Measure for Measure
Grade Level: 6-12
Adapted from Joint
Oceanographic Institutions in the Classroom, 2005
Background
Geoscientists use special boats to conduct research at sea. One
of these boats is named the JOIDES Resolution (JR). Unlike most oceangoing vessels,
the JR has a flat bottom, a 6.4-meter hole in the middle, 12 laboratories, and
a derrick towering 67 meters above the waterline! Why? So scientists can sail
nearly anywhere in the world to drill for samples of rocks and sediment from
below the seafloor. What for? In hopes of discovering clues about Earth's history
and structure, life in the deep biosphere, past climate change, earthquakes
and natural resources. How long is the JR? 143 meters. How far below sea level
can it drill? 8,382 meters.
It might be helpful to construct a scale model of the ship and its drill string
(the pipes that are strung from the derrick to the seafloor and below) in your
classroom. In this activity, students will calculate scales of distance and
length as used by ocean drilling scientists.
JOIDES Resolution Research Vessel (from http://www.joiscience.org/About/default.html)
Materials
- 152-cm measuring tapes (5 feet)
- Butcher paper or modeling materials
Procedure
- To draw a scale model the length of a measuring tape, write the scale as
a ratio of the "life size" JR length to the tape measure:
143 m: 152 cm.
You also can write it as a fraction, then divide to find the scale: 143 m/152
cm = 0.94 meters per centimeter.
- Write ratios and fractions, then calculate scales for the following relationships:
The length of the ship to the length of your classroom.
- The height of the ship, 67 meters, to the 152-cm measuring tape.
- The height of the ship to the height of your classroom.
- The shallowest water depth to date, 38 meters, to the measuring tape.
- The shallowest water depth to the height of your classroom.
- The greatest water depth to date, 5,980 meters, to the measuring tape.
- The greatest water depth to the height of your classroom.
- The deepest hole sampled, 2,111 meters, to the measuring tape.
- The deepest hole to the height of your classroom.
- The greatest water depth plus the 560-meter hole in the seafloor below
it, to the height of your classroom.
Extensions