The students toured large Oceanographic vessels operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography located at the Nimitz Marine Facility. Depending on the day of their visit, they saw either the R/V Revelle or the R/V Melville, as well as the R/P FLIP and the Autonomous Tethered Vehicle (ATV). ATV is one of the first ROVs designed and used by the Navy. The students saw the vessels' physical science labs and equipment and discussed their classroom projects with scientists.

Photos of the highlights of the tours can be seen on the student Photo Album page
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Tour Dates:
October 26, 2004 R/V Revelle
November 30, 2004 R/V Revelle
December 2, 2004 R/V Melville
December 7, 2004 R/V Melville
December 9, 2004 R/V Melville

Tour Dates:
March, 21, 23 and 28, 2005

Two classes of students each day traveled to the Ocean Institute to spend the day testing their ROVs and to experience the tools of oceanography first-hand. Through these activities they gained a better understanding of the equipment that Mrs. Brice and research oceanographers used at sea to collect and process the data that she sent to them from the far southern Pacific Ocean on her cruise in January and February.
Their program was designed by Rick Baker of the Ocean Institute.

Lab - 2 hours
1. ROV testing off the dock: students used their ROVs to map sections of the harbor bottom and draw grids of their sections. The details of these activities can be found can be found in the Activities section of the Science at Sea Curriculum page.
2. Using the Fathometer to map the sea floor of Dana Point Pier.
3. 3-D maps and mapping using "The Globe" in the new map room.
4. Finding and identifying phylum in the Tank Farm.

Boat - 2 hours
1. Students used a commercial ROV to locate a "lost object" on the sea floor off Dana Point.
2. Plankton station using Plankton Net.
3. Water Chemistry using Van Dom Bottles.
4. Sediment Station - using Peterson Mud Grab (students will test Mud Grab they designed for Mrs. Brice to take to sea in Antarctica).
5. Drift Buoy/Measure Current speed plus using Weather Buoy data and student weather data to predict local sea conditions.