3-week On-line Educational Opportunity: Lessons from the Deep: Exploring the Gulf of Mexico's Deep-Sea Ecosystems

11-29 October 2010, Sponsored by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This offering is free for all participants and will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. More Information: http://www.coexploration.org/oe-dse/ The three-week online professional development offering, Lessons from the Deep: Exploring the Gulf of Mexico’s Deep-Sea Ecosystems, is a selection of lessons about deep-sea ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico based on ten ocean exploration expeditions sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Office of Exploration and Research (OER) between 2002 and 2009. Some of these sites are within a few miles of the Deepwater Horizon well. Additional background information will be introduced to participants about the unique geology of the region and behavior of oil in seawater. The purpose of this professional development offering is to:

* Provide a foundation for student inquiries into the unique deep-sea ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico, with particular focus on deep-sea corals and cold seep ecosystems and the importance of these ecosystems;
* Provide an understanding of the technologies used to investigate these ecosystems; and
* Build capabilities for comparing data from past OER expeditions with new information from ongoing research in the Gulf.
The event will have:
* Keynote Addresses from renowned ocean explorers who have made significant contributions to scientific knowledge of deep-sea ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico.
* Discussions with these scientists and NOAA staff
* Lesson Plans (16) and other resources for educators

Workshop components include online spaces for discussions to further professional development, a collection of resources, discussion rooms for Keynoter speakers to interact with participants, and discussion rooms for teachers of different classroom levels. [Source: NAI]