PURPOSE OF ACTIVITY

The goal of this activity is to help students better understand the nonintuitive concept of diffusion and introduce them to a variety of diffusion-related processes in the ocean. As part of this activity, students also practice data collection and statistical analysis (e.g., average, variance, and probability distribution functions). This activity is also used as an introduction for a subsequent lesson on stirring and mixing.

Karp-Boss, L., E. Boss, and J. Loftin. 2007. Hands-on oceanography: Diffusion at work—An interactive simulation. Oceanography 20(3):127–131, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2007.40.

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