from 50 Ways to Save the Ocean – The Teacher’s Guide

 

30: Support Your Local Wetlands

For generations, coastal wetlands were perceived as dank and dangerous swamps, home to snakes and alligators. Since World War Two, more than 50 million acres of farmland have been paved over by urban and suburban development, while more than 53 million acres of wetlands have been filled in for agricultural use. More than half of the United States’ wetlands have been destroyed by development.

The loss of wetlands for agricultural and housing development seemed like a good tradeoff until scientists began to understand the significance of our wetlands. Wetlands act as storm barriers, recharge aquifers and filter pollution, while coastal wetlands provide vital habitat for juvenile fish and shellfish. It is imperative we save and restore the wetlands that still exist.
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 The Fragile Fringe

Source: USGS – National Wetlands Research Center
Project: Loss of Wetlands: Subsidence
Link: www.nwrc.usgs.gov/fringe/subsiden.html

In this lesson: Students will be introduced to global warming and sea-level rise as factors in wetland loss, define subsidence and demonstrate the resulting effects on wetlands.
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Dirty Mud

Source: NOAA- Ocean Service Education
Project: Sediment Contamination
Link: www.oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/lessons/dirty_mud.html

In this lesson: Students will identify specific types of wetland habitats and land uses in a watershed. This lesson plan covers how scientists analyze complex scientific data and geographic information to plan projects to restore environmental resources damaged by pollution. Students will explain how data on chemical contaminants, land uses and habitat types can be integrated to develop restoration plans for environmental resources damaged by pollution. Students will use a geographic information system to retrieve and analyze data about specific benthic marine habitats.
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31: Restore a Stream, River, or Watershed

Water is in a constant flow from the sea to the sky, through evaporation, then to the mountains; through precipitation as rain, sleet and snow; and then back to the sea, following gravity in the worlds streams and rivers.

As thousands of rivers and streams empty into our coastal seas, they can add to either the health or the decline of our living ocean, depending on their own health.
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Eyes on the Estuaries

Source: NOAA – Ocean Service Education
Project: Monitoring Estuaries
Link: www.oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/lessons/eyes_on_estuaries.html

In this lesson: Students will retrieve and interpret data on the distribution of selected estuarine animals at various stages in the life history of these animals and relate these distributions to salinity conditions. Students will compare the distribution of selected species in two or more estuaries, and to draw inferences about the ecology of these estuaries. This lesson covers how we can monitor and compare living resources in U.S. estuaries.
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Watersheds and Wetlands

Source: My Science Box
Project: Wetlands Science
Link: www.mysciencebox.org/wetlands/lesson

In this lesson: Students will build a watershed, add a wetland and then add toxic waste. Students will learn about watersheds and wetlands, and what can we do to help them thrive. This activity should clearly illustrate how a single event in one location can affect a very large area and affects all downstream water users including wildlife in the marsh and the bay. Students will observe that while a wetland can soak up some pollution, some will also leak through into the bay. Can it be cleaned up once it gets into the water? Emphasize that although a waste spill is far more dramatic, urban non-point source pollution accounts for the vast majority of the pollution in most watersheds.
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Additional Resources:

Youtube video – Four Things Everyone Needs to Know about Sharks. www.dhp.disl.org/PDFs/TeachersResor/ACTIVITY%20SHEET%209-12.pdf
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32: Live a Reasonable Distance from the Beach

Building on barrier islands, on beaches, or on filled-in wetlands and salt marshes not only puts your home and family at risk, but also contributes to the degradation of coastal ecosystems that normally act as storm barriers and nurseries of the sea.

Coastal living can be a great experience as long as you build and buy with great respect for the natural processes of the coast.
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I’ll Stay Here if it Kills Me

Source: NOAA – Ocean Service Education
Project: Coastal Decision-Making
Link: www.oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/lessons/if_it_kills_me.html

In this lesson: Students will be able to identify and discuss four components of “human dimensions” involved in coastal decision-making. Students will be able to describe a process to build public support for coastal resource protection and will be able to explain why this support is important. Students will be able to describe at least three perspectives that exist among different groups of stakeholders regarding a specific coastal resource issue. This lesson plan covers how and why different perspectives should be considered when deciding how to use and protect coastal resources.
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Get Smart

Source: NOAA – Ocean Service Education
Project: Smart Growth
Link: www.oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/lessons/get_smart.html

In this lesson: Students will be able to describe the concepts of sustainability and Smart Growth. Students will be able to identify at least three benefits that may be expected from Smart Growth. Students will be able to discuss at least three different perspectives on Smart Growth that might be found among stakeholders in a coastal community. This lesson plan covers the advantages smart growth has, compared to other approaches to community development.
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33: Count the Fish: Then Do Some Light Housekeeping for Them

For centuries, scientists and naturalists have studied and counted terrestrial creatures and their habitats to better understand the world. But it was only on 1992 that Dr. Gary Davis, a scientist with the Channel Islands National Park in California established the Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC) as a way to encourage sports divers to report their fish sightings.

Today the fish count takes place every year in a wide variety of locations from Hawaii to Canada.  Underwater Clean-Up Volunteers also use mesh bags to collect sunken trash and abandoned fishing gear and sometimes use air-filled lift bags to remove heavy items such as truck tires from deep water.
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Management of Coral Reefs

Source: NOAA – Coral Reef Management
Project: Keeping watch on coral reefs
Link: www.coralreef.noaa.gov/education/educators/resourcecd/lessonplans/resources/keeping_watch_lp.pdf

In this lesson:
Students will be able to identify and explain five ways that coral reefs benefit human beings. Students will be able to identify and explain three major threats to coral reefs. Students will be able to describe major components of the Coral Reef Early Warning System. Students will be able to identify and discuss actions that can be undertaken to reduce or eliminate threats to coral reefs. Students will be able to obtain and analyze several types of oceanographic data from remote-sensing satellites. This lesson plan covers why coral reefs are important, and what can be done to protect them from major threats.
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Additional Resources:

Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) coordinates the event, The Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC) that mobilizes and trains volunteer divers and snorkelers in established methodologies to identify and document fish diversity and population trends in marine ecosystems. For more information, see: www.fishcount.org/
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34: Protect the Dunes So They’ll Protect Us

Coastal sand dunes are created and shaped by wind and tide. Sands deposited by rivers and offshore currents build them into physical barriers that protect the coastline and inland areas from saltwater intrusion and erosion while absorbing wave energy in ways that keep the soft beach from washing away.

Beaches, barrier islands and coastal sand dunes are dynamic, changing natural systems. Like geology with the fast-forward button always on, they change with weather, tides and storms. Human construction impairs the health of the dunes. We need to work for the protection and restoration of existing sand dunes, along with wetlands and other natural storm barriers.
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Who Moved the Beach?

Source: NOAA – Ocean Service Education
Project: Shoreline Erosion
Link: www.oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/lessons/who_moved_the_beach.html

In this lesson:
Students will identify coastal erosion as a natural process, and explain how human activity can increase the risks associated with coastal erosion. Students will identify options for reducing risks caused by coastal erosion, and discuss the advantages and problems associated with these options. Students will analyze and interpret beach elevation data, and make inferences from these data about the relative vulnerability of different beaches to coastal erosion. This lesson covers the primary causes and impacts of coastal erosion, and how human communities should respond to this process.
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37: Work to Create Wilderness Parks under the Sea

Marine sanctuaries offer tremendous recreational opportunities, but they function like national forests, where logging and other industrial activities still take place, rather than like national parks where wilderness is fully protected.

In the 1990’s, marine scientists suggested that as much as 20 percent of the ocean needed to be set aside as no-take zones (or marine protected areas) if we hope to maintain the diversity of life that exists on our blue-ocean planet. Presently less than 0.1 percent of the world’s oceans are protected as wilderness areas.
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Marine Ecosystem Invention

Source: National Geographic Education
Project: Creating a Marine Ecosystem
Link: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/activity/marine-ecosystem-invention/?ar_a=1

In this lesson: Students will create a marine ecosystem and describe the adaptive, trophic, and symbiotic relationships between the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem. Students will be able to describe the abiotic and biotic components of a marine ecosystem and list several marine organisms and explain their trophic relationships using a food web. Students will also be able to describe the adaptations and niches of several marine organisms, as well as predict the effects abiotic changes or trophic imbalances might have upon an ecosystem as a whole.
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Marine Protected Areas: Case Studies

Source: National Geographic Education
Project: How are Marine Protected Areas Classified?
Link: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/activity/marine-protected-areas-case-studies/?ar_a=1

In this lesson: Students will compare and contrast two MPA’s by evaluating case studies. Then they learn how the MPA classification system works in the United States and apply that system to the MPA case studies. Students will be able to compare and contrast two different Marine Protected Areas and identify characteristics for classifying Marine Protected Areas. Students will also explain the importance of classifying Marine Protected Areas and describe different management practices based on the type of Marine Protected Area.
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 Marine Protected Area: Stakeholder Debate

Source: National Geographic Education
Project: How are different stakeholders affected by or involved in decisions about Marine Protected Area (MPA) designation?
Link: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/activity/marine-protected-area-stakeholder-debate/?ar_a=1

In this lesson: Students will read a Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge case study. They consider the location for extended Marine Protected Area (MPA) designation, determine stakeholders, and debate pros and cons of establishing in as a MPA. Students will be able to describe the pros and cons of establishing a new MPA site and identify stakeholders in the MPA designation process. Students will assume a stakeholder’s position and engage in a discussion to support or oppose an MPA designation plan. Students will also describe the impacts of establishing Marine Protected Areas from different stakeholder perspectives.
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Additional resources:

National Geographic Education has excellent information about Marine Protected areas and conservation and management of the oceans. For more information, see http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/news/marine-protected-areas/?ar_a=1
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40: Keep Oil off Our Shore

A new anti-oil coalition brings together conservationists and scientists concerned about the threat of fossil-fuel-driven global warming and politically concerned citizens worried about the nation’s growing dependence on Middle Eastern oil suppliers, some with links to terrorism. These activists have begun to advocate for new non-carbon energy alternatives.

Energy policy decisions that will affect our ocean, climate, weather, water and food supply are too important to leave to the politicians and the energy industry alone, so let’s get involved in the future of our country’s energy sources.
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To Drill or Not to Drill

Source: Earthday Network
Project: An Examination of the Reliance and Risk
Link: www.eeweek.org/assets/files/EDN%20Ocean%20and%20Oil%20Spill/To_Drill_or_Not_to_Drill.pdf

In this lesson: Students will examine how much oil was spilled into the Gulf and then perform an assessment activity involving specific details about the reliance and risk of oil extraction from the ocean. This lesson will also provide students with an opportunity to further explore the multifaceted debate surrounding oil drilling. Students will be evaluated on their ability to develop and demonstrate informed opinions on the various economic and environmental issues related to oceanic oil drilling.  This lesson plan seeks to impart scientific and historical knowledge surrounding the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill in addition to other past spills.
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Goo-b-Gone: Cleaning Up Oil Spills

Source: Science Buddies
Project: Cleaning Up Oil Spills
Link: www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/EnvEng_p025.shtml?from=ParentsGirlScouts

In this lesson: Students will compare the absorptive properties of different materials (sorbents) used for cleaning up an oil spill to discover which ones are best at removing oil from water.
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50 Ways to Save the Ocean – The Teacher’s Guide