Student Worksheet: Coral Conference
oral Bleaching
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Read theScience Newsarticle “Record-breaking CoralSea temperatures threaten the Great Barrier Reef”
and answer the following questions.
. Using your prior knowledge, why might greenhouse gas emissions have seen a significant increase
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starting around the year 1900?
Around the year 1900 is when the industrial revolution hit the world and because the
industrial revolution machines that release greenhouse gasses started being made.
. How were scientists able to measure sea surface temperatures over time? Imagine coral growth rings,
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like those of trees, that vary in thickness, color and density. Thick rings can represent years of good
growth and thin rings can represent years of poor growth.
The chemical compound of the rings in the coral can show the temperature of that time
period.
. How have greenhouse gas emissions impacted ocean temperatures and how might this change in
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temperature impact coral growth?
Greenhouse gas emissions have made it so the temperature in the oceans increase
and it could hurt the coral reef because to much heat has a bad impact on reefs.
. What scientific careers might focus on coral reefs? What aspect of coral reefs would each type of
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these scientists study? Be specific. Name and describe at least 3 different scientific careers.
climatologists, data scientists, and conservationists will be three types of scientific careers people can
take, and in the name is what they study.
© Society for Science 2000–2024. All rights reserved.
epresenting Relationships as a Biogeochemist
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With your group, answer the following questions and create three diagrams that show the processes,
interactions and relationships within coral reefs during different stages of bleaching.
epresenting Relationships as a Coral Biologist
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With your group, answer the following questions and create three diagrams that show the processes,
interactions and relationships within coral reefs during different stages of bleaching.
1. What is an ecologist and what do they study?
2. What are trophic levels? What do the different trophic levels represent?
3. What relationship do other marine organisms have with corals in the coral reef? Be specific.
or each of the following diagrams, label a variety of aquatic organisms that have a relationship with
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corals and identify the type of relationship these organisms have with each other and with corals. These
relationships may include sources of food and shelter.
. Take a full piece of paper and write “Cool” at the top of the page. On this page, draw a coral reef and
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diagram the relationship between organisms in a healthy reef with no signs of coral bleaching.
. Take a full piece of paper and write “Warming” at the top of the page. On this page, draw a coral reef
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and diagram the relationship between organisms in a coral reef that is beginning to bleach.
. Take a full piece of paper and write “Bleaching Event” at the top of the page. On this page, draw a coral
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reef and diagram the relationship between organisms in a coral reef that has been completely bleached.
. Brainstorm three solutions to coral bleaching based on your assigned career and diagrams. These
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solutions can either work to solve coral bleaching or mitigate the issue.
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oral Conference
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Share your assigned career and diagrams with the class when prompted, identify any additional
interactions between the components in the class diagrams, and answer the following questions.
1. What did you learn about coral bleaching from another group that surprised you?
2. Why is it important that scientists work with other scientists outside their field?
. Reflect on your solutions from the “Representing Relationships” part of the activity. Now that you
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know more about coral reefs, which one of your solutions best addresses the issue of coral bleaching?
Why?
© Society for Science 2000–2024. All rights reserved.
