Explore the Great Barrier Reef!

For The Teacher

Section 1

Section 2 Section 3Quiz

Review

Environment

The students will be sitting in a quiet computer lab with headphones to be able to hear audio from the video. The students will work on this individually.

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Learners

The students who will view the lesson will be 8th grade students who are in a geography and world history class.

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ObjectiveAfter the completion of this program, students will be

able to describe the different types of coral that make up the Great Barrier Reef, identify different species of animals that use the reef as a habitat, and explain what affects the environment has on the Great Barrier Reef through the completion of a quiz with 100% accuracy.

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Orientation

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World, and you may have seen pictures or seen it in a movie, but now it is time to learn what it is.

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Motivation Facts About Great

Barrier Reef Biggest Reef in the world The whole reef is made

up of living organisms Hundreds of different

species of animals and coral call the Great Barrier Reef Home

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Section 1, Geography and Make up of Great Barrier Reef

You will learn about what the Great Barrier Reef is made from and the different types of coral that create the reef.

You will also learn about the geography of the reef, such as where it is located and where certain types of coral are located within the reef.

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Geography and Make up of Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is off the coast of Australia, near Queensland

The Great Barrier Reef is made of: 2,900 individual coral reefs 900 islands All living organisms And it stretches over 1,600 miles

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Geography and Make up of Great Barrier Reef

World’s largest single structure made by living organisms.

Composed of billions of tiny organisms called coral polyps.

Creates a habitat for many animal species.

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Geography and Make up of Great Barrier Reef

Ribbon and deltaic corals form in the north part of the reef, but are not found in any other part of the reef.

Fringing Corals distributed widely but most common towards the southern part.

Crescentic Corals are most common shape of reef in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef.

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Geography and Make up of Great Barrier Reef

Planar corals found in northern and southern parts of the reef.

Most islands on Great Barrier Reef are found on planar corals.

Reefs attached to mainland are rare.

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Application

Think about how the Great Barrier Reef provides more for the environment than habitats for animals. What are some other things the Great Barrier Reef does for the environment?

Once you have done this, you can move on to the next section.

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Section 2, Life In and Around the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef supports a diversity of life, including many endangered species.

It provides habitats for: Ocean Animals Coral Species Land Animals

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Ocean Animals

Six different species of sea turtles

Thirty species of whales Great Barrier Reef is the mating

ground for Humpback whales

Dolphins, Porpoises

125 species of sharks and stingrays

5000 species of mollusks

Nine species of seahorses

1500 different species of fish

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Coral Species 400 different species

of coral, such as: Brain Coral Fire Coral Staghorn Coral

Both hard and soft forms of coral

The individual coral reefs make up the entire Great Barrier Reef.

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Land Animals Some of the coral is above water and has created islands for land

animals to live.

Some of the species are: Seven different species of frogs 215 species of birds 17 species of snakes Over 2195 plant species

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Application

Think about how the Great Barrier Reef creates habitats for land animals as well as ocean animals. Do you think it would be difficult for these species of animals to find new places to live if the Great Barrier Reef did not exist?

Once you have done this, you can move to the next section.

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Section 3, The Environment and the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef was used by the Aboriginal people and it was important to their culture.

Besides the Aboriginal people, the Great Barrier Reef was not studied until the 19th century

After studying and exploring the reef, they found: Places with guano deposits Convenient locations to construct

lighthouses

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Climate Change

Ocean warming causes coral bleaching

Expected to become annual occurrence

When temperatures rise, some fish species seek new habitats

Effects sea turtle population around the reef

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Pollution Declining water quality

Poor water quality due to increased light and oxygen competition from algae

Northeast Australian rivers pollute reef during tropical flood events

90% of pollution comes from farm runoffs

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Crown of Thorns Starfish Prey on coral polyps (which

makes up the Great Barrier Reef)

Large outbreaks of these starfish can devastate the reef, such as in 2000 when an outbreak of crown of thorn starfish caused a loss of 66% of live coral

Causes of outbreaks of these starfish are: they occur in a natural cycle Poor water quality increases

the risk of outbreaks Overfishing of starfish’s

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Fishing

Overfishing of keystone species, such as Giant Triton, can disrupt food chains vital to reef life

Fishing causes increased water pollution from boats and catching unwanted species

Fishing causes habitat destruction from anchors and nets

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Application Think about what

other types of effects pollution has on the Great Barrier Reef and the world in general.

Once you have done this, you can move on to the practice before the quiz.

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Practice 1

The Great Barrier Reef has the largest collection of coral reefs.

True False

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Practice 2

The Great Barrier Reef is off the coast of Hawaii.

True False

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Practice 3

The Great Barrier Reef is the mating ground for beluga whales.

True False

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Practice 4

The Great Barrier Reef creates islands for land animals to live.

True False

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Practice 5

The Great Barrier Reef is made of all living organisms.

True False

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Quiz

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Question 1

Which of these is NOT an environmental effect on the Great Barrier Reef?

A) Fishing

B) Climate Change

C) Pollution

D) Scuba Diving

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Question 2

Which of these are NOT true about coral reefs?

A) Commonly attach to mainland

B) They are living organisms

C) They are a cluster of polyps

D) There are many different species of coral

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Question 3

The most common reef type found in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef is ______.

A) Crescentic

B) Ribbon

C) Planar

D) Deltaic

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Question 4

More than _______ species of whales call the Great Barrier Reef home.

A) 27

B) 30

C) 33

D) 37

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Question 5

There are more than _____ plant species on the Great Barrier Reef.

A) 1997

B) 2036

C) 2195

D) 2304

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Question 6

What types of coral are found in the Great Barrier Reef?

A) Hard

B) Soft

C) Neither

D) Both

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Question 7

Which of these was NOT a use of the Great Barrier Reef?

A) Finding guano deposits

B) Building lighthouses

C) By Aboriginal culture

D) Treasure hunting

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Question 8

Ocean warming causes _______?

A) Coral Bleaching

B) Some fish to find new habitats

C) Both A and B

A) None of the Above

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Question 9

90% of pollution of the Great Barrier Reef comes from _______?

A) Farm Runoffs

B) Fisherman

C) Sea Life

D) Scuba Divers

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Question 10

Fishing causes what problems to the reef?

A) Increased Water Pollution

B) Habitat destruction from net and anchors

C) Disruption of food chains

D) All of the above

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Congratulations!

You have now completed this lesson and the quiz

with 100% accuracy!

ReferencesMain Menu

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef

http://www.greatbarrierreef.org/

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/154

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