General

Building Boats to Build Communities

The Teaching With Small Boats Alliance (TWSBA) 2017 conference and 2017 Boat Engineering Challenge exemplified a common theme: students, not boats, should be the focus of maritime and marine programs. At TWSBA, sessions explored youth development, combated systemic biases, and exposed the diverse routes of post-programming opportunities. The conference, hosted at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum […]


Cleaning a Beach to Celebrate Earth Day ’17

Earth Day brought rain to the Town of Fenwick Island, but the weather did not deter the residents.  They spent Saturday removing potential marine debris from their streets and beaches, working as a community to improve ocean sustainability. The Educational Passages team discovered Fenwick on NOAA’s Earth Day marine debris cleanup page which linked to the […]


Mini-boats Downtown: Educational Passages at NSTA17

Bill Nye’s Call to Action After settling into our downtown hotels, the Educational Passages team attended Bill Nye’s keynote speech at the LA Convention Center. In between the humor and science, Bill spoke directly to the educators, asking them to prepare the next generation for massive environmental challenges across the world. He wants Generation S […]


Maine Boat Finds Its Third Country

Two years ago, fifth-graders from Nazaré, Portugal colored blank paper boats with crayon designs.  The words paz, peace, amor, love, todos amigos, all friends filled the gaps between images of Portugal and the United States.  The students prepared for the restoration of West, a five-foot long mini-boat launched two years prior by Westbrook Middle School in Maine.  Portuguese hands […]


Debut of a “Rock Star”

See full story at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/news/features/regatta/rockstar.html November 8, 2016 Contact: Shelley Dawicki Print Version Boat will be NEFSC testbed for new sensors Another Manning-Educational Passages collaboration involves a new sensor package on the miniboats to obtain more information about environmental conditions. Up to now they have been equipped with a GPS sensor to provide latitude and longitude so […]


Atlantic Miniboat Regatta will Link Students from North America and Europe

Full story can be found at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/news/features/regatta/ November 8, 2016 Contact: Shelley Dawicki Print Version NEFSC researcher helps track miniboats Schools from seven countries and 34 miniboats are expected to participate in the first Atlantic Miniboat Regatta, an international education project to encourage students in North America and Europe to send their boats across the Atlantic using […]


Unmanned Sailboat and Surface Drifter Cross Atlantic, At Different Speeds

November 8, 2016 Contact: Shelley Dawicki Print Version Full story can be found http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/press_release/pr2016/scispot/ss1616/lancer-and-drifter.html NEFSC oceanographer keeps track of drifters and miniboats Student Kaitlyn Dow was excited to assemble and launch a mini-sailboat named “Lancer,” a project for her marine science class with Michael O’Connor at Waterford, CT High School last spring. Fourth grade students in Martha […]


Improving Ocean Observing Systems Goal of Novel Projects

Full story can be found at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/press_release/pr2016/scispot/ss1616/ November 8, 2016 Contact: Shelley Dawicki Print Version Improving Ocean Observing Systems Goal of Novel Projects New eco-friendly drifters may aid response to Cape Cod turtle strandings Using low-cost sensor technology in novel ways has become a hallmark of Jim Manning’s many research projects, whether they be ocean drifters used […]


US school’s unmanned boat reaches Welsh coast

An unmanned boat sent by a school in the USA has washed up on the Pembrokeshire coast three months after it set sail. Students from Kent School in Maryland launched The Osprey with a time capsule onboard off the New Jersey coast on 13 June and tracked it across the ocean. Robert Morgan from Tenby found the […]


WHS Unmanned Sailboat Reaches Ireland

Go to: http://patch.com/connecticut/waterford/whs-unmanned-sailboat-reaches-ireland to see original article post.   Kaitlyn Dow, A student at Waterford High School, built a 5 foot mini-sailboat (the Lancer) that has successfully crossed the Atlantic. This boat was prepared by Kaitlyn and other students of Mike O’Connor’s UCONN ECE Marine Science Class at Waterford High School (WHS) in coordination with Mrs. Shoemaker’s […]