SBIR Phase I: GFD-LAB: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory for Earth Science Teaching

This Small Business Innovation (SBIR) Phase I project will investigate the feasibility of the design, manufacture, and marketing of an apparatus that will demonstrate the phenomena of rotating fluid systems that parallel those in weather and ocean systems. With such a device and supporting materials for educators and students, underlying physical principles can be taught that help to satisfy the NRC Standards and AAAS Benchmarks. When coupled with suitable simulation software, such information-based technology can be used to encourage interactive and inquiry-based activities. Such a system will help promote interdisciplinary studies, use the latest space-based imagery, and aid in teaching the content of the national standards, especially earth science at the middle and high school level. The project seeks to take the results of experimental techniques used to hone the physical intuitions of scientists and their university students and make them accessible to lower academic levels and to the general public. Without employing the sophisticated mathematical models needed to understand the physics of rotating fluids, novices will be able to comprehend the connection between global processes and the weather they observe daily. On a broader scale, the project will result in a deeper understanding among school children and the general public of the global nature of weather systems and the methods by which scientists come to understand their underlying driving forces.