Photo story: What I did on summer vacation, NOAA edition

August 30, 2017

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Think summer is time to sit back and relax? Not if you’re building an underwater robot, measuring ocean salinity, or testing a wind turbine! Across the country, students and teachers kept their minds sharp in the lab and the great outdoors with NOAA educational opportunities. Here’s a look back at summer 2017 with NOAA.

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Building an underwater robot

Middle schoolers at NOAA Science Camp in Seattle Washington explore design considerations while creating a PVC Remotely Operated Vehicle. The three day ROV Mini-Session at Science Camp inspires students to explore STEM fields through hands-on learning, and introduces middle schoolers to scientists who use remotely operated data collection devices in their research. — Middle schoolers at NOAA Science Camp in Seattle, Washington explore design considerations while creating a PVC Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). The three day ROV Mini-Session at Science Camp inspires students to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields through hands-on learning, and introduces middle schoolers to scientists who use remotely operated data collection devices in their research. Credit: Eric Strickler, NOAA
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A first step to STEM

As part of the Research Experience for Community College Students program, participants learn from NOAA and Colorado University-Boulder mentors as they make field observations and think about possible research questions at CU Boulder’s Mountain Research Station. The program gives community college students an authentic research experience that allows them to explore environmental or geosciences and gain the confidence to transition to a four-year program in the STEM disciplines. — As part of the Research Experience for Community College Students program, community college students learn from NOAA and Colorado University-Boulder mentors as they make observations about mountain ecology and think about possible research questions at CU Boulder’s Mountain Research Station. The program gives participants an authentic research experience that allows them to explore environmental or geosciences and gain the confidence to transition to a four-year program in the STEM disciplines. Credit: Lesley Smith, NOAA
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A teacher takes the ocean’s temperature

NOAA scientist Dani Lipski (left) and NOAA Teacher at Sea Jenny Hartigan (right) deploy a Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) device aboard NOAA R/V Fulmar off the coast of California. The CTD helps scientists to measure environmental conditions. Read about Jenny Hartigan’s adventures researching the California Current ecosystem on the Teacher at Sea blog. Credit: C. Fish/NOAA/Point Blue/ACCESS
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Using film to tell a climate change story

A student looks through a video camera in Chautauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado. The Lens on Climate Change project at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences engages Colorado middle and high school students in film production that documents the effects of climate and environmental changes on their lives and in their communities. Credit: Ben Rand, NOAA
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Wind powered summer science

The wind energy team from the Appalachian Regional Commission/Oak Ridge Associated Universities Science Academy visited a wind tunnel facility at the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory’s Atmospheric Turbulence & Diffusion Division in June 2017 to have their wind turbines tested. The team included nine students from eight different Appalachian states. This is the seventh year the Atmospheric Turbulence & Diffusion Division participated in this annual event, which is a unique opportunity for young scientists — The wind energy team from the Appalachian Regional Commission/Oak Ridge Associated Universities Science Academy visited a wind tunnel facility at the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory in June 2017 to have their wind turbines tested. The team included nine students from eight different Appalachian states. This is the seventh year a Division of the Air Resources Laboratory participated in this annual event, which is a unique opportunity for young scientists to construct and test their own wind turbine designs. Credit: Oak Ridge Associated Universities
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Inflatable fish teach community about endangered species

Jolvan Morris, an environmental scientist with Integrated Statistics, Inc. in support of NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Office, staffed a booth with "Barbel Bill," a model Atlantic sturgeon, at an Endangered Species Day event at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, MA. Both shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon are protected under the Endangered Species Act due previous overfishing, ship strikes, incidental catch mortality, and several other human-caused factors. Atlantic sturgeon are large fish, — Jolvan Morris, an environmental scientist supporting NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Office, shared "Barbel Bill," a model Atlantic sturgeon, with community members at an Endangered Species Day event at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Massachusetts. Atlantic sturgeon are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and Endangered Species Day, celebrated each May, is an annual day for the public to learn about vulnerable species like Atlantic sturgeon and how to protect them. Credit: Edith Carson, NOAA
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What’s in the water?

Children from the Hancock County Unit of the Boys and Girls Club conduct water quality testing on Magnolia Bayou, an important coastal stream that flows into the Bay of St. Louis in Mississippi. This learning experience was one in a series of events that included observing a drone flight over the Bayou, conducting water quality testing alongside NOAA scientists, and field trips to local environmentally aware businesses. The summer project was lead by Mississippi State University’s Gulf Coast Community — Children from the Hancock County Unit of the Boys and Girls Club conduct water quality testing on Magnolia Bayou, an important coastal stream that flows into the Bay of St. Louis in Mississippi. The summer project was lead by Mississippi State University’s Gulf Coast Community Design Studio with funding from a NOAA-21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) Watershed STEM Education Partnership Grant. Students are combining science and art this summer, and will celebrate the culmination of their summer program with an art exhibition that interprets what they learned about the science, arts, and culture of Magnolia Bay. Credit: Barbara Ambrose, Riverside Technology, Inc., NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
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Looking beneath the surface

Diver down! Hollings Scholar Constance Sartor doing photoquads, or underwater surveys, of "corals of opportunity" to measure the coral landscape at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. Ernest F. Hollings Scholarships provide tuition assistance and a summer internship at a NOAA facility for college students interested in pursuing opportunities in marine or atmospheric science, policy, or related fields. — Hollings Scholar Constance Sartor doing photoquads, or underwater surveys, of "corals of opportunity" to measure the coral landscape at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. Ernest F. Hollings Scholarships provide tuition assistance and a summer internship at a NOAA facility for college students interested in pursuing opportunities in marine or atmospheric science, policy, or related fields. Credit: Constance Sartor
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Sampling the seafloor

(From left to right) Hollings Scholar Carly LaRoche, NOAA Teacher at Sea Helen Haskell, and Lieutenant Damian Manda with a sample from the bottom of the seafloor. Haskell spent 22 days at sea aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather helping scientists conduct a hydrographic survey off the coast of Alaska. You can read more about Helen’s adventures at sea on the NOAA Teacher at Sea blog. Credit: Helen Haskell
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Studying lake effect snow during a summer internship

There wasn’t any snow in the summer, but National Weather Service Cleveland Forecasting Office intern Drew Koeritzer did conduct a study on how to better forecast the start times of lake effect snowstorms using archived data. Here he is halfway up the tower overlooking Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, reminding us that air travel relies on accurate weather forecasting! — There wasn’t any snow in the summer, but National Weather Service Cleveland Forecasting Office intern Drew Koeritzer did conduct a study on how to better forecast the start times of lake effect snowstorms using archived data. Here he is halfway up the tower overlooking Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, reminding us that air travel relies on accurate weather forecasting. Credit: Drew Koeritzer
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Looking for more ways to connect with NOAA Education? You don't have to wait until next summer. We offer educational opportunities for teachers and students throughout the year.