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Center for Image Processing in Education

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

National Science Foundation

This page contains links to educational resources of use to participants in the Ocean Explorers project and other educators who are interested in its mission. Resources included on this page include educational standards, software downloads, videos, instructional materials, lesson plans, and much more. Click on the links listed below to access particular resources.

Categories
Data and ResourcesOcean Explorers Publications
Educational StandardsPhotographs
GIS HelpSpecial Topics
Global Positioning System (GPS)Software
Information Technology EducationVideo and Visualizations
Lesson PlansWater Web sites
Ocean Explorers Information 

Data

BASINS
The Better Assessment Science Integrating Point & Nonpoint Sources (BASINS) Web site provides data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for every watershed in the United States. Data sets include elevation, streams, main roads, dams, land use patterns, and toxic release sites. Information on how to access local BASINS data is available from ESRI.
California Spatial Information Library (CASIL)
The California Spatial Information Library (CASIL) provides downloads of shapefiles, aerial images, satellite data, digitized topographic maps, and other GIS data.
Davey Jones’ Locker Treasure Chest of Web Links

This “treasure trove of links” is offered as a service of Dawn Wright’s Davey Jones’ Locker lab to help seafloor mapping and marine and coastal GIS specialists, students, and interested parties to find helpful information and data. The site is maintained by Dr. Dawn Wright and her graduate students at Oregon State University.

GIS Data Depot
GIS Data Depot provides a large collection of free spatial data including TIGER Census Data, Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), National Wetlands Index digital data files, and Digital Line Graphs (DLGs). Digital Ortho Quadrants (DOQQs), Digital Raster Graphics (DRGs). and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) data are available to download for a fee.
NOAA Coastal Assessment and Data Synthesis Site
The Coastal Assessment and Data Synthesis project provides ocean data with national (continental United States) coverage.
NOAA Coastwatch Central Operations
NOAA Coastwatch Central Operations makes data and imagery available from a variety of sensors and satellites, including sea surface temperature, ocean chlorophyll, and ocean surface winds data.
NOAA Coastwatch West Coast Regional Node
The NOAA Coastwatch West Coast Regional Node is one of several sites throughout the United States set up for the processing and distribution of CoastWatch information.
NOAA Drifting Buoy Data Assembly Center
Each year, several hundred drifting buoys are deployed by NOAA to track currents and oceanic conditions. NOAA’s Drifting Buoy Data Assembly Center provides links to all of the drifting buoys currently deployed. Summary charts and individual buoy data are available.
NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC)
The NDBC provides links to each of the stationary weather buoys operated by NOAA. Most of their buoys are located in near shore waters surrounding the continental United States. Current (updated hourly) and historical data are available for viewing and download.
NOAA Ocean Planning Information System (OPIS) Web Site
The OPIS Web site provides coastal and marine GIS data for the southeastern United States (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida) for use in conservation and resource management. Data categories include geo-regulation, ocean use, marine protected areas, physical resources, living resources, economic resources, hazards, political boundaries, and federal jurisdiction.
PO.DAAC Ocean ESIP Tool (POET)
The Physical Oceanography Distribution Archive Center (PO.DAAC) Ocean Earth Science Information Partner Tool (POET) is a project of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. POET provides current and archived sea surface temperature, sea surface temperature anomaly, wind speed, and ocean height data on a global or regional scale. The user defines the region and dates of interest. Data are downloaded as geo-registered TIFF files.
Terraserver
Terraserver provides free public access to a vast data store of maps and aerial photographs of the United States.
TIGER
The TIGER Data download site provides ArcView shapefiles that contain data about the following features:

Line Features—roads, railroads, hydrography, and transportation and utility lines.
Boundary Features—statistical (e.g., census tracts and blocks); government (e.g., places and counties); and administrative (e.g., congressional and school districts).
Landmark Features—point (e.g., schools and churches); area (e.g., parks and cemeteries); and key geographic locations (e.g., apartment buildings and factories).
USGS EROS Data Distributed Active Archive Center
The Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Distributed Active Archive Center of the U.S. Geological Survey provides elevation data for the United States and world in GIF images on CD-ROM. Each CD-ROM sells for $10 and covers a wide regional area. Data can also be downloaded on-line.
Educational Standards
Benchmarks for Science Literacy
The Benchmarks for Science Literacy of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science are statements of what all students should know or be able to do in science, mathematics, and technology by the end of grades 2, 5, 8, and 12.
Content Standards for California Public Schools
The Content Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, are designed to encourage the highest achievement of every student, by defining the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students should acquire at each grade level.
National Geography Standards
The National Geography Standards of the National Council for Geographic Education are part of H.R. 1804, Goals 2000: Educate America Act.
National Science Education Standards
The National Science Education Standards of the National Academy of Science outline what students need to know, understand, and be able to do to be scientifically literate at different grade levels.
Standards for Technological Literacy
The Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology (STL) of the International Technology Education Association articulate what needs to be taught in K–12 laboratory-classrooms to enable all students to develop technological literacy.
NSTA Position Statement on Inquiry-Based Education
The NSTA Position Statement on Inquiry-Based Education outlines the official position of the National Science Teachers Association with regard to the teaching of scientific inquiry.
Technology for All Americans
Technology for All Americans: A Rationale and Structure for the Study of Technology of the International Technology Education Association presents the “universals” for the study of technology and describes how technology should be integrated into the core of the curriculum from kindergarten through high school and beyond.
Advancing Excellence in Technological Literacy
Advancing Excellence in Technological Literacy: Student Assessment, Professional Development, and Program Standards of the International Technology Education Association is a companion document to the STL. It was developed as a means for implementing STL in K–12 laboratory-classrooms.
GIS Help

How to Create and Import an Event Table for ArcView 9 (PDF 160 KB)
This “cheat sheet” describes how to create a data table in Microsoft Excel and import it as a map layer into ESRI’s ArcView 9 software. Download the Excel spreadsheet and .DBF file used in the example.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

Geocaching.com
Geocaching.com provides detailed information about the adventure sport of finding caches established by enthusiasts around the world.
Information Technology Education
East Initiative
The East Initiative promotes the intellectual growth of all students by engaging them in an educational environment steeped in emerging technologies and focused on self-direction and community service.
Educators’ Web Site for Information Technology
The Educators’ Web Site for Information Technology (EWIT) is a learning community of academic and technical educators and community-based and business partnerships. EWIT supports the innovative use of IT skills and academic standards to enhance learning and to develop IT skills for work.
National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology, and Science
The National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology, and Science provides the tools to successfully integrate women into male-dominated careers—such as technology and law enforcement—via training, publications, products, e-strategies, and technical assistance.
National Technology Plan
The National Technology Plan Web site of the U.S. Department of Education describes successful initiatives and partnerships developed at the state level by school districts and by individual schools. A series of recommendations for enhancing the use and benefits of new technologies is also provided.
YouthLearn.org
YouthLearn.org offers youth development professionals and educators comprehensive services and resources for using technology to create exciting learning environments.
Lesson Plans
Invisible Boundaries
Invisible Boundaries is a lesson from CIPE’s Mapping an Ocean Sanctuary materials. Formatted for ArcView 3.x, the lesson introduces students to the influences that geophysical characteristics of an ocean ecosystem have on the distribution of fish and marine mammal species.
Invisible Boundaries AJEE
Invisible Boundaries is a lesson from CIPE’s Mapping an Ocean Sanctuary materials. This draft adaptation of the lesson for ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education (AJEE) introduces students to the influences that geophysical characteristics of an ocean ecosystem have on the distribution of fish species in the Sanctuary. To use the lesson, download the zipped lesson archive (9.1 MB) and follow the instructions in the “Important Information” PDF included in the archive.
Long-term Monitoring Program and Experiential Training for Students (LiMPETS)
LiMPETS is a collaborative effort of the five west coast national marine sanctuaries to (1) stablish a long-term, quantitative intertidal and offshore monitoring program that can be used by the sanctuaries, other concerned organizations, and the public in general to assess the health of local rocky and sandy intertidal and offshore habitats and (2) increase the understanding and appreciation of the intertidal and offshore habitats by the general public through the direct involvement of high school and middle school teachers, their students, and adult volunteer groups.
Marine Reserves: Where do You Fit In?
In this simulation developed by the Jason Foundation for Education, students take the role of one of the stakeholders in a working group to establish new marine reserve areas near Anacapa Island, California.
Ocean of Images
“An Ocean of Images” uses the ImageJ software from the National Institutes of Health to provide a basic introduction to image analysis for ocean science education. To use the lesson, first create a folder labeled “OE_Images” on your hard drive. Then, download either the print or screen version of the lesson and move it into the OE_Images folder. Print the lesson. (Note that Adobe Acrobat 5 or higher is required to view and print the document.) Next, download the “Lesson Images” and “Color Tables” archives. Move the archives to the OE_Images folder and unzip them. Finally, follow the instructions in the lesson text.

Print Version (PDF 5.3 MB)
Screen Version (PDF 880 KB)
Lesson Images (Zipped Archive 5.5 MB)
Color Tables (Zipped Archive 28 KB)
Underwater Treasures
In “Underwater Treasures,” students learn about our national marine sanctuaries while also reviewing basic Cartesian map skills. This GIS-based lesson is accomplished without GIS software!

Ocean Explorers Information
Project Goals
Read the goals of the Ocean Explorers project.
Project Proposal
Download and view the original project proposal.
Ocean Explorers Sharing Page
View Powerpoint presentations and other documents developed by the Ocean Explorers project (For OE participants only. Password required. Contact [email protected] for more information.)
Ocean Explorers Publications
SITE 2005 Poster and Poster Paper
View the poster (PDF 1 MB) and read the poster paper (PDF 184 KB) presented at the 16th annual conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE).
SITE 2005 Symposium Paper
Read a paper prepared by the Ocean Explorers staff and evaluator about the first year evaluation of the project. (PDF 180 KB)
Photographs

Ocean Explorers Image Galleries
View the photograph galleries of the Ocean Explorers project.
Software

Software Downloads and Information
Access information about GIS and image analysis software from CIPE’s web site. The Web page provides links for downloading many types of free and demonstration software.
Special Topics

December 26, 2004 Tsunami
Before and after satellite images of the region affected by the tsunami

GIS data relevant to the tsunami

Information on the Great Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami from the Pacific Disaster Center

National Science Digital Libraray “Ask NSDL” featured category: Tsunamis

Special Tsunami edition of the National Association of Biology Teachers News and Views newsletter

NASA Earth Observatory Images and Interpretation

Tsunami damage in Aceh Province, Sumatra
Tsunami Destroys Lhoknga, Indonesia
Phuket, Thailand
Tsunami Damage in Northwest Sumatra
Tsunami Strikes Sri Lanka
One minute tidal data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Satellite images from the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing at the National University of Singapore

Video and Visualizations

Mapping an Ocean Sanctuary Workshop
View the video of the Mapping an Ocean Sanctuary workshop, August 2003 (QuickTime, 93 MB)
Visualizations of CINMS Bathymetric Data
Constructed by Ron Rinehart of Dawn Wright’s laboratory at Oregon State University using the Fledermaus software from Interactive Visualization Systems (IVS 3D).

Download and install the free iView 3D viewer
Download and view labeled and nonlabeled scenes (59 MB each file)
Water Web sites

Water Science for Schools
The Water Science for Schools Web site offers information on many aspects of water, along with pictures, data, maps, and an interactive center where teachers and students can give opinions and test their water knowledge.