Students select a bottle, and a series of dates, longitude and latitude data will appear. The data will appear from close to where the bottle was launched to where the bottle was retrieved.

Bottle #1

Date Latitude Longitude

4/25/2010 8 S 5 W

5/2/2010 10 S 20 W

5/9/2010 10 S 40 W

5/16/2010 5 S 43 W

5/23/2010 0 45 W

5/23/2010 0 45 W

6/6/2010 8 N 70 W

6/13/2010 10 N 85 W

6/20/2010 15 N 88 W

6/27/2010 25 N 90 W

7/4/2010 28 N 90 W

7/11/2010 25 N 88 W

7/18/2010 20 N 85 W

7/25/2010 25 N 81 W

8/1/2010 30 N 80 W

Bottle #2

Date Latitude Longitude

3/22/2010 43 S 45 W

3/29/2010 46 S 35 W

4/5/2010 45 S 30 W

4/12/2010 35 S 20 W

4/19/2010 35 S 0

4/26/2010 35 S 10 E

5/3/2010 32 S 15 E

5/10/2010 30 S 10 E

5/17/2010 28 S 5 E

5/24/2010 25 S 0

5/31/2010 20 S 5 W

6/7/2010 20 S 30 W

6/14/2010 20 S 35 W

6/21/2010 25 S 40 W

6/28/2010 30 S 45 W

Bottle#3

Date Latitude Longitude

4/17/2010 45 N 135 W

4/24/2010 55 N 136 W

5/1/2010 60 N 137 W

5/8/2010 58 N 140 W

5/15/2010 50 N 170 W

5/22/2010 58 N 175 W

5/29/2010 60 N 178 E

6/5/2010 55 N 175 E

6/12/2010 48 N 145 E

6/19/2010 48 N 178 W

6/26/2010 45 N 170 W

7/3/2010 45 N 140 W

7/10/2010 45 N 135 W

7/17/2010 40 N 120 W

7/24/2010 30 N 115 W

Questions and Conclusion:

1. Refer to your plotted points on the map for each of the bottles. What are the names of the major surface currents each bottle could have followed?

Bottle 1 could have followed the North Brazil Current. Bottle 2 could have followed the Brazil Current, the South Equatorial Current, and the Benguela Current. Bottle 3 could have followed the North Pacific Current and the Alaska Current.

2. Based on your knowledge of ocean currents, where did each bottle originate?

Bottle 1 likely originated from the equatorial region near the coast of Brazil. Bottle 2 likely originated from the southern region of the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Argentina. Bottle 3 likely originated from the western region of the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Japan or Russia.

3. Is it possible the bottles could have followed different currents? If so, what were the other possible coordinates and currents for each bottle?

4. What kinds of factors could hinder the forward progress of a message in a bottle in an ocean current? What factors could aid the movement?

5. In the lesson, you learned about a debris convergence zone, or “garbage patch,” that can form in the center of the Pacific Ocean. How is the formation of this patch related to ocean currents? Where else in the world’s oceans are garbage patches likely to form?

6. Hundreds of millions of years ago, all the continents on Earth were connected to form a giant “supercontinent” called Pangaea. How might ocean currents have differed during the time of Pangaea compared to today? Explain your answer.

7. How did your predictions match the tracking data for each bottle?

8. How could you further test your conclusion on each bottle’s origination? How could you confirm the bottle’s starting point?