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Lessons for Web GIS
Coral Reefs
Coral Reefs
Objective:
Students will leverage some of the tools and features available within ArcGIS Explorer Online to visualize and
assess globally the areas of coral bleaching and disease between the years 2000 and 2006. Students will also
have an opportunity to explore factors (i.e., water temperature, population density) related to the health of coral
reefs and discover their relative and absolute locations.
This activity can be used as an introductory lesson about coral reefs. A more in depth lesson will be available
soon using ArcGIS Desktop10 - http://www.esricanada.com/en_education/4381.asp.
Connections to Curriculum Topics:
-
Resource Management
Physical Geography
Environmental Issues
Climate Change
Population Density
Requirements:
-
Internet browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome)
Microsoft Silverlight**
ESRI Global Account (optional)**
**Note: Since ArcGIS Explorer Online runs entirely over the internet, all you need is a Web browser to use it. If you have never
used this application before, you may be prompted to install the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in. Sign in to your ESRI Global
account if you want to save the map created in this lesson.
Background:
Coral reefs are diverse ecosystems that provide protection to shorelines, contain medicinal properties for humans
and economic opportunities for local communities, but they are at risk due to human actions. Increased carbondioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are changing climate and ocean temperatures causing coral
bleaching in many parts of the world. In addition, agricultural run-off, unsustainable tourism practices and
destructive fishing practices are killing coral reefs and the life forms that rely on them. Many organizations have
been working together to create global awareness about this dire problem.
For more information, please visit these links:
ReefBase - Coral Bleaching - http://www.reefbase.org/global_database/default.aspx?section=t4
NOAA - Coral Diseases - http://coris.noaa.gov/about/diseases/ (White Plague)
Reefs at Risk - http://www.wri.org/project/reefs-at-risk/
©2011 ESRI Canada ● Schools and Libraries Program
12 Concorde Place, Suite 900 ● Toronto, Ontario, M3C 3R8 ● Tel: (416) 441-6035 ● Fax: (416) 441-6838
Email: education@esricanada.com ● Web site: http://edu.esricanada.com
Page 2 of 4
Lessons for Web GIS
Coral Reefs
Data:
ReefBase - www.reefbase.org (Bleaching, Diseases, ICRAN sites)
Climate Change 3 Lesson - http://www.esricanada.com/k12_docs/ClimateChange_3.pdf
(Ocean temperature data)
Note: The Education team at ESRI Canada makes every effort to present accurate and reliable information. The Web sites
and URLs used in this lesson are from sources that were current at the time of production, but are subject to change without
notice to ESRI Canada. It is recommended that teachers test all links within the Web GIS lesson prior to students working
through the individual lessons.
Getting Started:
1. Click on this link: http://explorer.arcgis.com/?open=491c977a0f1648e59a30200a6e709163 to access the
Coral Reef web map to begin this lesson.
Adding a Map Service (Data) to your Map
2.
Click on the Add Content
button. Search for the “Global Distribution of Coral Reefs (2010)” map
service and add it to your map. For more information, go to this link:
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisexplorer/help/index.html#/Search_for_content/015600000005000000/
3. Close the Add Content window.
4. You may need to Zoom out on your map to view the global distribution of coral reefs.
Location of Coral Reefs (Latitude)
5.
Click on the Measure
tool. Select the Get the Location of a Point
tool and click on the
northern part of the coral reef zone and then the southern part. For more information, go to this link
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisexplorer/help/index.html#//015600000002000000.htm
Q. What is the latitude range where the majority of coral reefs are located?
6. Click Done when you are finished.
Q. Why do you think they exist in this latitudinal zone?
Disease and Bleaching of Coral Reefs
7. Click on the Map Legend
8.
button to view the layers on your map.
Explore the map showing the location of coral reefs that have showed disease and bleaching. Hint: Zoom
into an area of your map by pressing the Shift key on your keyboard and at the same time drawing a box around the
area you want to view.
Q. In which regions of the world have coral reefs been affected by disease and bleaching?
©2011 ESRI Canada ● Schools and Libraries Program
12 Concorde Place, Suite 900 ● Toronto, Ontario, M3C 3R8 ● Tel: (416) 441-6035 ● Fax: (416) 441-6838
Email: education@esricanada.com ● Web site: http://edu.esricanada.com
Page 3 of 4
Lessons for Web GIS
Coral Reefs
Q. What types of industries/activities do you think contribute to the decline in health of coral reefs? Why?
9. Close the map legend.
Creating Queries
10. Click on the Queries
button to create a query using the Bleaching 2000-2006 layer to find the
coral reefs that showed high bleaching in 2006. Follow the steps below:
Click on
Select
and click OK
Change the Field to BLEACHING_
Change Operator to Equal
Type in HIGH in the Value field
Click Add
Change the Field to YEAR
Leave the Operator as it is
Type in 2006 in the Value field
Click Add
The final equation should look like this:
Click OK.
11. In the query results window, click on the
in the first selected record to view the details.
Q. What type of information is provided?
12. Zoom out of the map to view in which countries the high bleaching occurred in 2006 .
Q. What are the countries?
13. Now you will create a query using the Disease 2000- 2005 layer to view where White Plague is found.
Use the Disease_TY field and make sure the Operator is Equal.
Note: Make sure to type in the Value field exactly like this: White plague
Q. Where is White Plague found?
14. Close the query results table when you are done.
Population Density
15. Click on the Add Content
button. Search for the “esri_population_world” map service and add it to
your map. For more information, go to this link:
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisexplorer/help/index.html#/Search_for_content/015600000005000000/
©2011 ESRI Canada ● Schools and Libraries Program
12 Concorde Place, Suite 900 ● Toronto, Ontario, M3C 3R8 ● Tel: (416) 441-6035 ● Fax: (416) 441-6838
Email: education@esricanada.com ● Web site: http://edu.esricanada.com
Page 4 of 4
Lessons for Web GIS
Coral Reefs
16. Explore the countries close to coral reefs. Hint: Remember to use the Shift key to zoom into an area.
Q. To what extent do you think population density has an impact on areas of bleaching and disease?
Viewing Other Layers
17. Open up the Map Contents
18. Click on the arrow
and turn off the ESRI_Population_World layer.
next to the Web_Reef layer. Turn on
the Temperature (Celsius) layer.
Note: This layer is scale dependent, so it will only appear at certain scales.
19. Go to the map extent similar to the image below:
20. Click the Map Legend
to view the ocean temperature ranges. Note: The Map Legend will only appear
if the Temperature (Celsius) layer is present.
Q. What is the ocean temperature range where most coral reefs exist?
21. Turn on the ICRAN layer and turn off all the layers below it.
The International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) is a global partnership of coral reef experts who are working to
halt and reverse the health decline of the world's coral reefs. Made up of some of the world's leading coral reef
scientists and conservation groups, ICRAN partners have created a globally integrated action plan to manage and
protect coral reefs based on recommendations from the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). The International
Coral Reef Action Network is a coordinated response to ICRI's urgent call to protect coral reefs. Specific sites have
been selected to serve as "demonstration sites" based on their proven ability to effectively manage their coral reefs.
These sites share local knowledge and successful management practices with other coral reef managers and
communities."Target sites" are sites where best practices implemented at the "demonstration sites" can be adopted.
For more information on ICRAN, visit: http://www.icran.org
22. Close the Map Legend window and the Layer Details window.
Q. What areas of the world would you recommend to ICRAN to expand its reach? Why?
Extension Exercise:
Create two new queries to show the “Demonstration Site” and the “Targetted Site” using the ICRAN layer
(TYPE_DESCR field).
©2011 ESRI Canada ● Schools and Libraries Program
12 Concorde Place, Suite 900 ● Toronto, Ontario, M3C 3R8 ● Tel: (416) 441-6035 ● Fax: (416) 441-6838
Email: education@esricanada.com ● Web site: http://edu.esricanada.com