Argonautica: behind the scenes

The Argonautica educational project makes actual oceanographic data available to primary and secondary students. This helps understanding the oceans, their relation to environmental change and the effects on the living world. It is a chance for them to undertake a real investigation by taking part in a scientific project that alerts them to the evolutions in society and make them aware of the major challenges facing humanity and what is needed to protect the planet. The Argonautica project, in relation to various events and/or with help from scientific partners, proposes the following activities:
- monitoring of drifting buoys, some of which are made by the classes, or Argos beacon. This enables the students to understand oceanic circulation, the links between ocean and environment (climate?) and how they vary, by comparing the data with that supplied by the Jason satellites.
- showing the impact of these variations on marine animals, by monitoring their migrations with Argos transmitters.
At the end of the school year, the students come together to report back on their work.

We've been talking for more than ten years of the enthusiasm of students and teachers participating to the project; of the possibilities of the project; of the achievements of the participants...
Now we'll lift the veil on what's happening behind the scenes: data used, processing needed, tricks and problems, evolutions done… and sketch some perspectives on how it could further evolve in future years.