October 2, 2010
On this final day of Cal-echoes research expedition I would like to pull together some final thoughts for my students to consider.
The first is how important and critical it is for all students to have the sense of inquiry and investigation. Some students are intimidated by science. I think some of that comes from the misconception that it is somehow out of reach. My suggestion is to not always accept what you think you know. It is truly something amazing, but true in almost every discipline in science the fact that we have so many gaps in our knowledge of how the world works. Don’t think for a minute that we know even close to everything. Realistically, what’s in your science textbooks may actually turn out to be inaccurate as we uncover new evidence. Science could never stand still. So… there is much to do, and you can contribute to that knowledge.
This is completely evident on this cruise. 5% of the ocean has been explored. When you look at a map of earth you can’t escape the realization that the oceans make up such a vast part of it. Knowing that 95% of that space has yet to be explored is an invitation to you all. Science is open to you. I can tell you that in my many conversations this week I’ve heard many things and honestly one of those statements from the researchers has been “we really don’t know.” Now to some that may seem like the researchers may not be knowledgeable about the topic. I can assure you that these scientists are certainly experts in their field. The fact they are uncertain about many things does not mean they are unqualified. In fact, to me, it says something about how much work there is to do.Those mysteries in the natural world are intriguing to me. The unknown is around us.
Tons to do. This job, of doing science, I’m hopeful you’ve experienced is certainly not done by old men in white lab coats with crazy hair and fascination for mixing concoctions is not really how it works. Women, men, young, and old from all types of cultural representations came together to work on this expedition. This interdisciplinary group of biologists, chemists, computer programmers, engineers, geologists, climatologists, physicists, and geneticists bring their expertise and a new way of thinking about our natural world together. That’s how it really works.
Science is open to all, but especially to those that are impressed by the natural world, and have the sense of wonder about it. When you look at it that way, it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t have those feelings or thoughts, at least some of the time.
Education At Sea 
I sometimes get intimidated by science, but a lot of science does not. As we are learning about things that make up other things, that kind of makes me confused and some what intimidated.
I like how you mentioned that our books may not be right because science is always changing. That is the case. Science never stops amazing me because it is ALWAYS changing and never seems to stay in one place for to long. That is why i want to go into marine biology because there is always new things to be discovered each day. It may be even from the simplest animal to discovering a whole entire ecosystem in a sample of sediment. Well, I hope you enjoyed your time on the research vessel and I’m excited to hear about everything that you learned and found out about.
I do get intimidated by science. It’s in our everyday lives, but there’s so much of it. 5% of the ocean was explored? I wonder what the other 95% is like.
I was very surprised to find out that only a small percentage of the ocean as been explored. I do agree that textbooks aren’t always correct due to knew information being discovered and things changing constantly. I hope you had fun on your trip:)
I like how insightful you were in this blog. It really gives me new things to think about and how I view science in my everyday life. Some people think of science as just a hassle and a class that requires much confusing work. However, from your point of view, the view of a scientist, we see that science is all around us and is waiting to be discovered. Science isn’t just a tedious and difficult class to study for, it really is relevant to everything we see and do.
I’m intimidated by science a lot. This post got me thinking about how often I tend to overlook the study of science and made me realize how much there really is to learn. Also, it really shocked me when you said only 5% of the ocean was explored. I’m interested in hearing how your trip went when you get back 🙂
I found it interesting that you said only 5% of the ocean is explored. I cant wait to hear about all that you learned and how it was when you get back! (:
i agree science is always changing.
I can’t believe how much we still haven’t explored of our oceans. You’d thik that by now, we would know more about it.
I think it’s really cool that anyone can be a scientist not just old guys with white hair and lab coats and can be different types of people. Also that it’s amazing that there is still more to know about the ocean than what we do know now.
I can’t believe only 5% of the ocean has been explored! But, i do agree that science is always changing, that is why it does not intimidate me, because it always changes so there is always new things to discover.
Science does intimidate me just because of how much there is to learn. I honestly never knew that only 5% of the ocean had been discovered. Whenever I see some scientist talking about their job and it seems fun, I always think, “I could never be a scientist. We already know everything, and there isn’t anything else to discover.”
I feel I can be intimidated by science. It is interesting that people have said “we don’t know” a lot on your research trip.
that is crazy how only 5% of the ocean has been explored. and i also agree that scicence is always changing.
You make the ocean seem so much smaller when you say that only 5% was explored. I found a lot of your blogs and research very interesting and catn wait to hear more about your trip when you return.
Do you think you learned a lot from this experience, and would you do it again? I think this would be a great experience and i think i might want to do something like this one day. Do you wish you could stay longer?
I think it is amazing that only 5% of our oceans have been explored. It makes me curious to think what can be living in the other 95% of it. Science hasn’t ever been my strongest subject, but I enjoy learning new things that go on in our world that relate to it.
i think it is crazy that only 5% of the ocean has been exlpored. i would love to look at what else is in the ocean. i would like to know more about this and hopefully while i’m still alive more parts of the ocean will be explored and have information to share.