Coral Reefs 1 – Abiotic Factors Gizmo Answer Key

Name: Lea Turner Date: 03-11-2022 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.) 1. Look at the graph to the right. What does it show? Coral content in Caribbean Reefs as a percentage 2. Why do you think corals have declined since 1977? There may be a role for climate change in this. 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. 1. Click Advance year 10 times. Look carefully at the composition of the reef over time. Do you see any major changes? No, not much has changed. 2. 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 percentage of the normal population for each is essentially the same for all of them. 3. 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: 4ppt Water clarity: 94% Coral cover: 49% Total fish 442 species: Activity A: The Caribbean reef ecosystem Get the Gizmo ready: ● On the CONDITIONS tab, click Return to original settings. Click Restart. ● Select the CORAL REEF tab. Introduction: 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? 1. 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). Picture Name What it eats (or how it obtains energy) staghorn coral photosynthesis boulder star coral photosynthesis sponges plankton algae shallow, nutrient rich water stoplight parrotfish algae queen angelfish sponges yellowtail snapper young fish, shrimp, crabs, worms nassau grouper reef fish such as snappers, angelfish, parrotfish long spined sea urchin algae hawksbill sea turtle sponges 2. 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? Because they wouldn't receive any sunlight, the zooxanthellae would perish. 3. 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. A. Which of the reef organisms in this Gizmo are producers? algae, staghorn coral, boulder star coral, sponges B. Which of the reef organisms are consumers? sponge, hawksbill sea turtle, yellowtail snapper, stoplight parrotfish, queen angelfish, nassau grouper, and long-spined sea urchin C. 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: sponge Grazers: hawksbill sea turtle Predators: yellowtail snapper 4. 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. Create two possible food chains for the Caribbean coral reef based on what you have learned about the ten organisms in this Gizmo. Food chain 1: hawksbill sea turtle Show description