Captain Bait Nenson wants to share his passion for the ocean! Students explore the Pacific ocean biodome and familiarize themselves with its fragile ecosystem, then investigate why corals experienced mass bleaching events on Earth in the 20th and 21st centuries.
MS-ESS3-5. Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
Coral Bleaching; climate change, greehouse effect, greenhouse gas, pollution, ecosystems, marine
This storyline is grounded in the phenomenon of coral bleaching and its effects on marine ecosystems. Students can research other factors that cause coral bleaching and impact marine ecosystems.
Captain Nenson wants to share his love of marine ecosystems: particularly coral reefs! Students explore the Pacific Ocean Biodome to learn more about its inhabitants and how they interact, especially as they depend upon coral for food, shelter, or other ecosystem services.
Unfortunately, many corals on Earth began dying out in alarming numbers during the 20th and 21st centuries. Students research what factors were at play during mass bleaching events, then perform experiments to understand whether these factors actually had a hand in coral bleaching, or if they merely correlate.
Students also learn more about the ways that humans have contributed to climate change, and what the mechanics of global warming and the Greenhouse Effect mean for the climate as a whole. Can the existence of coral reefs have an impact on humans, even though we don't live underwater or consume coral for food?
