Marine Navigation Lesson Plan
We are pleased to present you with the fourth in a series of teaching and learning modules developed by the DEEPEND (Deep-Pelagic Nekton Dynamics) Consortium and their consultants. Whenever possible, the lessons will focus specifically on events of the Gulf of Mexico or work from the DEEPEND scientists.
All modules in this series aim to engage students in grades 6 through 12 in STEM disciplines, while promoting student learning of the marine environment. We hope these lessons enable teachers to address student misconceptions and apprehensions regarding the unique organisms and properties of marine ecosystems. We intend for these modules to be a guide for teaching. Teachers are welcome to use the lessons in any order, use just portions of lessons, and may modify the lessons as they wish. Furthermore, educators may share these lessons with other school districts and teachers; however, please do not receive monetary gain for lessons in any of the modules.
Fort Lauderdale Boat Show a Success
Thanks to all who stopped by the DEEPEND booth at the Fort Lauderdale Boat show. The show was a success despite a very rainy day on Saturday! Many thanks to all of the volunteers who helped out in the booth:
Rich Jones
Joe Lopez
Alex Marks
Rosanna Milligan
Mike Novotny
Nina Pruzinsky
Guillaume Rieucau
Sam Shore
Laura Timm
Sebastian Velez
Megan Weber
Blake Wilkins
Meet the Tiny Bacteria That Give Anglerfishes Their Spooky Glow
A close up profile of an adult anglerfish female from the Linophryne family collected in the northern region of the Gulf of Mexico. © 2016 DEEPEND/ Dante Fenolio
Descend two hundred meters (about 656 feet) below the surface and the ocean is reduced to total darkness. Creatures that live beyond the Twilight Zone spend their lives almost entirely in a near-limitless black expanse, save for a group of luminous fishes, invertebrates and bacteria that have evolved a special adaptation: bioluminescence.
Bioluminescence is the predominant source of light in the largest fraction of the habitable volume of the earth—the deep ocean. It’s thought that 90 percent of open ocean organisms produce light of some kind, and that this ability that has evolved many times. It serves a few predictable purposes, like possibly signaling to members of the same species or illuminating prey, along with some capricious ones like the ability to eject luminescent body parts in order to distract a predator.
DEEPEND at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show Nov. 4-6th
DEEPEND scientists will share information at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show about deep-sea organisms that live in the Gulf of Mexico and will have games to play and prizes to give out! All K-12 teachers should stop by our booth for a token of our appreciation.
Location: Coral Reef Pavillion, Bahia Mar
Dates: Friday, Nov 4-Sun, Nov 6, 2016
Times: 10am-5pm
DEEPEND presentations: 11am and 3pm each day
Life and Death in the Deep Ocean: Professor Tracey Sutton (GHOC, NOVA SE U)
The club is honored to have Professor Tracey Sutton speak about his research. He is the director and lead principal investigator of the "Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics Consortium (DEEPEND)", Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University. "Life and Death in the Deep Ocean" will detail what happens in the "dark" ocean that we never visit, and why it is so important. This will be a fascinating talk that U will not want to miss. Plus great food and drinks at Shenanigans East Side Pub at a very reasonable price, awesome company, and free door prizes. cheers, arthur
Follow DEEPEND's Trickle of Tweets
Follow DEEPEND on twitter with the hashtags #scaryfish and #DEEPEND from now until Halloween!
Talk about awesome Halloween Costumes. Humans have got NOTHING on these wonders of the deep. That’s right, every day creatures like this are doing what they do – swimming around in the deepest parts of our oceans. The diversity of these deep sea animals is something truly remarkable – how they’ve adapted to their surroundings and the status of their marine environments are things we’re studying at DEEPEND. So when you go to your Halloween party, see if anyone is dressed like a Dragonfish or a Fangtooth – now that would be really cool!
Update 10-21-16: Science in the Sun - Save the Date!
October 21-22, 2016
Planning is underway for the 6th Annual St. Petersburg Science Festival, a regional celebration where families and the public can explore the wonders of hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM). The 2016 festival will be held on October 21-22, along the waterfront campus of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. The event is held in conjunction with MarineQuest, the annual open house of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
DEEPEND will be represented at the Festival so stay tuned for details.
UPDATE: 10/21/16
Day 1 of the St. Pete Science Festival has just ended! Students from Pinellas county joined us for the day going through "mini lessons" to learn about what the DEEPEND team does. We had 10 very enthusiastic groups come by and everyone had fun while learning!
The public is invited to join DEEPEND and the rest of the festival tomorrow during day 2 of the event! Doors are open from 10-4pm. Stay tuned for more pictures from tomorrow's excitement!
Florida Branch of the American Society for Microbiology Presentation
NSU MS graduate student Lindsay Freed presented preliminary DEEPEND angler fish symbyosis data in the poster, "Characterization of Bacterial Symbionts within Anglerfish and Seawater from the Northern Gulf of Mexico " at the recent annual meeting of the Florida Branch of the American Society for Microbiology. The University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine Sciences (RSMAS) played host to about 125 scientists (mostly students) for a day and half of talks and posters.
