The Epic Journey of Mr. Bottle

  This is the Route I took! I drew this during my journey

April 14th, 1832:

     Hello! My name is Mr. Bottle. I live in the house of the Whitehead Family in Java, Indonesia. It's almost a week before i'm thrown into the [Pacific] ocean. Inside of me is a message that says 'Whoever receives this message receives this fortune'. With this message was a lot of money, enough to buy you anything. Anyways, I'm actually pretty excited to be set adrift. It's been a lifelong dream to explore the ocean and learn everything about it! I really, really hope that I land somewhere or learn at least one thing about it!

April 21st, 1832:

     The Whitehead Family just launched me into the Pacific ocean.  I wonder where I'm going to end up...

May 15th, 1845:

     It's been about over 10 years since I was thrown into the Pacific ocean. I had no idea where I was going, so I asked a fish named Mr. Prey (not exactly the best name someone can get). He told me that I was going south, down the East Australian Current. I asked him how he knew. He told me that he and many other people could tell where they were just by tasting the salt and feeling the temperature of the water and told me to taste it. Being naive, I did. UGH! That was disgusting! Mr. Prey told me that salinity gets low near the equator, since the equator contains warm water, and warm water carries less salt. He also told me that since there is less salt at the equator, it is less dense near the equator.

June 4th, 1878:

      This morning, for some reason, I pondered on an idea. How come the water keeps moving? Even when there is no wind at all. Does it have anything to do with salinity, density, or temperature? Maybe I should taste the ocean water again. BAD IDEA! BAD IDEA! NEVERMIND! AAAAAHHHH! Okay. That was a bad idea. Maybe I should ask this shark and see what he'll say!

      I may have made a big mistake. When I tried to ask the shark a question, he immediately opened his mouth, sucking me inside it. Now I'm trapped inside the stomach of a shark, never to be let out again! Sigh, now I'll never find land! I believe my journey has come to an end.

     (*Mr. Bottle cried in one corner of the shark's stomach, eating ice cream. Mr Bottle then wonders why he has ice cream, since the only thing inside of him is a message with money*)

June 4th, 1887:

      I've been trapped inside this shark's stomach for 10 full years, and there is no sign of escape yet. I really hope that I get out of here, so I can explore the ocean even more and learn more about it!

June 5th 1887:

      I woke up to something rather heavy falling on my head. It's a fish. Hmm... It also has a familiar face. I asked the fish if I knew him. He said "Of course! I'm Mr. Prey!". Oh yea! Mr Prey. I remember him!

      I asked Mr. Prey If he knew any way on how to get out of here. He told me that there was only one way. Mr Prey. then told me that I should go down the shark's stomach, and that there would be an exit door there. When I started to go down the shark's stomach, Mr. Prey followed me.

June 8th, 1887:

      Finally! I found the exit. I have no idea why it took that long, but I did it! When I tried to open the door, Mr. Prey stopped me. I asked what's wrong. Mr. Prey suddenly started to grow in size. Each second, he grew at least 6 inches wider and taller. I opened the exit door and left, fearing Mr. Prey. When I left, I flew out of the shark's body and onto the ocean surface. Yuck! The ocean water was as salty as ever. The water is also cold! I was glad to be back in the ocean! My journey continued! However, when I looked behind me, Mr. Prey was the size of a shark, and the shark I was trapped in for ten years was a small fish.

      "YOU WILL DIE!" Big Mr. Prey said. Wow. I did not really know how Mr. Prey turned into a shark, but I'll accept the fact. Anyways, when I was trying to run away from Mr. Prey, he was twice my speed. I couldn't outrun him. I had to think of a plan. So I immediately came up with a plan! I should trap him in this rock in the shape of an arch. So I swam towards the arched shaped rock, with Mr. Prey behind me. I felt like I was going to be eaten again. I couldn't! I swam as fast as I could towards the rock and then I screamed.

     CRASH!

      I trapped Mr. Prey! I was safe! I then had one question to ask Mr. Prey: Why were you chasing me? He said that he wanted the money inside my bottle, so he could buy almost anything. Mr. Prey then said he already gave up, and wanted me to help him get out of the arch shaped rock. I told him I would on two conditions: He wouldn't hunt me, and he would make my dreams come true on exploring the ocean and learning everything about it. He agreed to it, and we even shook on it.

June 9th, 1887:

      After I let Mr. Prey out, I asked him a lot of questions about the ocean. I asked him why the water on the surface of the ocean moves even though there is no wind. He told me that wind currents and the earth's rotation work together to make the ocean currents move. I then asked why the ocean below the surface moves, since there is no wind there. He told me that it's the great ocean conveyor that moves all around the world below surface currents. It happens because of temperature and the salinity of the water. When new water from precipitation or glaciers it makes cold water. Cold water is more denser than warm water, and since cold water has more salt in them, this makes the cold water a lot more denser than warm water, making the cold water sink below the warm water. This process continues and creates currents, making the great ocean conveyor.

June 10th, 1887:

      Mr. Prey and I talked a lot about the ocean. We talked a lot about it that we didn't even notice that one day passed. After we talked about oceans,  Mr. Prey told me that it's time to finish my journey. he then sprinkled some... shiny glitter(?) on me. Then he swam away. I wonder what that did....

December 25th, 1945:

      It's been about 60 years after my encounter with Mr. Prey and about 113 years since I was set adrift in the Pacific Ocean. After that encounter, I didn't really know where I was, so I asked a fish. And no, the fish didn't eat me this time (YAY!). The fish told me that I was in the Falkland Current, east of South America. I'm guessing that the shark I was trapped in for about 10 YEARS was heading East along the East West Wind Drift, and after my encounter with Mr. Prey, I went up north to the Falkland Current. Another thing I want to talk about is something called Christmas? I don't really know what that is, and I didn't really talk about it earlier in this journal. Every winter, whenever I see land, I many lights. The colors of the lights are mainly green, red, orange, and yellow. Also, people usually come together and celebrate. I found out about this 'Christmas' when seeing ships and land. It seems like a pretty cool concept.

February 8th, 1999:

      It's been almost 170 years since I was set adrift. While floating, I've seen a couple of interesting things floating about in this ocean. I've seen some rubber ducks floating, small plastic bricks which have many colors, and even shoes! I don't even know where they come from! I also found a map and a compass. That might be helpful...

January 16th, 2004:

      It's been 60 years since I was last updated one where I was, so I checked my map and compass to see where I was. It took me a couple of hours, but I found out where I was. I was in the middle of the Benguela Current, which goes up north. Wait. How did I find my location with just a map and a compass? I think Joshua was- wait, no, I don't know who that is.

April 20th, 2016:

       I woke up to the warm breeze and air. I also felt something solid beneath me. When I looked down, I saw land! Yes! I finally made it! Land at last! When I looked ahead of me, I saw I sign that said "Welcome to Ghana, Africa!". I was glad to make it on land. Wait. What was that? I hear footsteps. Uh oh! Run away!

       The source of the footsteps grabbed me, and took me to his house. He grabbed some kind of device and poked it inside my cork. The next thing I knew, my cork was out along with the message and money. The human then put the money in his pocket, and took me upstair on a windowsill. Well, my journey has come to an end, and my new home is on a windowsill!

The End

Weekly Blog 4/4 - 4/10 - Ocean and Wind Currents

Image Source: https://goo.gl/GUDcxe

Summary: 

     Wind Currents help form Ocean Currents. When comparing an ocean current map to a wind current map, I found out that the ocean current map went the same direction as the wind current map, which must mean that the wind currents affect the direction ocean currents go. Also, wind currents form gyres. A gyre is when water moves in a circle. Gyres are formed when wind blows on opposite sides, opposite directions, and one blowing higher (more north) than the other. This makes the water begin to move. What makes the water move in a circle (gyres) are the landmasses. These allow the moving water to kind of bounce off them and create that circle motion. Without the landmasses, the water wouldn't be bouncing off of anything, and wouldn't create that circle motion.

SP8: Obtain, Evaluate, and Communicate Information:

     This week, I obtained data through scientific experiments, reading articles and informational text, and looking at maps of wind and ocean currents and writing down my information. This week, I read about Nike shoes falling into the Pacific Ocean. Then, I plot down where some of the Nike shoes were found. When doing this, I found out that most of the Nike shoes were found at the coast of Western Canada and United States. This made me believe that the Nike sneakers went through 5 Ocean currents to get to the location they were found. When the Nikes were dropped, the North Pacific Current led them to the Alaskan current (which is why most of the Nike shoes found were found along the coast of Western Canada and United States), then down the California Current, across the North Equatorial Current, to the Kuroshio Current. The shoes went along these currents until they were found on land. I evaluated gathered information by discussing it with my team, checking my answers, and seeing if my data was correct. I communicated the information I found with my team.

XCC: Cause and Effect:

     I saw that there was a Cause and Effect system between Ocean Currents and Wind Currents. The cause is Wind Currents. Wind currents form Ocean Currents and gyres. The effect of the cause (Wind Currents) are Ocean Currents and Gyres. I know that this Cause and Effect system exists because if you look at a wind current map and put it right next to an ocean current map, you can see that the wind currents go the same direction as the ocean currents. You can also test this system out and see if wind currents form gyres. You will need a tray, water, parsley leaves, and two straws. Fill the tray with water and sprinkle parsley leaves on the water. Then, grab the two straws and put them on both ends of the tray (lengthy sides). Then, take the two straws and put them on either end of the tray (width sides). You should have a tray filled with water with parsley leaves on the top, with one straw on one side near the top edge, and another straw on the other side, at the bottom edge. Now, take one straw and have another person take the other straw, and blow into the straw into the tray of water lightly. You should see that the parsley leaves move in a circle. This is a simulation of how ocean currents and gyres work. The wind currents blow the water, causing wind currents and gyres to form.

Conclusion/Multiplier:

   This week, I learned that wind currents affect the way ocean currents move and help form them. I also learned about the formation of gyres and why they move in a circle. This week, I was a Wanderer. This is because I searched for information and shared them with my team.