The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

Science students learn about listening to see

Seventh-grade Earth Systems students are learning how scientists use depth soundings and sonar to help "see" what is on the ocean floor. Working in teams, students select a mystery box with an ocean floor landscape hidden within. Using wooden sticks as probes, they poke through holes in the lid of the box.

The students then record and map their data, using the information to create their own 3D map of the "ocean floor" out of cardstock. Maps complete, they open their boxes to compare the shape of their models to their mystery landscape.