Imagining Deep-Sea Drilling
Build your own re-entry cone!
Summary
Students will learn about the process
of deep-sea drilling by making their
own reentry cone and simulating
drilling activities.
Target Age: K–4, 5–8
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
• Calculate scale measurements
using ratios
• Demonstrate basic parts of the
deep-sea drilling process
National Science Education
Standards
Standard E: Science and Technology
Time: One class period
Materials
• Reentry Cone handout
• Scissors
• Crayons or markers
• Tape or glue
• Paperclips
Background
The Reentry Cone and Casing (RECC) system is a permanent seafloor
installation that helps scientists return to and re-enter a particular hole. The
RECC allows a borehole to be reentered on multiple legs to deepen the hole or
install a borehole observatory (such as a CORK) for enhanced long-term
downhole measurements and sampling. The reentry cone assembly consists of
a reentry funnel mounted on a support plate that rests on the seafloor and a
housing to support the multiple casing strings.
One current RECC
design is composed of eight
steel panels that can be
shipped and stored flat on
top of the support plate, then
assembled, bolted and
welded together onboard.
These cones are 4 meters in
diameter and 2 meters high.
The hole number is painted
on the outside, and the
insides are painted in a
variety of patterns to give
the dynamic positioning
personnel visual cues during
reentry.
Figure 1: RECC schematic.
(ODP-TAMU)
What to do
Each student will need two copies of the reentry
cone handout (for a total of 8 pieces per student).
Directions for assembly:
1. Color the front of the cone in a design of
your choice.
2. You can create continuous lines around the
cone by planning your design and
measuring up the sides of each section of
the cone.
3. Cut out each piece along the black lines.
4. Fold the side and top edges back along the
dotted lines.
5. Glue the side of one section to the side of
the next, and continue around until you
have formed an octagon.
Scale Calculations and Activities
1. The reentry cone you have made has a
diameter of about 8 inches. The real cones are
4 meters across. This means that the scale
you are working with is 8” = 4m, or 2” = 1m.
At this scale, how long would a model of the
JR be (the real JR is 143m long)? If the
seafloor were at 4500m depth, how long would
the drill string need to be?
2. Each stand of drill pipe is 30m long. At a depth
of 4500m, it would require 150 stands to reach
the seafloor. If you were to create the drill
string using 8” drinking straws to represent
each stand, how long would your model be?
How wide would the reentry cone be?
3. As a class, assemble 150 paperclips into a
long chain. On the end of the chain, hang a
small cotton ball with paint on it. Draw a small
circular or octagonal target on a piece of paper
(this will not be to scale). The chain should be
about 16 feet long; if you can find a stairway or
balcony or landing over which to dangle the
chain, have students take turns trying to
“reenter” the target cone, leaving their mark
with the cotton ball.
4. If you have an aquarium or deep tub
accessible, you can use a smaller chain of
paperclips to try to reenter a “cone” at the
bottom of the tank.
Top and bottom photos by William Crawford (IODP/TAMU)
2
Answers to Scale Calculations
1. The reentry cone you have made has a
diameter of about 8 inches. The real cones are
4 meters across. This means that the scale
you are working with is 8” = 4m,
or 2” = 1m.
At this scale, how long would a model of the
JR be?
143 meters x 2 inches/meter = 286 inches
286 inches ÷ 12 inches/foot = 23.83 feet =
23 feet, 10 inches.
If the seafloor were at 4500m depth, how long
would the drill string need to be?
4500 meters x 2 in/m = 9000 inches
9000 in ÷ 12 inches/foot = 750 feet
750 ft ÷ 10 feet/story = 75 stories high!
2. Each stand of drill pipe is 30m long. At a depth
of 4500m, it would require 150 stands to reach
the seafloor. If you were to create the drill
string using 8” drinking straws to represent
each stand, how long would your model be?
150 x 8 inches = 1200 inches
1200 in ÷ 12 inches/foot = 100 feet
How wide would the reentry cone be?
8 inches ÷ 30 meters = 0.267 inches/meter
4 meters x 0.267 inches/meter = 1.07 inches
That’s about the diameter of a quarter!
Additional Activities
There are more scale activities available in the Deep
Earth Academy lesson plan “Measure for Measure,”
available on the Deep Earth Academy Website:
http://www.oceanleadership.org/education/deep-earthacademy/educators/classroom-activities/grades-5-8/measurefor-measure/
3