Student ROV Research Project
What would creative science teachers and their students do if they were given the chance to use a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), an exciting high tech piece of equipment used by oceanographers to explore the sea floor?
From 2002 to 2003 the Port Townsend Marine Science Center joined scientists from the University of Washington and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in
a project that explored that question. We wanted the teachers to help us find ways to use an ROV that would give students an authentic research experience while at the same time providing data useful to the project's scientific partners. The teachers who took part were enthusiastic. Kit Pennell, science teacher for the Chimacum PI program summed it up well. "Any opportunity we can create for students to do authentic relevant research involving real-world data collection and analysis carries us one step further in educating an informed, thoughtful citizenry," she commented in an article in the Port Townsend Leader, May 8, 2002. 
Supported by a grant from the Shell Puget Sound refinery, six teachers from four northern Puget Sound school districts were invited to bring their students to take part in four research cruises in the San Juan Islands where the students helped deploy an ROV equipped with an underwater video camera. When the ROV was lowered to the bottom in marine reserves maintained by the University of Washington and San Juan County, the students were able to watch and film diverse marine animals living in rocky reef habitats. 
The ROV, owned by Friday Harbor Labs, is a piece of equipment about the size of a large coffee table. Unlike a submarine, it is tethered to the ship with 1200 feet of cable and operated by a pilot at the surface. During the cruises, students took turns carrying out shipboard duties, which included handling the ROV cable, carrying out oceanographic investigations and even driving the ROV. Inside the ship's cabin, students were able to watch the images seen by the ROV's underwater video camera as it explored the sea floor. 
Student ROV Research Project sparked several innovative student projects, both on board and in the classroom. Some students even designed and built ROVs of their own. Near the end of the project, the students from the different schools gathered at a special event during the annual Anacortes Waterfront Festival and shared many of their projects and investigations with friends, family and community members. 
To find out more about the Student ROV Research Project, contact Judy D'Amore at jdamore@ptmsc.org