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Education: Student Outcomes

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Design Your Own Experiment: Answering Questions About the Effect of Salinity on Climate

Grade level: 9-12
Theme: 21st century technology

Design your own experiment based on the activities conducted for the following outcomes:
  1. Explain the relationship between fresh water and ocean dynamics.
  2. Determine if global precipitation, evaporation, and the cycling of water are changing.
  3. Explain the influence of the El Niño Southern Oscillation on global weather patterns.
  4. Explain the influence of ocean salinity on the thermohaline circulation (e.g., "global conveyor belt").
  5. Describe how changes in the ocean's circulation can produce large changes in climate.
  6. Explain how climate variations can induce changes in the global ocean circulation.
Use the online tools where applicable.
 
Student Outcomes 
After completing this activity, students should be able to:
Conduct a complex experiment to answer a question they have about the effect of ocean salinity on climate. (T: 9-12)

Key:  C = climate / O = ocean circulation / T = 21st century technology / W = water cycle