From the dry sanctuary of a classroom, students can now wade deep into the waters off Cape Hatteras, N.C., probing the sea bottom in search of a famed Civil War armored turret gunboat—once a fearsome mass of steam power and gun turrets, now a skeleton of iron and rust.
A drawing of the U.S.S. Monitor shows the current state of the sunken Civil War vessel. A new Web site offers video of expeditions to the wreck.
—Courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
A new program launched by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offers a Web-based education program for students and adults about oceans, marine life, and maritime history, including ongoing scientific expeditions to the U.S.S. Monitor, a Union vessel sunk in a severe storm on Dec. 31, 1862.
The program, located at www.oceanslive.org, offers live and archived video detailing ongoing undersea expeditions to the shipwreck’s site. It also offers a broad range of background educational information on ocean life and the environment.
Links from the Web site lead to a digital library on ocean science, with information for teachers and students; on marine sanctuaries; and on the history of hurricanes and how to prepare for them.
The NOAA Web site was launched in partnership with Immersion Presents, an after-school science education program founded by oceanographer Robert Ballard, which targets students in grades 5-8.
