SCI 421 Weather Dynamics: Message in a Bottle Assignment

Ahoy!
The ship or plane that you were travelling on has been wrecked off the coast of

_____________________!
This may be assigned or chosen by the student.

You have been stranded in an area of that location that is not inhabited by other people.
Your brand-new smartphone did not survive its encounter with the sea and you have no
obvious way of communicating with anyone. As you search for materials to build a
shelter, a lone soda pop bottle catches your eye. You pick it up and proceed with your
activities until you also miraculously find an undamaged notepad and pencil. As a child,
you grew up reading books such as Gullivers Travels, Treasure Island and other related
media such as Cast Away starring Tom Hanks. Needless to say, the appearance of
these items seems to be a stroke of luck as you are sure that a message in a bottle is
your only chance of being rescued!
Using the knowledge of ocean currents, prevailing winds and weather dynamics that
you have gained in SCI 421, predict 2 possible destinations for your bottle. You can
either name that location as a country (and the general area, for example west coast of
Canada) or if youd like, a city along the coastline of that country.
For both of your possible destinations you must include:
-

A general route drawn either on the attached map or on another map that you
would be responsible for printing off and handing in with this assignment.
A minimum half page (for each route, so one full page) typed response that
includes:
o Why your bottle might have taken that route (include key terms and
concepts from the unit).
o A description of what kind of weather the bottle might face upon arrival at
its destination is it warm/cold? Is there a lot of precipitation? Is it dry or
humid? Etc.
o Dont forget to include WHY!

Assessment:
Map5 Marks
Typed Response.15 Marks
Total...20 Marks

You will have one class period to help you research and complete this assignment. If
you use an outside source to help with your typed response, it must be cited in a
separate works cited page. For the purposes of this assignment, inclusion of a URL
address is sufficient.

MAP OF THE WORLD

Science 421
Message in a Bottle Assignment
Category

Strong

Content

/5

Satisfactory
Map

Map is included with

both routes drawn
clearly.
Routes are clearly
labelled.

There are very little or

no spelling errors
There are very little or
no grammatical errors.
The writing is properly
structured with
complete sentences
and well constructed
paragraphs.

The information within is

highly relevant.
The information within is
highly accurate.
Significant effort appears
to have been put into
this writing.
There is clear evidence
of critical thinking and
problem solving.
A strong effort has been
put forth in formulating
responses.
Answers make strong
connections to course
material.

Map is included, two routes have

been drawn but may be messy or
unclear.
Routes lack labels.

Below Satisfactory

Map is included, but

either one route or
nothing has been drawn
on it.
Anything that has been
drawn is messy or
unclear.

Poor

Map is not included

Writeup

Writing Style

/3

Content
/6

Critical
Thinking

/6

There are some minor spelling

errors
There are some minor grammatical
errors.
The overall quality of the product is
not greatly impacted by these
errors.
Writing is organized with good form
complete sentences, paragraphs
etc.

The information within is mostly

relevant.
The information within is mostly
accurate.
Effort has clearly been put into this
writing.

There is clear evidence of critical

thinking and problem solving.
Effort has been put forth in
formulating responses.
Answers make some connection to
course material.

There are several

spelling errors
throughout
Grammar is poor and
affects the overall
quality of the product.
Writing is not well
organized and lacks
either complete
sentences or
paragraphs.
The information within
is somewhat relevant
but may have a low
degree of accuracy.
More effort could have
been put into this
writing.
There is some evidence
of critical thinking and
problem solving.
Greater effort could
have been put forth in
formulating responses.

There are many spelling

errors throughout
There is no evidence of
writing structure such as
paragraphs and
sentences.

The information within is

not relevant.
Little effort appears to
have been made in
creating the final
product.
There is no evidence of
critical thinking or
problem solving.

Teacher
The following places may be used as wreck locations. They might be randomly assigned at the beginning of the
assignment. Students may also choose their own wreck location.

BRAZIL
NEWFOUNDLAND, CAN.
MADAGASCAR
THE BAHAMAS
TASMANIA
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA, USA.
ICELAND
SRI LANKA
VANCOUVER ISLAND, CAN.
MEXICO
CHILE