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Sonar & Measuring Depth Training Center

Ari Raider's Training Materials · Deep Sea Quest · Training Center 5 of 6

Sonar & Measuring Depth

In the Silent Deep, every ping comes back scrambled and nobody knows how far down the floor is. A ping is only sound going out and coming back — walk it through in order and the sub finds the bottom.

What you're training for

In the Silent Deep, the sonar screen is nonsense. One clean echo comes back for whoever can order the five steps of a ping. Train here first; prove it in the simulation.

The science

  • Sound travels very well through water — faster than in air, and much farther than light.
  • A ship or sub sends a pulse of sound down; it bounces off the sea floor; the echo returns.
  • The clock is the ruler: the longer the wait, the deeper the water.
  • Sonar mapped the entire ocean floor this way — and it's how dolphins and bats have navigated all along.

Teach it today — no prep

Human sonar. One student is the sub, eyes closed; a "sea floor" of classmates stands somewhere in the room. The sub claps once — the floor claps straight back. Move the floor closer, then farther: can the sub hear the difference in the gap? That gap is the entire instrument. Follow with real echo tests in the gym or hallway.

Trained and ready? Prove it at Stop 5 — the Silent Deep. Free, no logins, progress saved on the device.

Enter the Realm at Stop 5

Resources in this training center

Worksheets, reading passages, flashcards and printables for this lesson are being added — new resources land here first. Get one email a month when they do, or browse the whole free library.

The hands-on half: the Deep Sea Quest Adventure Kit puts six real specimens, six Digs, six Gemlings and the Realm map in your students' hands — $19.99, or $15 a student for classrooms.

More Deep Sea Quest training

Coral Reefs · Ocean Zones · The Sea Floor · Salt & Fresh Water · Sonar & Depth · Bioluminescence · Enter the Adventure →

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