pacific Ocean & California Coast
Northern vs. Southern hemisphere
Direction & Distance of storms to our coast matters!
Upwelling & Winds
ACTIVITY: TBD
MATERIALS: Printed-out map of the Pacific Basin
A6: Wave Interactions with the Shore
Waves "feel" the bottom and break
Waves can drive some currents (like rips!)
ACTIVITIES: TBD
Materials: None
B2: Effects of Waves on Beaches
Wave "slap" can cause erosion
Waves can move sediment around
Notes on non-beach coastlines
(Note, this doesn't 100% need A3-6 before it, it can follow A2!)
ACTIVITY: TBD
MATERIALS: Graphic of summer vs. winter beach profiles
A4: Wave Travel & Wave Sets
Waves move at different speeds
What is a "wave train" or set?
Waves transform when they meet the coast
ACTIVITY: Act out what happens as waves "break/crash"
MATERIALS: None
A7: Climate Change Effects
Sea Level Rise will "enhance" tides
Stronger storms will make bigger waves
Maybe some effects on plants like kelp!
ACTIVITY: TBD
MATERIALS: None
A5: Wave statistics
Wave height
Wave period
Wave steepness
ACTIVITY: Watch the ocean and record height & period; compare it to nearby buoy readings.
MATERIALS: Device to see buoy reading site
B - Coastal Geomorphology Lessons
B1: What is sediment?
sand! and mud!
who cares about this stuff?
landscape is built out of sediment / coast is dynamic
ACTIVITY: Make a local map of how sediment is different across the beach
MATERIALS: None (well, some sand and mud)
B3: Where does sediment go?
sediment comes from the watershed
then it moves around the littoral cell, or offshore
ACTIVITY: Resuspending sand in a bucket/bin
MATERIALS: Bucket for activity
B4: Shapes of the Coast
beaches
rocky shores
bluffs
rocky coasts
marshes (bonus!)
ACTIVITY: Reflections on different places around the bay & what the shorelines are like there
MATERIALS: Map of shoreline types around the bay area
B5: California coastal change
CA sand tends to move north-to-south
Bluffs just erode... problems in Pacifica
CA is so built-up that problems are interesting
ACTIVITY: Create data about change observed
MATERIALS: None
B6: How is sediment used?
beach nourishment
habitat restoration
"whole system" thinking required
ACTIVITY: TBD
MATERIALS: None
C - Coastal Water Cleanliness Lessons
C1: How does stuff the coastal water?
flows off of land during storms or discharged or dumped
some examples: chemicals, trash, bacteria
some floats to the bottom/offshore, some remains coastal; depends on wave & tide currents
ACTIVITY: Collect data on what we observe entering/around the beach
MATERIALS: None
C2: Intro to microplastics
the degradation of lots of plastic things including fibers
fairly inert, so stuff just accumulates
health effects on humans
ACTIVITY: Observations on plastics near the coast & plastics in our lives
MATERIALS: None
C6: Health effects on the environment
Algal blooms
Poor fish health (e.g. mercury)
Growth suppression
ACTIVITY: Watch short video on algal blooms
MATERIALS: Device for watching
C3: Intro to N & P
Nitrogen & Phosphorous are natural but we've added a ton
They "cycle" but too much leads to problems
health effects on humans
ACTIVITY: TBD
MATERIALS: None
C4: Stormwater & Fecal Coliform
Extra pollutants from stormwater
Sewage Overflow
This can make you sick!
ACTIVITY: Find which wastewater treatment plant is connected to your house!
MATERIALS: Device & Internet
C5: Agriculture and Wastewater Treatment
WWTPs sit at low points. "Clean" but nutrient-rich (and etc...)
Agriculture pumps zones full of N & P
These link far-away things; Iowa to New Orleans
ACTIVITY: TBD
MATERIALS: None
C7: "Solution to Pollution is Dilution" is no longer true
Ocean has been seen as a dumping ground
Some people have suffered more than others (e.g. Hunters Pt in SF)
No longer "elsewhere" to put the bad stuff!
ACTIVITY: TBD
MATERIALS: None
Water Quality Testing Program