Day 67 & 68 Coral Reef Gizmo

Name: ____ Date: ____ Student Exploration: Coral Reefs 1 – Abiotic Factors Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts in the orange boxes. Vocabulary: consumer, coral, coral bleaching, coral reef, filter feeder, food chain, food web, grazer, nutrients, ocean acidification, pH, plankton, predator, producer, sediment, zooxanthellae Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) Look at the graph to the right. What does it show? _percentage of coral in Caribbean reefs___ Why do you think corals have declined since 1977? __Climate change and pollution __ Gizmo Warm-up Coral reefs are some of the most diverse habitats on Earth, home to over a quarter of all marine species. The Coral Reefs Gizmo provides a simplified model of interactions among 10 key species in Caribbean reefs. In the Coral Reefs 1 exploration, you will focus on the effects of environmental factors on Caribbean reefs. Click Advance year 10 times. Look carefully at the composition of the reef over time. Do you see any major changes? _Yes i see major changes___ Select the DATA tab. Check that Staghorn coral , Star coral , Sponges , and Algae are selected. Populations are given as a percentage of normal populations. What do you notice about these populations? _The sponge population went up ___ On the right side of the Gizmo, select the SUMMARY tab. In a healthy reef, what are the values for Nutrient load , Water clarity , Coral cover , and the total number of fish species? Nutrient load: __4_ Water clarity: _94___ Coral cover: _49___ Total fish species: _442___ Get the Gizmo ready: On the CONDITIONS tab, click Activity A: Return to original settings . The Caribbean reef ecosystem Click Restart . Select the CORAL REEF tab. Introducti /on: A healthy Caribbean reef is home to over 50 species of coral and over 400 fish species. In this simplified model, we only consider the interactions of ten important species. ;--------Question: How do different species interact in a healthy coral reef? Describe : On the CORAL REEF tab, click on each organism shown in the table below. For each organism, give its name and what it eats (or how it obtains energy). Name Picture __staghorn coral __ _Boulder star coral ___ What it eats (or how it obtains energy) __photosynthetic symbiotic algae __ __photosynthetic symbiotic algae __ __sponge __ _eat plankton in the water___ __algae __ ___photosythesis _ __spotlight patriotifsh __ __eats algae __ _queen angelfish ___ _eats sponges ___ __yellowtail snapper __ ___eats young shrimp _ _nassau grouper ___ __eats reef fish __ _long spined urchin ___ __eats algae __ _hawksbill sea turtle ___ __eats sponges __ Corals obtain energy from tiny photosynthetic algae, called zooxanthellae , which live inside the coral’s tissue. How do you think corals would be affected by cloudy, muddy water? ____ Classify :A producer is an organism that makes its own energy, usually from sunlight. A consumer is an organism that gets energy by feeding on other organisms. Which of the reef organisms in this Gizmo are producers? ____ Which of the reef organisms are consumers? ____ Consumers in the reef can be further classified as filter feeders , or organisms that eat plankton by filtering water; grazers , or organisms that feed on organisms that don’t move; and predators , or organisms that eat other animals. List at least one example of each. Filter feeders: ____ Grazers: ____ Predators: ____ Create :A food chain is a series that shows which organisms obtain energy from other organisms. For example, the food chain “grass ? mouse ? hawk” means that the mouse eats grass and the hawk eats the mouse. Challenge :A food web is a more complicated diagram that shows the feeding relationships of all the organisms in the ecosystem. As with a food chain, an arrow pointing from species A to species B indicates species B gets its energy from species A. Get the Gizmo ready: On the CONDITIONS tab, Click Activity B: Return to original settings and Ocean conditions Restart . Check that Ocean conditions is selected on the dropdown menu. Introduction: In recent decades, global climate change has altered ocean conditions in the Caribbean. Average surface temperatures have risen about 0.25 °C – 0.5 °C. Many scientists think climate change will lead to stronger storms and may cause the ocean to be more acidic. Question: How are coral reefs affected by storms, high temperatures, and acidic water? Predict : Coral reefs in the Caribbean are sometimes damaged by hurricanes. Of the two types of coral shown, which do you think is more resistant to storm damage? Explain. ____ Observe : Set the Storm severity to 50%. Click Advance year 10 times. What changes do you notice? ____ Analyze : On the DATA tab, select Staghorn coral , Star coral , Sponges , and Algae . Which organism was most hurt by increased storms, and why do you think this is so? ____ Predict : In the Caribbean, water temperatures typically range from 24 °C to 30 °C. What do you think might happen if temperatures rise much higher than 30 °C? ____ Observe : Select the CORAL REEF tab. Click Return to original settings and Restart . Set the Ocean temperature to 33 °C. Click Advance year 10 times. What changes do you notice? ____ Select the DATA tab. Which coral is most affected by bleaching? ____ Analyze : On the DATA tab, select every organism. In general, how does the decline in corals affect the other organisms on the reef? ____ Predict : The pH of a solution is a measure of how acidic or basic it is. The greater the pH, the more basic the solution is. Corals and other marine invertebrates require less energy to make their exoskeletons and shells when ocean water is slightly basic. As carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere rise, ocean water absorbs carbon dioxide and becomes more acidic. This process is called ocean acidification . How do you think ocean acidification will affect the coral reef ? ____ Observe : Click Return to original conditions and Restart . Set the Ocean pH to 7.6. Click Advance year 20 times. What changes do you see on the CORAL REEF and DATA tabs ? ____ Observe : Select the SUMMARY tab. How has the loss of coral affected the number of fish species present on the reef? ____ Summarize : Many scientists predict stronger storms, warmer oceans, and lower ocean pH in the future. If this occurs, how do you think these changes will affect Caribbean coral reefs ? Test your ideas using the Gizmo. ____ Apply : In the 1970s, staghorn corals dominated Caribbean reefs. Since that time, staghorn corals have declined by over 90% and are now classified as critically endangered. What do you think are the causes of this decline, and why do you think staghorn corals are so vulnerable? ____ Get the Gizmo ready: On the CONDITIONS tab, click Activity C: Return to original settings and Land use Restart . Select Land use . Introduction: Corals depend on ample sunlight, warm (but not too warm) temperatures, clear water, and low levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Algae and sponges, on the other hand, thrive in water that is higher in nutrients. Logging, agriculture, and other human activities can add excess nutrients and sediments (small dirt particles) to the sea. Question: How do changes in land use affect reefs? Observe : Select the SUMMARY tab. Under normal conditions, what is the sediment load, nutrient load, and water clarity? The sediment load and nutrient load are measured in parts per thousand (ppt). ____ Predict : Logging removes vegetation that anchors soil and prevents erosion. How do you think logging will affect a coral reef? Explain. ____ Observe : On the CONDITIONS tab under land use, set Logging to 50%. Select the SUMMARY tab. What is the sediment load, nutrient load, and water clarity? ____ Observe : Click Advance year 10 times. What changes do you notice? ____ Analyze : On the DATA tab, select Staghorn coral , Star coral , Sponges , Algae , Stoplight parrotfish , Queen angelfish , and Long-spined sea urchin . Which species were hurt the most by logging? ____ Which species were helped most by logging? ____ Why do you think the populations of parrotfish and long-spined sea urchins changed the way they did? ____ Observe : Click Restart . On the CONDITIONS tab, set Logging to 0% and Sewage to 50%. Select the SUMMARY tab. What is the sediment load, nutrient load, and water clarity now? ____ Predict : The primary effect of dumping raw sewage into ocean water is a sharp increase in the nutrient load. How do you think this will affect the reef? ____ Observe : Select the CORAL REEF tab. Click Advance year 10 times. What changes do you notice? ____ Analyze : On the DATA tab, select every organism except Red lionfish and Crown-of-thorns starfish . (These are invasive species you will experiment with in another activity.) How does the increase in nutrients affect the algae population? ____ How does this change the populations of the two species that eat algae, parrotfish and sea urchins? ____ Experiment : Click Restart . In 1983, a mysterious disease killed off most of the long-spined sea urchins in the Caribbean. To model this, select Disease from the CONDITIONS tab and set the Sea urchin infection rate to 100%. Check that Sewage is still 50%. Click Advance year ____ 10 times. What happens? Based on these results, what is the importance of long-spined sea urchins to Caribbean reefs? On your own : Click Return to original settings and Restart . Investigate the effects of agriculture on Caribbean reefs. Summarize your findings below. ____ ____