Instructions: In the Highways of the Sea Lab, you will chart the traveling shoes and predict how ocean currents move. Record your findings below. You will submit your completed lab report.
(30 points possible)
Name and Title:
Include your name, instructor's name, date, and name of lab.
Objective(s):
What was the main purpose of the lab?
Hypothesis: (2 points)
This should be a prediction that can be tested. You may use the if/then format to write your hypothesis.
Procedure: (8 points)
On the map below, locate and mark the locations of shoes provided in the data table. You may print your map and mark it by hand or copy it to a program to edit. Label each data point in chronological order from 1 to 11 on the map, and connect the data points with arrows.
World map with latitude and longitude. Longitude begins at 60 E with marks increasing every 15 degrees up to 180 then decreasing by 15 degrees to 105 W. Latitude begins at 75 N and decreases by 15 degrees to the equator at 0 degrees, then increases by 15 degrees until 45 S.
Data:
Event Date Latitude Longitude
1 Nike shoe spill May 27, 1990 48°N 161°W
2 200 shoes found November 1990 49°N 126°W
3 100 shoes found February 1991 53°N 131°W
4 200 shoes found February 1991 47°N 125°W
5 250 shoes found March 26, 1991 59°N 139°W
6 200 shoes found May 18, 1991 55°N 130°W
7 150 shoes found April 4, 1991 44°N 124°W
8 200 shoes found May 9, 1991 40°N 124°W
9 Several shoes found January 1993 19°N 155.5°W
10 Several shoes found January 1994 32°N 132°E
11 Several shoes found April 1996 54°N 133°W
Conclusion: (20 points)
Define the following terms: Current and Gyre (2 points)
Using the map and the data points, what can you conclude about the general pathway the shoes took? (2 points)
Compare the pathway of the shoes to the map showing the major surface currents in the Pacific. Which current(s) did the shoes most likely encounter? Add these to your map. (2 points)
Which data point is an outlier? What may have happened to this batch of shoes? (2 points)
How fast did the shoes travel? Use this tool from the National Hurricane Center to help convert the latitude and longitude points into kilometers. (4 points)
From where the shoes spilled (48°N, 161°W) to where they first made landfall (49°N, 126°W), how many kilometers did they travel? How many days did they take to travel that distance? (you can use November 30 as the date found). What was their rate of travel in kilometers per hour?
From where the shoes spilled (48°N, 161°W) to where they were found in 1996 (54°N, 133°W), how many kilometers did they travel? How many days did they take to travel that distance (use April 30 as the date found)? What was their rate of travel in kilometers per hour?
The shoes traveled faster than the rubber ducks and bath toys. Propose a hypothesis to explain the why the shoes traveled faster, and develop a plan to test your prediction. (2 points)
The shoes floated low in the water, while the ducks floated high in the water. How could this fact have changed the course and speed of both the shoes and the ducks? (2 points)
Give a possible explanation why some shoes drifted northward along the coast while others drifted southward. (2 points)
Your friend has invited you onto her family's boat for a day of fishing. After lunch on the boat, your friend wants to throw a bag of trash overboard. After researching the impact currents have on objects, explain what you would do in this situation and why. (2 points)
