dive Beneath the Surface

Dive Beneath the Surface is a marine science education and outreach program for K-12 classrooms and the public. Developed for teachers by Dr. Crow White, collaborators and dozens of outstanding Cal Poly undergraduate students, Dive Beneath the Surface integrates scientific SCUBA diving, videography and computer science to teach K-12 students Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and train them for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

Short Lesson Plans focus on students achieving specific NGSS Performance Expectations by developing hypotheses with predictions that they then test by doing scientific methods themselves, such as conducting biodiversity, population and animal behavior surveys, as virtual SCUBA divers in the ocean. Dive Beneath the Surface also has interactive video clips to inform and inspire citizens about ocean discovery.

Dive Beneath the Surface aims to increase participation in marine science by underrepresented students with limited access to the ocean, and enable discovery of marine systems such as kelp forests, coral reefs, and the polar seas by students and the public, the vast majority of whom will never have the opportunity to experience life in the ocean first hand.

Dive Beneath the Surface is supported by a grant from the US National Science Foundation.

Significant collaborators

  1. Dr. Lynne Slivovsky: Computer Engineering

  2. Jason Felton: Diving Safety Officer

  3. Dr. Heather Liwanag: Biological Sciences

  4. Dr. Maria Bergen: Liberal Studies

  5. Dr. Rob Toonen: University of Hawaii

  6. Dr. Mark Christie: Purdue University

Dive Beneath the Surface has been powered by an amazing group of Cal Poly students! Here are some of them and their roles

  1. Hailey Terry: Website development, videography

  2. Sierra Bentti: Lesson Plan development

  3. Meg Beymer: Lesson Plan development, scientific diving, videography

  4. Maya Vavra: Scientific diving, videography

  5. Meghan Haines: Lesson Plan development

  6. Nikki Schaffner: Lesson Plan development

  7. Clayton Bueno: Lesson Plan development

  8. Hannah DiVerdes: Lesson Plan development

  9. Abby Belson: Lesson Plan development

  10. Alex Barth: Scientific diving, videography

  11. Francesca Nash: Scientific diving, videography

  12. Alexandra Hammond: Scientific diving, videography

  13. Katie Coleman: ExPIERience

  14. Jason Chang: ExPIERience

  15. Jade Jang: ExPIERience

  16. Lukas Suess: ExPIERience

  17. Caleb Biggers: ExPIERience

  18. Gabrielle Nguyen: ExPIERience

  19. Chris Pestano: ExPIERience

  20. Nita McHugh: Scientific diving, videography

  21. Dani Lopez: Website development

  22. Gillian Ippoliti: Scientific diving, videography

  23. Caitlin Yahner: Videography

  24. Michael Noon: Videography

  25. Cassidy Cushman: Videography

  26. Stephen Huie: Videography

  27. Will Upham: Videography

  28. Martin Jiang: ExPIERience

  29. Steven Le: ExPIERience

  30. Tommy Morin: ExPIERience

  31. Kattia Chang-Kam: ExPIERience

  32. Samuel Wong: ExPIERience

  33. Theo Fritz: ExPIERience

  34. Audrey Sarin: Scientific diving, videography

  35. Brandon Lam: Website development

  36. Hannah Reese: ExPIERience

  37. Sergio Martinez: ExPIERience

  38. Jarrod Tart: ExPIERience

  39. Austin Dailey: ExPIERience

  40. Eva Hamill: ExPIERience

  41. Justin Kopcinski: ExPIERience

  42. Henry Albert: ExPIERience

  43. Lucas Abdo: ExPIERience

  44. Cameron Bill: ExPIERience

  45. Lovro Dukic: ExPIERience

  46. Cole Robinson: ExPIERience