Science Concepts—Upwelling

Summary: From the NANOOS Well, Well, Well lesson: “In this activity, students investigate the relationship between winds, surface currents, sea surface temperature and upwelling and downwelling off the coast of Oregon and Washington. Students analyze data to make predictions on today's upwelling or downwelling conditions.”

Concepts to teach:

• Crosscutting Concepts
  • Stability and Change
    
• Disciplinary Core Ideas
  • ESS2.A - Earth Materials and Systems
• Science Practices
  • Analyzing and interpreting data

Goals:

1. North winds cause surface coastal waters in Oregon to move offshore and be replaced by cold, salty, nutrient-rich deep waters that flow to the surface.
2. Wind strength, duration and direction can affect the degree of upwelling that occurs.
3. Upwelling events can be predicted and identified by analyzing wind, current and temperature conditions.

Standards: NGSS Performance Expectations

• HS-ESS2-2. Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.

Specific Objectives:
Students will be able to:

1. Explain the process of upwelling
2. Use a model to demonstrate processes that affect upwelling
3. Analyze the relationship between wind, surface currents and sea surface temperature to make predictions on water conditions.

Activity Links and Resources:

• Activity: Well, Well, Well lesson plan from NANOOS (Gr. 6-12)
  • OCEP Summary for Well, Well, Well
• Reading:
  • PISCO describes Upwelling Regions on the Pacific coast
  • NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center helps scientists visualize patterns of upwelling events over time using an Upwelling Index
• Upwelled waters are low in oxygen, and have been observed to be lower in pH than in the past. Visit the Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia topic guides for more information

Assessment:

• Is upwelling occurring today? What evidence supports your conclusion?
• In what season does upwelling typically occur?
• How does upwelling affect primary productivity in coastal waters?