Student Exploration: Coral Reefs 1 – Abiotic Factors

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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: consum ... er, 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? percentage of coral cover in Caribbean Reefs. It shows a decline over time. 2. Why do you think corals have declined since 1977? people are killing and selling them 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? the reef stayed consistent 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? sponges population goes up while the others don’t 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 species: 442 Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved This study source was downloaded by 100000840903812 from CourseHero.com on 07-28-2022 02:44:49 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/92592803/CoralReef1SEpdf/ Student Exploration: Coral Reefs 1 – Abiotic Factors 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 photosynthetic symbiotic algae boulder star coral photosynthetic symbiotic algae sponge eat plankton in the water algae photosynthesis stoplight parrotfish eats algae queen angelfish eats sponges yellow snapper eats young fish, shrimp, crabs, and worms nassau grouper eats reef fish like snapper, angelfish, and parrotfish long-spined sea urchin eats algae hawksbill sea turtle eats 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? if the water is cloudy then the algae can’t absorb sunlight which kills the coral Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved This study source was downloaded by 100000840903812 from CourseHero.com on 07-28-2022 02:44:49 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/92592803/CoralReef1SEpdf/ 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 B. Which of the reef organisms are consumers? staghorn coral, boulder star coral, stoplight parrotfish, queen angelfish, yellowtail snapper, sponge, nassau grouper, long-spined sea urchin, and the hawksbill sea turtle. C. Consumers in the reef can be further classified as filter feeders, or orga [Show More]

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