Open Inquiry APP 3

I thoroughly enjoyed the open inquiry activity that I completed for week three. I originally chose www.theweatherchannelkids.com as my website of interest in week two. As I looked around the website for inquiry activity ideas, I found myself on the Online Resources Guide section of the site. From there, I had options to visit the NOAA website, the National Hurricane website, and many others. I chose the NOAA site and found information relating to coral reefs and ocean temperatures. Having just taught about coral reefs and the process of bleaching (which is when the coral dies as a result of its algae dying), this caught my eye.
I went through the website's tutorial on coral bleaching and weather, which took a while. After learning the terminology and how to read the complicated graphs, I was able to research data from specific reefs around the world. I chose Sombrero Reef, which is off the coast of Key West in Florida. I was able to track monthly temperatures that were recorded and compared these to the monthly averages. I learned that as water temperature rose above the average for any extended periods of time, the coral was being stressed. If stressed for a long enough period of time, the coral will die.
I collected information for the year 2009. I recorded monthly averages versus actual temperatures each month. I put my data into a table and then made a line graph to show the monthly trends. By plotting two lines (one for average and one for actual temperatures), I was able to visualize any extended periods of time that the coral was being stressed.
I think this was a great inquiry activity. I think the tutorial on the NOAA website was fitting for an adult, but might be a little difficult for younger children. Due to this, I would say that if I were to use this in class, I would create my own background lesson. I would teach students the appropriate terminology and how to interpret the graphs. Here's a sample graph for the year 2010:

Students can choose coral reefs from anywhere in the world and collect data monthly or yearly. They can do what I did, which was to look at one year and temperatures for each month. Students could also look at periods of stress for each year if they choose.
I like the amount of information the site offers, one just needs to learn to move through it and not get overwhelmed by it all!
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/current/sst_series_sombrero_cur.html