Assignment for 3/18

Ocean currents and El Nino: A scavenger hunt
 

How are ocean currents created?
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9056692/ocean-current
 

How can scientists use ocean currents to create energy?
http://ocsenergy.anl.gov/guide/current/index.cfm
 

A barge loaded with Nike shoes toppled over in the ocean during a storm.  The currents carried the shoes all over the place!   Describe what happened and where the shoes went.
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/oceanography_currents_2.html
 

What is El Nino?
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/nino/intro.html
 

How long have scientists known about El Nino?
http://www.fi.edu/weather/nino/nino.html
 

Where does the warm air that causes El Nino come from?  (Hint: Click the animation of El Nino to view a quick clip)
http://www.fi.edu/weather/nino/where1.html
 

RAFT  on-demand writing assignment
          (RAFT stands for Role Audience Format Topic)
 

Directions:  Pick one choice from each column.  Write a one-page response for your topic.
 

Circle your choice	Role	Audience	Format	Topic
	Concerned citizen	TV watchers	An editorial voicing your opinion	Pollution being carried by ocean currents
	Editor of a newspaper	People reading newspaper	A public service announcement	Ocean currents being used to create clean energy
	Environmental scientist	Senators or representatives	A persuasive letter to public officials	Change in weather due to El Nino
	Meteorologist (weather scientist)	kids	A news segment