The oceans have always fascinated me and, consequently, it gives me great pleasure and satisfaction to explain oceanic processes.
My own particular principles: I follow two individual principles. First, I try to simplify complicated oceanic processes and present them in a clear and understandable way. To do so I use special demonstration instruments that I have developed here at FSU over the last 20 years. This is particularly true when I teach the large OCE 1001 class. These instruments are typically made from Plexiglas and employ corn syrup as a working fluid (i.e., the corn syrup represents the sea water) . They are designed to fit over an overhead projector and illustrate the flow in the ocean as it takes place; i.e., they enable one to see the oceanic waters moving from one place to another on the screen. Photographs of typical demonstrations are shown here.
Second, I try to emphasize the relationship between science in general (and oceanography in particular) to other aspects of human activities. For example, I stress the connection between ocean physics, global change, and sea-level rise. Also, I discuss the relationship between science and other aspects of humanity. For instance, in the Elementary Oceanography class (OCE 1001) I discuss my own recent research (Nof and Paldor 1992, 1994) which showed that the biblical crossing of the Red Sea could simply be a result of a strong wind which acted on a portion of the Red Sea and lowered the sea level dramatically.
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OCE 1001 Elementary Oceanography
OCE 1001 Elementary Oceanography Honors
OCE 5253 Introduction to Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
OCE 5259 Rings and Eddies as Heat Exchange Mechanism
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