Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics “Lab”

Our group is involved in integrating more and more atmosphere and ocean dynamics (AOD) experiments into atmospheric sciences and oceanography courses in the WHOI-MIT Joint Program. WHOI has a long and storied history of being a world leader in AOD (or geophysical fluid dynamics, GFD) experiments and an annual GFD Program. More details about the WHOI GFD Program can be found here: https://gfd.whoi.edu/.

Our research group is heavily involved in the DIYnamics project, which is a multi-institutional effort funded by the National Science Foundation focusing on bringing affordable ($100-200) rotating fluid tank apparatuses to K–12 and college classrooms. For more information about the DIYnamics project, please see the DIYnamis GitHub page.

In addition to using more affordable tank apparatuses in dynamics course at ISU, our group built a DIYnamics 34-inch wide rotating tank that sits on top of rolling cart (the Taylor-Henry Cart, THC), making it easily transportable, while at Iowa State University. We used the DIYnamics THC rotating tank system to conduct hands-on experiments with middle and high school students in Central Iowa through the Research Experiences for Teachers program (funded by the National Science Foundation).

Below are some photos and videos of rotating tank experiments using DIYnamics’ affordable apparatus. Also see more on our Youtube page.