Web of Life

Coastal Ecology—Web of Life

Summary: In this activity students will discover how the plants and animals of the estuary are connected to each other.

Concepts to teach: Interactions and change, balance, food chains, community interactions, interconnectedness.

Goals: Students will understand the interdependence of all living things in an estuarine ecosystem because of their shared food resources.

Standards:
3.2L.1, 4.2L.1, 5.2L.1

Specific Objectives:

  1. Students will collect information about various organisms in the estuary
  2. Create a simulated web of life using a ball of string
  3. Students will identify at least 1 of the following: producer, consumer (herbivore, omnivores & carnivores) and decomposers.

Activity Links and Resources:

Assessment:

  • Have students create their own Estuary web of life. Have them demonstrate their knowledge by including at least 1 producer, consumer and decomposer in their 6+ species web.
  • Compare estuarine food webs to freshwater food webs explored in Watersheds: Making the Connection topic guide
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Web of Life

Coastal Ecology—Web of Life

Summary: This activity will give students a look at how all animals and plants in a system are interconnected and what can happen when just one organism is removed. Some of the discussion focuses on the sea otter- a species that is now extinct from the Oregon coast.

Concepts to teach: Food chains, Food webs, Interdependence, Endangered Species

Goals:

  • Define interconnectedness and explain its ecological implications.
  • Use vocabulary related to food webs and ecology.
  • Discuss the plight of the sea otter and how that has affected systems off of Oregon’s coast.

Standards:
6.2L.2, 7.2L.2, 8.2L.1

Specific Objectives:

  1. Explain why threatened or endangered species are important to the ocean.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of food web interactions.

Activity Links and Resources:

Assessment:

  • Assessments included in the OCEP Web of Life
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Welcome to the Estuary!

Introduction—Welcome to the Estuary!

Summary: Estuaries are unique and often fragile coastal ecosystems that connect aquatic and marine ecosystems. This topic guide provides definitions and images that orient students and promote a sense of place and understanding.

Concepts to teach: Estuarine ecosystems and habitats, tidal cycles, productivity, ecosystem balance

Goals: Students understand components of an estuarine ecosystem, basic associated vocabulary, and the concept that watersheds connect to the ocean through estuaries.

Standards:
4.2L.1, 5.2L.1, 4.2E1

Specific Objectives:

  1. Students will be able to identify and describe, in simple terms, what an estuary is and what basic life zones make up an estuary
  2. Students will be able to describe at least two physical factors that influence life forms in the estuary.
  3. Students will be able to locate the major life zones and sources of estuary inputs on a map.

Activity Links and Resources:

Assessment:

  • Assessments and extensions included in the OCEP Welcome to the Estuary summary above.
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Welcome to the Estuary!

Introduction—Welcome to the Estuary!

Summary: Estuaries are unique and often fragile coastal ecosystems that connect aquatic and marine ecosystems. This topic guide provides definitions and images that orient students and promote a sense of place and understanding.

Concepts to teach: Estuarine ecosystems and habitats, tidal cycles, productivity, ecosystem balance

Goals: Students understand components of an estuarine ecosystem, basic associated vocabulary, and the concept that watersheds connect to the ocean through estuaries.

Standards:
6.2L.2, H.2L.2, HS.15

Specific Objectives:

  1. Students will be able to identify and describe, in simple terms, what an estuary is and what basic life zones make up an estuary
  2. Students will be able to describe at least two physical factors that influence life forms in the estuary.
  3. Students will be able to locate the major life zones and sources of estuary inputs on a map.

Activity Links and Resources:

Assessment:

  • Post activity analysis and scoring guide included in the TIDES lesson plan.
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Where the Land Meets the Sea

Science Concepts—Where the Land Meets the Sea

Summary: One consequence of climate change is sea level rise. In this topic guide, students learn how to read nautical charts that show where the sea meets the coast, the depth of coastal waters, and the coastal waterways that are used and mapped by people. They discover how charts are helpful tools for people who live and work at the coast, and think about how changes in sea level might affect the appearance of nautical charts in the future.

Concepts to teach:

Goals:

  1. A nautical chart is a special kind of map that shows what is in, on and around water.
  2. Nautical charts help mariners navigate safely.
  3. Over time, rising sea level will require that changes be made to coastal nautical charts.

Standards: NGSS Performance Expectations

  • 4-ESS2-2. Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features.

Specific Objectives:
Students will be able to:

  1. Describe what a nautical chart is and what it is used for
  2. Read and identify simple features of a nautical chart
  3. Predict how an increase in sea level might change the appearance of a nautical chart

Activity Links and Resources:

  • Online Activity: Nautical Charts from NOAA Ocean Service Education
    • This multi-level interactive lesson can be explored together as a class, with breaks for students to find answers on their own.
    • Where are salt marshes located on the chart?
  • Obtain local nautical charts and practice identifying features, landmarks, water depth, marshes, etc.
  • Obtain local topographic maps to compare and contrast with the nautical charts.

Assessment:

  • Select and focus on a nautical chart and topographic map of a coastal area. Would a 12 inch increase in sea level change the appearance of these maps? Why or why not?
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Who Dirtied the Water?

Human Impacts—Who Dirtied the Water?

Summary: Who is responsible for pollution of water resources and the subsequent clean up? Students identify a variety of pollution sources though participating in a story about the progressive contamination of a model body of water. They recognize that once the water is contaminated, it is difficult to determine to what extent various participants are responsible for the problem, and it is difficult to clean up the mess.

The original source for the popular “Who Dirtied the Water?” activity is unknown, and many variations exist on the web with this title. This lesson can avoid inducing ecophobia by empowering students to identify reasonable solutions to the problem of water pollution, creating new rules that change the story, and by discussing the limits of models.

Concepts to teach: Pollution, responsibility, problem-solving, models

Goals: Determining the source of pollution and assigning responsibility for pollution impacts can be a complex process that requires the help of science and the cooperation of many stakeholders. Solutions for aquatic pollution include both pollution prevention and effective clean up technology.

Standards:
SS.08.GE.07, SS.08.SA.03

Specific Objectives:

  1. Identify five distinctly different sources and vectors of pollution to a model body of water.
  2. Engage in a facilitated discussion with peers about who is responsible for cleaning up the model body of water.
  3. Create a model of a device that cleans the polluted water.
  4. Devise new rules to prevent pollution of the water.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • Who Dirtied the Water?—The original source for this popular activity is unknown, and many variations exist on the web with this title. This lesson can avoid inducing ecophobia by empowering students to identify reasonable solutions to the problem of water pollution, creating new rules that change the story, and by discussing the limits of models.
    • Consider modifying the “story” to represent your local waters and types pollution common to your area.
    • Clean Water: Is it Drinkable?—The second part of the lesson plan asks students to create a filtration system to remove the contaminants from the water. Since the filters will be unlikely to clean up the water completely, follow this exercise with a discussion about the limits of models.
    • New Rules—Have students devise new rules for the discharge of pollutants, and perform the story again to see if the water is any less polluted by the end. Discuss how the modifications may lead to new problems (for example, lack of fund to build a water treatment plant, toxins seeping out of a landfill, etc)
  • A similar write up of Who Dirtied the Water comes from the Museum of Science and Industry in Illinois.

Assessment:

  • Identify reasonable solutions to the problem of water pollution in the activity. Create new rules and see how the story changes as a result of those rules (for better or for worse).
  • Discuss the limitations of models, why we use models, and how the activity does and does not accurately reflect a real situation.
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Words from the Ocean

Place—Words from the Ocean

Summary: No matter how far away we might live from the beach, we are culturally connected to the ocean and its resources. Students discover how some common English words and phrases can be tied to maritime history.

Concepts to teach: Language arts, social studies

Goals: Students recognize how the ocean’s prominence in our culture has shaped our language.

Standards:
EL.03.RE.18, EL.04.RE.15, EL.05.RE.14, EL.05.RE.15, EL.05.RE.16
SS.03.GE.05, SS.05.GE.08

Specific Objectives:

  1. Identify how the modern meaning of several words has changed from the sense they originally had in maritime cultures.
  2. Construct hypotheses as to the original, ocean-related meaning of several everyday words.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • Two resourcesfrom Smithsonian’s Ocean Planet exhibition investigate how the ocean has influenced our language:
    • Words from the Ocean—This lesson plan asks student groups to guess the original meanings of several modern words. A worksheet and teacher answer key is provided.
    • Nautical Sayings—A list of eight common sayings and a description of their nautical roots.

Assessment:

  • Use worksheet to try to figure out how the original meaning of each word in the following list is connected to the sea and write your ideas in the space provided. Pick one word and create a THEN and NOW poster contrasting the original meaning of a word or phrase with its modern meaning.
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Words from the Ocean

Place—Words from the Ocean

Summary: No matter how far away we might live from the beach, we are culturally connected to the ocean and its resources. Students discover how some common English words and phrases can be tied to maritime history.

Concepts to teach: Language arts, social studies

Goals: Students recognize how the ocean’s prominence in our culture has shaped our language.

Standards:
EL.06.RE.12, EL.07.RE.12, EL.08.RE.12

Specific Objectives:

  1. Identify how the modern meaning of several words has changed from the sense they originally had in maritime cultures.
  2. Construct hypotheses as to the original, ocean-related meaning of several everyday words.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • Two resources from Smithsonian’s Ocean Planet exhibition investigate how the ocean has influenced our language:
    • Words from the Ocean—This lesson plan asks student groups to guess the original meanings of several modern words. A worksheet and teacher answer key is provided.
    • Nautical Sayings—A list of eight common sayings and a description of their nautical roots.

Assessment:

  • Use worksheet to try to figure out how the original meaning of each word in the following list is connected to the sea and write your ideas in the space provided.
  • Pick one word and create a THEN and NOW poster contrasting the original meaning of a word or phrase with its modern meaning.
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Words from the Ocean

Place—Words from the Ocean

Summary: No matter how far away we might live from the beach, we are culturally connected to the ocean and its resources. Students discover how some common English words and phrases can be tied to maritime history.

Concepts to teach: Language arts, social studies

Goals: Students recognize how the ocean’s prominence in our culture has shaped our language.

Standards:
EL.HS.RS.08

Specific Objectives:

  1. Identify how the modern meaning of several words has changed from the sense they originally had in maritime cultures.
  2. Construct hypotheses as to the original, ocean-related meaning of several everyday words.

Activity Links and Resources:

  • Two resources from Smithsonian’s Ocean Planet exhibition investigate how the ocean has influenced our language:
    • Words from the Ocean—This lesson plan asks student groups to guess the original meanings of several modern words. A worksheet and teacher answer key is provided.
    • Nautical Sayings—A list of eight common sayings and a description of their nautical roots.

Assessment:

  • Use worksheet to try to figure out how the original meaning of each word in the following list is connected to the sea and write your ideas in the space provided.
  • Pick one word and create a THEN and NOW poster contrasting the original meaning of a word or phrase with its modern meaning.
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You’re Excluded

Human Impacts—You’re Excluded

Summary: Although fishing gear may be designed to catch a particular species of marketable fish, sometimes other species also accidentally get caught. Through hands on simulation, students explore how fishing trawls may be modified to reduce bycatch.

Concepts to teach: Bycatch, excluder, trawl, iterative, efficiency, selectivity, engineering design

Goals: To deal with the unwanted problems associated with bycatch, the fishing industry must change their gear and/or their practices. Students design models of excluder devices to solve this real-world problem.

Standards:
S3.4D.1
S4.4D.1, S4.4D.2
S5.4D.1, S5.4D.2

Specific Objectives:

  1. Define “bycatch” and how it affects the fishing industry and the environment.
  2. Describe how a fishing trawl works to catch fish.
  3. Create and demonstrate how a model “excluder” reduces bycatch.

Activity Links and Resources:

Assessment:

  • Discussion Questions included in the You’re Excluded curriculum.
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