EarthRef.org Digital Archive (ERDA) -- Seven Questions About Upwelling and Blue Whales

Description
This lesson introduces the concepts of changes in water density associated with (sea) salt, thermohaline circulation, coastal upwelling and its biological significance to large marine animals such as blue whales. The lesson attempts to illustrate how physical-chemical forces impact and shape life in the oceans. The lab activity follows this PowerPoint presentation, and provides students with a fun example of how winds and the Coriolis force interact to form upwellings, and how these in turn may influence the distribution of blue whales. The students are asked to reflect on seawater density, they will also acquire basic knowledge on the ecology (i.e. feeding behavior) of a specific marine animal: the blue whale. The students are asked a series of seven questions.