Coral Reef Activity
By: Laura Canton
A. Standards Addressed:
B-6: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the interrelationships among
organisms and the biotic and abiotic components of their environments.
B. Performance Objectives
Following completion of the lesson students will:
 Identify causes of coral bleaching/death
 Create a graph correlating human disturbances/pollutants and coral bleaching/death
C. Lesson Plan
1. Concept Exploration (~20min)
Cut out various colors of construction paper in small squares. Create a key for
which color represents live coral or bleached/dead coral (refer to the key for an example). Have
various colors represent various causes of coral bleaching/death. Have two separate keys for
1980 and present. The ratio of live to bleached/dead coral should decrease from 1980 to present
(more bleached coral now). The main threats used are pollution, temperature increase, damage
from recreational use, overfishing, cyanide poisoning, erosion from coastal development, and
mining and dynamiting of corals. Set out a set of paper on each side of the room to form a
hypothetical ‘reef’. Have one side represent a 1980 reef and the other side represent a present
day reef.
Students should collect one or two (depending on class size) pieces of paper from the
1980 reef. They should not know what their color means. Explain that this represents a
sampling of a hypothetical coral reef. Once the students have their paper they represent the
coral. Go around the room and have the students share what color they are and keep a tally on
the board. Sample the other reef and keep another tally on the board. Go on to the Concept
Introduction, the tallies will be used for graphing later
2. Concept Introduction
Share the powerpoint on coral reef destruction, specifically pictures of bleached corals.
Coral reefs are the oldest structures in existence created by living creatures, with some
approaching 6,000 years in age. If we don’t take action today, approximately 30% of all reefs
may decline in the next 20 years. Coral reefs are currently experiencing temperature regimes that
exceed any they have experienced over at least the last 400 000 years. Projections of temperature
increases suggest that conditions will develop that are vastly different to those in which the
majority of coral reefs have developed over the same time frame. Global ocean temperature has
increased by an estimated 0.6ºC between the mid-1950s and mid-1990s. Some studies predict
future increases in global sea temperatures of 1.4-5.8ºC by 2100, suggesting that mass bleaching
events, which may be induced at only 1-2ºC above normal summer temperatures, are likely to be
a much more frequent phenomenon in the future.
3. Concept Application
Have students create a separate graph for 1980 and present representing the frequencies
for each color. Discuss the differences between 1980 and now and the various bleaching events
since then. Have the students brain storm on what changed between then and now and have
them hypothesize what each color represents (ex. temperature change, etc).
After the group discussion reveal which colors represented which disturbance and
whether the coral was alive or bleached/dead. Discuss the consequences of the loss of coral
reefs.
References:
A Reef Managers Guide to Coral Bleaching
http://coris.noaa.gov/activities/reef_managers_guide/reef_managers_guide_ch4.pdf
CES Teacher Guides: Exploring Coral Reefs
http://www.savenature.org/images/pdfs/explorreef.pdf
Ratios for numbers of colored cards should be roughly based on the above pie charts.
KEY
Live Coral
Pollution
Temp Increase
Damage from Rec Use
Overfishing
Erosion
Mining
1980
45 Green
5 Red
0 White
2 Orange
2 Blue
4 Yellow
2 Black
Present
20 Green
10 Red
12 White
6 Orange
4 Blue
8 Yellow
2 Black