Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes

Part A: How the ocean is changing

35 minutes

Part B: How carbon dioxide affects the ocean’s chemistry and how this impacts coral reefs

5 minutes

Reflection

Part A: How the ocean is changing

Step 1

Begin the lesson by watching the following clip as a class. As they watch, invite students to record any information that they think is interesting or important.

How the ocean is changing (https://vimeo.com/207574290)

Once complete, engage students in a class discussion using the guiding questions below. The objective is to activate their previous knowledge and get them ready to learn new things on this topic.

Use these guiding questions to help students identify the main issues raised in the clip:

What is the clip about?
What did you see in this clip that you thought was interesting or important?
Why is it called 'How the ocean is changing'?
What are the main issues raised in this clip?

The main issues students should identify from the clip are:

Ocean acidification
Ocean warming
Rate of change
Loss of coral reef/importance of coral reef

Step 2

Now, invite students to engage in a discussion around the main issues raised on the clip (see above). The table below is designed to help students remember, organise and connect what they know already about the topic.

Create this table on the board to help guide the class discussion.

Issue	Question	How? Explanation/Hypothesis	Why? Reasons/Justification
Ocean acidification	e.g. Why is the ocean becoming more acidic?
Ocean warming
Rate of change
Loss of coral reef

Ensure that the following questions are included in the table:

Why is the ocean becoming more acidic?
Why is the ocean warming up?
Why is the rate of change in ocean acidity and ocean warming so fast these days and why is this a problem?
Why does ocean acidification and warming cause the loss of coral reefs?

Try to answer as much on 'ocean warming' and 'rate of change' as possible. The rest of the lesson will focus on 'ocean acidification' and 'coral reefs'.

Students struggling? Ask them what they know about carbon dioxide levels, coral bleaching and global warming. Guide them to connect these concepts to the questions. Bring up words or concepts that can help but do not make the connections for them. Scaffold them to think and connect these concepts to the ocean on their own. The class should work together to build explanations rather than merely deferring to an outside source, the teacher or a textbook to provide an answer.

Part B: How carbon dioxide affects the ocean’s chemistry and how this impacts coral reefs

Step 1

Explain to students that they will now dig deeper into ocean acidification and coral reefs. Using the jigsaw classroom method, students will collaborate to find out about ocean acidification and coral reefs.

Divide the classroom into four person groups. Half of the groups will research ocean acidification and the other half will research coral reefs.

Using the Student Worksheet, each group is to research and answer the questions according to the group they are in.

Step 2

Once students have completed their research, invite them to partner with someone who has worked on the other topic. Each pair will share their findings with each other by asking their partner the questions on the Student Worksheet.

Step 3

Again, divide the classroom into groups of 4. This time the groups should be composed of 2 students that have investigated ocean acidification and 2 students that have researched coral reefs. Ideally, all students in a group will come from different groups than the ones they were originally organised into.

Ask each group to create a poster describing how increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere affects the coral reefs.

The poster should include the words:

Coral bleaching
Symbiotic algae
Carbonic acid
Carbonate ions

The poster should also include (where necessary):

Photos
Drawings/diagrams
Graphs or tables

Students might need to do some extra research on how corals are affected by temperature and ocean acidification. If undertaking research online, remind students of the Search strategies for Googling.

Use the following rubric to assess the posters: Scientific Poster Assessment Rubric.

Reflection

As a class, watch the following clip.

Coral bleaching (https://vimeo.com/211448412)

Once complete, invite students to think about what they have learnt in this lesson. Invite students to work independently to answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How has your understanding of the science around these matters changed over the course of this lesson?
How does your understanding of the science around these matters influence how you feel about this last clip?
How does your understanding of the science around these matters affect your acceptance of the environmentalist claims and predictions presented in this final clip?

Take It Further

Invite students to apply their learning in a real world context by participating in this Social Action lesson: Ocean Guardian Campaigns - Social Action - Year 9 & 10.

Blue - Ocean Changes Affecting Coral Reefs

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Info

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