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Exploring Coral Reefs Understanding Abiotic Factor

This worksheet guides students through a Gizmo simulation on coral reefs and abiotic factors. It explores coral decline, environmental impacts, and reef health using data analysis and graph interpretation.

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    Name: Gizmo: Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors 1. Go to hitps://gizmos.explorelearning.com/ 2. Click "Login/Enroll" 3. Login 4. Under the heading "Unit 8: The Earth & Climate Change" find the "Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors" gizmo 5. Click "Launch" Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts in the boxes. Vocabulary: consumer, coral, coral bleaching, coral reef, filter feeder, food chain, food web, grazer, nutrients, ‘ocean acidification, pH, plankton, predator, producer, sediment, zooxanthellae i i i i Percentage of coral cover in Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) Eh Cone! Roots, 1077.2012 1. Look at the graph to the right. What does it show? 0% The corals in the Carribean reefs are decreasing. 0% 2. Why do you thinkcorals have declined since 1977? 20% Because of pollution and temperature change, and increase in| ~~ 0" Pon o% carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 1980 1990 2000 2010 Gizmo Warm-up Coral reefs are some of the most diverse habitats on Earth, home to over ANS 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 a 1 environmental factors on Caribbean reefs. \ Ad 3 1. Click Advance year 10 times. Look carefully at the composition of the reef over time. Do N see = = = jes? 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 sponges have increased. 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 40PPT Water 940% Coral 49.0%) Total fish | 441.0 load: clarity: cover: species: | species

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    Name: Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready: BN a The Carib! . onine Con ab. click Return to original reef ecosystem nas. : 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). [ Pctre | Name | Whatiteals (or howitobtans energy) Staghorn Corals Through photosynthetic symbiotic algaes @ | een Though photosyninetc symoiote alse EN ER |e | = E IE te STEPPES, PATOL TENE, Engine Long Spinca Sea EEE 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? Corals would not be able to produce as much photosynthesis. 3. Classify: Aproducer is an organism that makes its own energy, usually from sunlight. A consumer is an organism that gets energy by feeding on other organisms.

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