A STEM experiment in informal science education: ROVs and AUVs survey shipwrecks from the American Revolution

With support from the National Science Foundation, we report on a partnership between an academic institution (College of William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science) and an informal science education facility, the Watermen's Museum (Yorktown, Virginia) that puts professional-grade Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) into the hands of school groups. Our groups use these assets to conduct explorations of shipwreck sites from the last major battle of the American Revolution, the Battle of Yorktown. Students work in mission teams with objectives that change from session to session in ways reflective of actual expeditions using these technologies. Some examples of sessions include: deconstructing the system diagram of an ROV in order to troubleshoot its operation, measuring currents over the wreck site by timing particles passing by on the ROV's real-time video, recording biota seen on and around the wreck debris field, constructing a logical search pattern to locate a known wreck site, interpreting sidescan sonar imagery from sites thought to possess wrecks that may be eroding out of the sediment, and performing sophisticated maintenance, repair, systems checks, and upgrades to both robots. During vehicle deployments, students operate as a cross-trained team, with rotation of duties during deployment, including pre-launch system checker, deployer (into the water), navigator, data logger, chief mission supervisor, cable (ROV) or RF tracking (AUV) operator, and safety observer. We present the results of a formal evaluation by an outside evaluator, student attitudes toward science, and some of the student's “citizen science” conducted during this unique experiment in STEM education. Our results will be of use to other K-12 STEM efforts that use marine technology to engage student interest.