Buoys are an important ocean climate tool. This science lesson plan focuses on ocean climate.
Scenario: Imagine you have just been assigned to map out the current conditions of the ocean at the surface by your boss at NOAA and the National Data Buoy Center. Armed with a cell phone, you decide that you are the person for the job and you get to work right away!
How do I use Dial-A-Buoy? If you do not have a phone, or you have other issues with placing phone calls, you can still get the data through the internet at the National Data Buoy Center where you can pick the stations that you want.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Under 10 minutes
Here's How:
- Dial (228) 688-1948 using any touch tone or cell phone.
- Listen to the instructions. Eventually, you will enter the buoy station five-number code from the map or the internet followed by the # sign. The system will ask you to confirm that your entry was correct by pressing the number 1. After a few seconds, you will hear the latest buoy observation read via computer- generated voice.
- If your station contains letters, simply press the key containing the character. Be careful! Dial-A-Buoy will not understand your entry if you are too fast.
- When you are finished with Dial-A-Buoy, simply hang-up!
- If your station is unavailable, you will have to hang up and pick another station from the map.
Tips:
- Depending on the type of buoy you choose, different data sets will be given. Some weather variables you may hear include temperature, wind speed, wind direction, sea surface temperature, and humidity.
- This works great as a lesson plan. Students can learn to use the scientific method to aggregate data and draw conclusions about the ocean and the weather.
- IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE: One June 26th, 2006 the Dial-A-Buoy system completely failed due to a hardware failure. Technology that was in place to keep the system operational dated from 1995 and normal service may be temporarily interrupted. A contract for replacement of the system has been established and a new system should be in place soon. Updates on the system will be posted as soon as information becomes available.
What You Need:
- A telephone
