Days 1-5

Goals:

1. The students will gain an understanding of how to construct and maintain an aquarium.

2. The students will become familiar with the plants and animals which live in the coral reef ecosystem and in addition, be able to identify a few common organisms.

3. The students will construct a man-made reef of their own and watch it transform in a similar manner as real coral forms.

4. Demonstrate the relationships between plants, animals, and the reef.

Time:

Two (2) hours every day for 4 days. 40 minutes per station. (preferably Monday thru Thursday). Last day, 30 minute wrap-up.

Resources\Materials:

Aquarium: tank, substrate, water, corals, plants, fish, marine invertebrates, and other necessary equipment for the successful construction of a salt water aquarium. For additional resources, see your local pet store, or refer to the book: Marine Invertebrates by Friese, U. Erich. Additional information can be found at: www.aqualink.com and www.waltham.com/pets/fish/pfk.htm Both are excellent sources of information on how to build and maintain an aquarium.

Animals and Plants: books, posters, videos, and real life organisms (fish, hermit crabs, and invertebrates). Possible books include:

• Coral reefs by Eugene Kaplan
• Seaweeds by C.J. Hillson
• Handguide to coral reef fish of the Caribbean by F. Joseph Stokes
• Caribbean reef invertebrates by Nancy Sefton and Steven Webster
• Sea mammals, Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean by Larry Brown
• Marine invertebrates and plants of the living reef by Dr. Patrick L. Colin
• Encyclopedia of marine animals by Neville Coleman
• Sharks of North American waters by J.L. Castro

Note: See reference section for more sources. Video: Animals of a Living Reef (1980) VHS format

Growing coral: video, plastic bowls, brick, tile, cement, sponge, water, table salt, liquid bluing, food coloring, measuring spoons, masking tape, and pens.

For further information, go to SeaWorld web page.

Video: Coral Atoll Biology (19??) VHS format

Video: The Coral Reef (1984) VHS format

Children literature: books dealing with the above topics. See reference section for a list of books for young readers.

Procedure:

1. Set up three (3) stations for this exercise. These three stations will consist of:

A. Aquarium building


1. Students will participate in the building of a real salt water aquarium. This can be a very difficult project but a highly recommended activity. Contact your local pet store for the proper method of setting up the aquarium. Many stores will be willing to help schools in the construction of a salt water aquarium. If this project appears to difficult, teachers can opt for a fresh water aquarium.

2. In addition to building the aquarium, students will calculate the volume of water in several containers based on their geometric shape. They will also be required to measure the volume of water in our fish tank.



B. Plants and Animals


1. Students will work with their group to discover, discuss, and show each other animals and plants from the Caribbean. The resources they will be working with will include posters, books, videos, and the real thing: live animals and plants.

2. On the first day, students will be exposed to picture books that show animals and plants of the Caribbean and coral reefs. From these pictures, students will gain a better understanding of what animals and plants of the Caribbean look like. Preferably, Students should look at animals or plants on the first day, then on the second day, look at pictures of the one they did not look at on the previous day. For a suggested list of books that may serve as good picture books, refer to the reference section of this lesson.

3. On the third day, students will watch a video "Animals of the living reef" as their activity.

4. On the fourth day, students will create drawing or art work of plants and animals of the reefs and Caribbean.



C. Growing Coral Reefs
 

1. Students will create their own coral reef, and observe the changes in it over the four days of the lesson. A great coral reef lab activity can be found at the SeaWorld web page.

2. Students will view a short video on the formation of coral (Coral Atoll Biology)

3. Students will look through books on coral reef development and see how they are formed. For a selection of books dealing with this subject, go to the reference section of this lesson for some examples.

2. Divide the class into three groups and maintain these groups for the duration of the exercise. (four days, Monday thru Thursday).

3. Rotate students through all three stations daily so they have exposure to all exercises. Divide the two hour session equally to assure that all students have the opportunity to participate in all activities.

4. Students will keep journals and record important ideas, facts, and observations which will occur throughout the four day activity.

5. There will be children literature dealing with these three topics around the room for students to look at when they have time. See reference section for a list of these books.

6. On Friday, we will take 30 minutes to find out what the students learned from the 3 previous activities. For this activity, the students and teachers should build a large concept map outlining all the activities and knowledge the students have gained.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed through their participation in all the activities and the completeness of their journal. See below rubric for grading of the journal.

4 Accurate, well thought daily reflections which demonstrate competency and relevance of all activities.

3 Effective use of journal which demonstrates the student has knowledge on all the activities.

2 Student keep journal and recorded information that demonstrated their knowledge on most of the activities.

1 Student recorded information in their journal but has failed to demonstrate complete understanding of the activities.

4 Student actively performs and completes required tasks presented to them.

3 Student performs and completes required tasks presented to them.

2 Students passively performs and completes required tasks presented to them.

1 Student passively performs but does not complete required tasks presented to them.

4 Recorded data in a clear and concise manner and additionally adds a drawing that supports data.

3 Recorded data in a clear and concise manner.

2 Recorded data in a way that could be understood by others.

1 Recorded data but the data was very difficult to read and understand.

Curricular Strands:

Language arts - adolescent literature

Science - plants, animals, coral reef, aquarium

Cooperative Learning - building of aquarium

Art - building aquarium, drawing pictures

Math - volume and density of aquarium water Active learning - learn by participation in activities

Possible Extensions:

Visit a pet store that has many aquariums set up on display. Have a guest speaker come in and talk about coral reefs or fish. Go on a field trip to a local aquarium.

References

BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS:

Arnold, Caroline. (1988). A Walk on the Great Barrier Reef. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc.

Cousteau Society. (1992). Corals: The Sea's Great Builders. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Jacobs, Francine. (1980). Coral. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Maddern, Eric. (1990). Curious Clownfish. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

McClung, Robert. (1972). Treasures in the Sea. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic.

Muzik, Katy. (1992). At Home in the Coral Reef. Watertown, Massachusetts: Charlesbridge Publishing.

Pallotta, Jerry. (1991). The Underwater Alphabet Book. Watertown, Massachusetts: Charlesbridge Publishing.

Selberg, Ingrid. (1990). Secrets of the Deep. New York: Dial Books.

Stratton, Barbara R. (1991). What is a Fish? New York: Franklin Watts.

Wood, John Norris. (1985). Nature Hide and Seek:Oceans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

                                                                                                                                                                    

OTHER REFERENCES:

Barlow, Virginia. (1991). The nature of the Islands: Plants and Animals of the Eastern Caribbean. Cruising guide publications.

Colin, Patrick L. (1978). Caribbean Reef Invertebrates and Plants. Neptune City, New Jersey: T.F.H. Publications, Inc.

Fagerstrom, J.A. (1987). The Evolution of Reef Communities. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

FitzGerald, Lisa M. (1992). "Building Coral Bones." Sea Frontiers 38 (1).

Friese, E. U., (1973). Marine invertebrates. Neptune city: T.F.H. Publications.

Line, Les and George Reiger. (1982). World Book of Life in the Reefs. Chicago: World Book.

Mead and Beckett Publishing. (1984). Reader's Digest Book of the Great Barrier Reef. Sydney: Reader's Digest.

Randall, John E. (1968). Caribbean Reef Fishes. Neptune City, New Jersey: T.F.H. Publications, Inc.

Robin, B. (1980). Living Corals. Translated by B. Picton. Tahiti: Les Editions du Pacifique.

Roessler, Carl. (1990). Coral Kingdoms. Second edition. New York: Harry N Abrams, Inc.

Sargent, William. (1991). Night Reef. New York: Franklin Watts.

Sefton, Nancy and Steven K. Webster. (1986). Caribbean Reef Invertebrates. Monterey Bay, California: Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation.

Segaloff, Nat, and Paul Erickson. (1991). A Reef Comes to Life:Creating an Undersea Exhibit. New York: Franklin Watts.

Smith, F.G. Walton. (1971). Atlantic Reef Corals. Coral Gables, Florida: University of Miami Press.

Stafford Deitsch, Jeremy. (1991). Reef: A Safari Through the Coral World. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.

Stark, W.A. (1972). "Probing the Deep Reefs Hidden Realms." National Geographic 142 (6).

Tayntor, Elizabeth, Paul Erickson, and Les Kaufman. (1986). Dive to the Coral Reefs. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc.

Ward, Fred. (1990). "Florida's Coral Reefs are Imperiled." National Geographic 178 (1).

Wells, Susan M., ed. (1988). Coral Reefs of the World. Volumes 103. Cambridge, U.K.: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

Wood, Dr. Elizabeth M. (1983). Reef Corals of the World: A Biology and Field Guide. Neptune City, New Jersey: T.F.H. Publications, Inc.

Carribean Unit - written by Trina Collins, Richard Wheeler, & Daniel Shimer

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