Meet a few of our explorers focusing on all things ocean! Check out our archive of Explorer Classroom events to meet even more. 1. Meet Sylvia Earle “Called “Her Deepness” by the New Yorker and the New York Times, “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, and the first “Hero for the Planet,” Sylvia is an oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer with experience as a … Continue reading Five Female Ocean Explorers
This week, take a winter vacation to some of the most critical and vibrant places on our planet . . . American oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle has identified numerous “Hope Spots” around the world that are special places critical to the health of the ocean. While some Hope Spots are already protected, others have not been as lucky—yet. The spots are varied … Continue reading Weekly Warm-Up: Sylvia Earle’s Hope Spots
Lori Roberts is a high school biology teacher in Muscle
Shoals, Alabama. Lori is a leader in ocean education and is a graduate
of National Geographic Education’s two-year professional development
program, the National Teacher Leadership Academy.
Students are interested in exploration of the unknown, however, most of my students know very little about ocean exploration or the explorers involved in these expeditions. I wanted to understand their perception of ocean exploration, so I placed them into small groups and asked them to brainstorm reasons why we should explore the deep trenches of the seafloor, such as the Mariana Trench. I received a variety of responses:
Many are calling the Mariana Trench the last frontier. In 1960, Don Walsh became the first American to descend almost 36,000′. Don Walsh, a U.S. Navy Captain, was only 28 at the time. Walsh, now 80, was invited by James Cameron to hang out with the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition team. He was a witness on the adventure.
Filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron is
congratulated by ocean explorer and U.S. Navy Capt. Don Walsh, right,
after completing the first ever solo dive 35,756 feet down to the
“Challenger Deep,” the lowest part of the Mariana Trench. Walsh took the
same journey to the bottom of the Mariana Trench 52 years ago in the
bathyscaphe Trieste, with Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard. Cameron’s
dive in his specially designed submersible was part of DEEPSEA
CHALLENGE, a joint scientific expedition by Cameron, the National
Geographic Society, and Rolex to conduct deep-ocean research. Photograph by Mark Thiessen, National Geographic.
