The story so far…
At the heart of this story is an uncrewed mini-boat named the Lancer! It was originally made by students form Waterford High in the US, as part of the Educational Passages Miniboat programme. These students launched the boat across the Atlantic, complete with high tech tracking equipment, so it could collect important data on sea surface temperature throughout its journey.
Having crossed the Atlantic successfully, it was adopted by students from Tor Bridge High School in Plymouth. Thanks to students across the South West, and Ocean experts at the Ocean Conservation Trust, the boat is now equipped with brand new environmental sensors capable of recording sea surface temperature data as it goes – providing a valuable insight into the changing temperature of our Ocean. It has been launched off the coast of Tenerife and is now on its way back to the Americas, collecting data throughout its journey for schools around the world to access.
How your pupils can get involved…
Option 1: Track the Lancer from the classroom
The Lancer’s journey is being tracked on the Educational Passages website: Lancer – Educational Passages. This can be easily accessed from the classroom or as an independent study project for students keen to follow the journey. From map-based work to data analysis and graph plotting, there are lots of engaging activities that can be carried out with your pupils. For ideas on how to use the data in the classroom, please download the following guide using the button below.
Option 2: Work with a partner school
Why not carry out the above activities whilst partnering up with another school from around the Atlantic? Climate change is a global issue, so this is a great opportunity to connect to a class in another part of the world to share your perspectives on climate change, and perhaps even develop a joint project together. If you choose to get involved, we will endeavour to partner you up with a well-matched school, whose pupils are of a similar age group and share the same interests as your class. You can sign up on the button below.
Option 3: Get involved with the Ocean Climate Nexus Conference
As part of this international effort, the OCT is proud to be hosting the first Ocean-Climate Nexus Conference at the National Marine Aquarium on Thursday 30th and Friday 31st March 2023. The conference is intended to put student voice and expression at the heart of the conversation about climate change. Through their participation in this event, young climate ambassadors from around the world will come together as a digital and physical community to share their experiences, innovations, and aspirations around climate change.
If you choose to attend in person:
- Pupils can develop a science fair project to present at the conference. Their project could be a model, a play, a video, a piece of art – the list goes on! Pupils can also attend talks from leading climate scientists and will get the chance to explore our immersive exhibits.
If you choose to get involved digitally:
- Pupils can develop their science fair project digitally by submitting it to our O.C.N Gallery. Their project could be a short video or animation themed around the topic of climate change. Pupils will also be able to watch live-online presentations from leading climate scientists and join a free Virtual Tour of the UK’s largest public aquarium.
Pupils will need to be in groups of no more than 12 and can be in any year group. There is no limit to how many groups can sign up from your school!
DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES!