OCEAN 497B home

OCEAN 497 B

FALL 2009

SLN 19749

Instructor Information

Daniel Grünbaum
Associate Professor, Biological Oceanography
Email: ocean497@uw.edu or random@uw.edu
Office: 318 Marine Sciences Building
Phone: 206 221 6594

Meeting place and times

Thursdays 2:30-3:50: Ocean Sciences Building 111 (Spatial Dynamics Laboratory)
Tuesdays 2:30-3:50: Ocean Sciences Building 425
Office hours (tentative): T-Th 3:00-4:00 & By Appointment

Course Philosophy

My goal for this course is help you learn how to think about how oceanographic processes function, and how their function changes over time and across space. Most courses I have taught (as well as those I took as a student) operated on a lecture model: the instructor stood at the front of the class presenting facts. It was for the most part left to the student to develop ways of internalizing those facts, integrating them with other related facts, and drawing general conclusions about patterns and contrasts in those facts -- in short, to synthesize the facts into an expertise.

A lecture-based course structure is a very effective way of presenting a large number of facts in a relatively short time. However, a real understanding of those facts often came to those students much later, if it came at all. Without the understanding, the facts themselves were probably forgotten in a relatively short time after the course was done.

This course focuses specifically on developing and exercising a synthetic view of oceanographic systems and their dynamics. The basic approach used in this course is a sequence: student observation, followed by analysis and synthesis, followed by verbal and written articulation of the analytical logic and the resulting patterns and contrasts.

How can we observe oceanographic dynamics in a classroom? One potent tool we have is computer-based oceanographic modeling. Computer models are a convenient method for deducing the implications about hypotheses we make about how ocean systems functions. They allow us to say, If characteristic A is affected by mechanism B, then the likely outcome would be C. They give us rapid feedback, so we can develop an intuition for how ocean dynamics could work. We can then employ this intuition on real systems to see whether it does or does not explain features of those systems.

Modeling on a computer does not replace going out and observing nature. However, it provides a basis for understanding observations of nature, which are otherwise too complicated and too variable to be understood. This course is in large part aimed at understanding how model studies can make interpretations of past observations and acquisition of future observations more effective and insightful.

Course Structure (tentative)

This course is structured as a series of five units, each of which revolves around a key mechanism; the important consequences of that mechanism for ocean dynamics; and a model that links the mechanism to its consequences. The units are:

Weeks 1-2: Exchanges of Energy and Mass at Microscopic Scales
Weeks 3-4: Vertical Movement and Water Column Structure
Weeks 5-6: Interactions among Chemical and Biological Species
Weeks 7-8: Dynamics in Turbulence
Weeks 9-10: Flushing and Retention in Estuaries

Classroom Activities

For each unit, a typical set of in-class activities:

Computer 1 ⇒ Discussion 1 ⇒ Computer or Wet Lab 2 ⇒ Discussion 2

Lab 1: This class period introduces a model of an oceanographic mechanism. This is an opportunity to gain familiarity with the model's inputs and outputs; to explore the types of oceanographic phenomena into which the model could give insight; and to begin framing an analytical approach for realizing those insights.
Based on the experience of Lab 1, each of you will formulate a set of three Key Questions that you think are important to understanding ocean dynamics, and which the model can inform. You should both bring these to class, and submit them online.
Discussion 1: As a group, we will compile, discuss and refine a summary list of Key Questions potentially addressed by the model, and discuss the strategies through which those questions might be answered.
Lab 2: In this class period, you will work in groups of 2-3 to design and execute a Mini-Study, using the model to carry out some of the analytical strategies that you and your colleagues identified in your Key Questions and the ensuing discussion. You will address two or three questions in each mini-study.
Discussion 2: As a group, we will discuss the results of the Mini-Studies (what were the conclusions, what were the strengths and weaknesses of the study, what aspects of ocean dynamics were well or badly treated by the model). We will interpret your results in the context of the week's reading assignment (see below).

Readings

Each week, you will read one or two short papers (e.g. from Science or Nature) that describe recent advances concerning an oceanographic issue related to the week's Lab. You should read this paper before the week's Discussion and if possible before the Lab. It is to your advantage to have at least one oceanographic application in mind when you perform your modeling Mini-Study. After your Mini-Study, you should be prepared to shift focus back to the natural world in Discussion, exploring aspects of the paper's ocean dynamics that were or were not illuminated by your results.

Out-of-class Writing

As preparation for the second discussion in each unit, you will prepare a short Essay, in which you articulate for each of the Key Questions your mini-study addressed: what were the goals, analytical approaches, results and conclusions. Please submit your Essays online. Like the Discussion itself, this Essay is intended both to refine and strengthen your analysis, and to communicate your ideas to your colleagues.

Grading (tentative)

The grading scheme for the course will be as follows (see comments below):

Course Component	Percent grade (each)	Number	Percent Grade (after dropping lowest scores)
Participation	10	5	40
Key Questions	5	5	20
Short Essays	10	5	40
Total			100

Comments:

Please be on time! Discussions take time; latecomers are disruptive and hinder class progress. Another class immediately follows ours so we must end on time, whether we are finished or not.
Active participation in Discussion and Labs is central to the learning experience in this course. Students are required to participate in each Discussion and Lab. Participation means not only being present but following and contributing to each day's discourse.
Written assignments will be turned in electronically. Please allow time for learning the system, if you are not already familiar with it. Also, please be mindful of disk space constraints on UW's system: For example, please do not send multi-megabyte graphics files when smaller ones will do.
Because they are preparatory to the discussions, it is important to have Key Questions and Essays done on time. Except by prior permission of the instructor, assignments turned in after the due date and time will receive a maximum of 1/2 the available points. However, you may drop the lowest score for both Key Questions and Essays, which can include a late assignment.
Key Questions will be graded on a 0-5 point scale (0-2.5 for late assignments). Essays will be graded on a 0-10 point scale (0-5 for late assignments). In both cases, the criteria will be careful construction, insightfulness and originality of the analysis and clarity of the exposition.
There will be no midterm or final exams.

Useful links for registered students:

The tentative syllabus

The weekly reading assignments

The online Interest/Background Questioneer

The class listserve: ocean497b_au09@u.washington.edu

A Collect It dropbox for Key Questions and Essays

A directory from which you can download Labs and Lab Guides: http://courses.washington.edu/ocean497/Labs/

To send anonymous feedback to the instructor, use this link: https://catalysttools.washington.edu/umail/form/random/3242

updated 10/1/09

Introduction to modeling in Oceanography