Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 6, 1 June 2008 — Project Niu floats electronic coconut [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Project Niu floats electronic coconut

By Blaine Fergerstrūm Ka Wai ūla Staff Liane Kitajima was so excited about the project unfolding in her office that she posted notes on Twitter.com, a microblogging web site. LKitajima: Abobefiīm crew setting up in our ojfice...Part 1 of 2 filniing... the rest will happen on site at Waimea Bay tomorrowfrom 10 a.m.-l p.m. LKitajima: Check out www.pro jectniu.org to see what thefilming is all about in our ojfice. The crew from software giant Adobe, makers of Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver, was in the offices of Archinoetics LLC, a Honolulu high-tech company, to produce a documentary about an "electronic coconut" whieh was going to be launched the next

morning by Kalākaua Middle School sixth-graders at Waimea Bay on 0'ahu's North Shore. The "coconut," actually a watertight black plastic tube fitted with satellite transponders, Global Positioning Sensors (GPS) and temperature probes, is the namesake of Project Niu, a program funded by the National Oeeanie and Atmospheric Administration's B-WET, or Bay Watershed Education and Training, Hawai'i program. Established in 2002, BWET aims to create enviromnentally literate students and teachers through education. The instrmnent is set adrift on the oeean and sends reports back on its position and sea surface conditions via an Iridimn satellite constellation link. Infonnation is logged on the project web site, www.projectniu.org, whieh dis-

plays real-time data on a Google map. The kids watch the "Where's Niu?" page and use the data in their science reports. Kalākaua has integrated Project Niu into the school's science curriculmn. "The kids are actually pretty excited about it," says Erin Nishimma, Niu's project manager. "Iust look at their posts on the web site." "So far, I have learned tons of things ... about the Pali Lookout, the watersheds, ancient Hawaiians, about the Niu, wind currents, oeean currents, litter, etc. ... I know we

are going to learn a lot more," says leanne Hua on projectniu.org. As part of their schoolwork, the Kālakaua children study the Niu, then post reflections to the web site. Before Niu's release, they develop hypotheses about what will happen. After release, they track Niu and compare data with their original ideas. It's an exciting way to learn science. Kayla Hiura, posting for Group 1 students said, "We hope that the niu will travel all around the world," but she recognizes that it might "... get caught in a hur-

ricane, and get damaged." Kaili Awo posted for Group 5, "Om last hypothesis is maybe it will get damaged by a shark or a whale. OH NO!" Adobe has eome on board as a sponsor late in the project and the docmnentary they are producing is slated to be featured on the adobe. eom web site later this year. They are donating Adobe software to the participating Hawai'i schoolchildren to help them docmnent the progress of Niu and plan to eome back next school year to take a more active role in the project. □

HO'ONA' AUAO ■ EDUCATIDN

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