Unit 5 Communicate: Effectively Communicating ... - LiMPETS · The LiMPETS curriculum is aligned...

Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association

Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History

Unit 5 Communicate: Effectively Communicating Science and Taking Action in Your Community

3RD EDITION

LiMPETS Sandy Beach Monitoring Program: Curriculum Guide

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LiMPETS Curriculum

The LiMPETS curriculum was created by the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association and updated by the Pacific

Grove Museum of Natural History in partnership with many generous individuals and organizations. We would like

to thank everyone for their countless and valuable contributions to this project.

Funders

The Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary supported the development of the LiMPETS Sandy Beach Monitoring Program through the T/V Puerto Rican Restoration Fund.

NOAA B-WET (Bay Watershed Education and Training Program) provided full support for the development, design, and update of this curriculum (2009–2011, 2014).

Curriculum Development and Editing

Gillian Ashenfelter, Lick-Wilmerding High School

Cynthia Cudaback, Ocean Consulting

Amy Dean (editor), Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association

Dr. Jennifer Saltzman, Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association

Tammie Visintainer, University of California, Berkeley

Alison Young, Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association

Ann Wasser, Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History

Emily Gottlieb, Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History

Maps, Illustrations and Design

Illustrations: Jamie Hall and Vanessa Gusman

Maps: Tim Reed, Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary

Design: Annabelle Ison, Ison Design

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Unit 5 | Communicate: Effectively Communicating Science and Taking Action in Your Community

Using the LiMPETS Curriculum 2

Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core Standards, and Ocean Literacy Principles 3

ACTIVITY: Student Pre- and Post-Monitoring Reflection 5

Student Handout: Reflections on Sandy Beach Monitoring ..........................................................................6

ACTIVITY: Communicating Science Through Posters and Oral Presentations 7

Student Handout: Creating a Scientific Poster ........................................................................................................9

Student Handout: Preparing and Presenting a Scientific Talk ...................................................................11

Student Handout: Where Can I Find Scientific Papers About Mole Crabs? .......................................13

ACTIVITY: Taking Personal Action to Protect the Ocean – Us Vs Them 14

Student Worksheet .................................................................................................................................................................15

2 • LiMPETS Sandy Beach Monitoring Program: Curriculum Guide

Using the LiMPETS Curriculum

The LiMPETS curriculum was designed for a broad range of participants; middle school and high school students, college undergraduates, environmental education organizations, and community groups. We encourage you to adapt and customize this curriculum to suit the needs of your unique class or group. However, there are some essential elements that are required in order to participate. At minimum, teachers or group leaders should set aside three days to conduct the essential elements of the program: one day for classroom preparation, one day for monitoring, and one day for data entry and assessment.

The following outlines both the required and optional elements of this curriculum:

Unit 1: Getting Started (required reading for teachers and group leaders)

Unit 2: Engage and Prepare: In-class Introductory Activities for Sandy Beach Monitoring

ACTIVITY: The Essentials of LiMPETS In-class Preparation (required)

ACTIVITY: Monitoring Mole Crabs in the Classroom (suggested)

ACTIVITY: Investigating the “Crab” in Mole Crabs (optional)

ACTIVITY: Sandy Beach Food Chain, Trophic Levels, and Biomagnification Game (optional)

ASSESSMENT: Student Pre- and Post-Monitoring Reflection (optional)

Unit 3: Investigate and Archive: LiMPETS Sandy Beach Monitoring and Data Entry

ACTIVITY: LiMPETS Sandy Beach Monitoring (required)

ACTIVITY: Data Entry (required)

ACTIVITY: Extension to Monitoring — Acanthocephalan Parasite Investigation (optional)

Unit 4: Analyze and Interpret: Data Analysis Activities for the Classroom (optional)

ACTIVITY: Visualizing Data from a Great Day at the Beach

ACTIVITY: Exploring Trends in Mole Crab Abundance Over Time

Unit 5: Communicate: Effectively Communicating Science and Taking Action In Your Community (optional)

ACTIVITY: Student Pre- and Post-Monitoring Reflection

ACTIVITY: Communicating Science Through Posters and Oral Presentations

ACTIVITY: Taking Personal Action to Protect the Ocean — Us Vs Them

The LiMPETS curriculum is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core Standards for grades 6–12. It is also aligned with the Ocean Literacy Principles and Concepts, which identifies the content knowledge that an ocean literate person should know by the end of 12th grade, www.oceanliteracy.org.

http://www.oceanliteracy.org

LiMPETS Sandy Beach Monitoring Program: Curriculum Guide • 3

Middle School Curriculum AlignmentActivity Next Generation Science

Standards Common Core Standards Ocean Literacy Principle

Student Reflection W 3: write narrative to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective tech-nique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sentences

6.G: individual and collective action are needed to manage ocean resources for all

7.B: exploration, inquiry and study are required to better understand ocean systems and processes

Communicating Science Through Posters and Oral Presentations

W 2: write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analy-sis of content

WHST 2: write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes

WHST 4: produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience

WHST 5: with some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed

WHST 7: conduct a research project to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused ques-tions that allow for multiple avenues of explora-tion

WHST 8: gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a stan-dard format for citation

WHST 9: draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research


Taking Personal Action to Pro-tect the Ocean

Practices

asking questions and defin-ing problems

Core Ideas

ESS3.C: human impacts on earth systems

Crosscutting Concepts

stability and change

6.E: humans affect the ocean in a variety of ways

6.G: everyone is responsible for caring for the ocean


High School Curriculum AlignmentACTIVITY

Activity Next Generation Sci-ence Standards Common Core Standards Ocean Literacy Principle

Student Reflection W 3: write narrative to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-struc-tured event sentences

6.G: individual and collective action are needed to manage ocean resources for all



W 2: write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey com-plex ideas, concepts, and informa-tion clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organiza-tion, and analysis of content

WHST 2: write informative/explan-atory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific pro-cedures/experiments, or technical processes

WHST 4: produce clear and coher-ent writing in which the develop-ment, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience

WHST 5: develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on ad-dressing what is most significant for a specific audience

WHST 7: conduct a research proj-ect to answer a question or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the in-quiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation

WHST 8: gather relevant infor-mation from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation

WHST 9: draw evidence from infor-mational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research


Taking Personal Action to Protect the Ocean

Practices

asking questions and defining problems

Core Ideas

ESS3.C: human impacts on earth systems

Crosscutting Concepts

stability and change

6.E: humans affect the ocean in a variety of ways

6.G: everyone is responsible for caring for the ocean


ASSESSMENTACTIVITY

LiMPETS Sandy Beach Monitoring Student Pre- and Post-Activity Reflection Author: Gillian Ashenfelter

OBJECTIVE: Students will take time to reflect about the value of collecting baseline data through a monitoring program such as LiMPETS. Students will understand that they are learning and providing a service.

ACTIVITY TIME: 15–20 minutes

GRADE LEVEL: 8–12

BACKGROUND:

The values of reflecting on service learning experiences are widely recognized, and literature abounds on the benefits to student learning (Learn and Serve Clearinghouse).

“Reflection in service-learning provides students and teachers with a way to look back at their experiences, evaluate them, and apply what is learned to future experiences.

Reflection is an important means by which students integrate prior knowledge and experiences with new experiences to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.”

If you have an interest in learning more about the value of reflection in service learning, the organization referenced in this activity has a large number of studies revealing the gains achieved through reflection.

PROCEDURE:

• After introducing students to the LiMPETS program and protocols, give them independent time to work on the pre-trip anticipation questions. This can be a homework assignment. Give students an opportunity to share their thoughts in class with other students if time allows.

• After the trip, assign students the post-trip reflection questions to be done independently. Again, this can be a homework assignment. Give students an opportunity to discuss their thoughts with other students and facilitate a class discussion. In your discussion, be sure to point out the messy nature of field work and the importance of following protocols to the best of your ability in order to get reliable data.

REFERENCES:

• Learn and Serve America’s National Service Learning Clearinghouse. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. http://servicelearning.org.

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STUDENT HANDOUT

Reflections on Sandy Beach Monitoring

ANTICIPATION QUESTIONS:

1. What are you expecting this experience to be like? Do you think you will enjoy it?

2. What is the value of monitoring the population of an organism like the mole crab?

3. Why are California’s national marine sanctuaries asking students to help gather data?

4. What value will this data have for future scientists?

5. Why is it going to be important for us to follow the procedures carefully when we go monitoring?

6. Do you think you might be interested in a career in the sciences or the environment? Why or why not?

POST-TRIP REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. How did this experience compare to your expectations?

2. How is gathering reliable and accurate data in the field (at the beach in this case) different from gathering reliable and accurate data in a classroom?

3. Students monitoring mole crab populations can be called ‘service learning.’ What do you think that means? Can you explain how monitoring mole crabs is a service learning experience?

4. If you were a teacher, would you take your students sandy beach monitoring? Explain.

5. After participating in ‘real field research’ through the LiMPETS program, are you more or less interested in science as a career? Why?


ACTIVITY


OBJECTIVE:

• Students will complete the process of scientific investigation by explaining the steps of the scientific process, their data and conclusions through posters or oral presentations.

• Students will be able to explain why long-term monitoring of mole crabs is important.

ACTIVITY TIME: varies

GRADE LEVEL: 6–college

LIMPETS WEB RESOURCES:

• Sandy Beach Results Pages, http://limpets.org/sb_results.php

MATERIALS:

• Student Handout: Creating a Scientific Poster

• Student Handout: Preparing and Presenting a Scientific Talk

• Student Handout: Where Can I Find Scientific Research Articles About Mole Crabs? Or, provide students with your own selection of scientific paper(s) on mole crabs (optional).

• Access to the LiMPETS website

BACKGROUND:

Drawing conclusions and communicating your research to others completes the process of scientific investigation. There are a number of ways to have your students explain their work. Whatever method you choose, students should reflect on their experience and communicate their observations to an audience (teacher, classmates, school, community, etc.) The following are guidelines and suggestions for creating poster and oral presentations.

PROCEDURE AND PLANNING:

• Decide how, when, and to whom your students will present the results from their LiMPETS investigations. For example, you may choose to plan a poster session for parents – or for the school – at an appropriate time.

• Locally, there may be formal scientific conferences that offer poster sessions specifically for students, such as the annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference in San Francisco. These opportunities are an exciting way for you and your students to gain real world experience communicating science to a broad audience. Contact your local LiMPETS coordinator for more information.

• Formulating a question: You may decide to give students a ‘question’ or a choice of ‘questions’ to focus on, that you have pre-determined. Alternatively, you may ask students to consider what they could investigate given the parameters of the study. Example questions are listed in the shaded box on the following page. All questions can be investigated using the graphing tools available on the LiMPETS website.

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EXAMPLE ‘QUESTIONS’ FOR STUDENTS:

– Are mole crabs distributed evenly throughout the swash zone? If not, are separate sexes or recruits more commonly found higher or lower in the swash zone? Provide possible explanations for your findings.

– Do mole crabs form aggregations? Are the aggregations comprised of males, females, recruits, or are they mixed aggregations? Provide possible explanations for your findings.

– How does the abundance of recruits, males, females and females with eggs change from season to season? Are there consistent fall / spring patterns? Provide possible explanations for your findings.

– How does mole crab abundance change from season to season at your beach? Are there consistent fall / spring patterns? Provide possible explanations for your findings.

– How does mole crab abundance change from year to year at your beach? Is there a trend or pattern that you can identify? Provide possible explanations for your findings.

– Is there a correlation between changes in mole crab abundance and a major event like an oil spill, sewage spill, El Niño event, etc.?

– Are long-term trends in mole crab populations different from one beach to the next? If so, how? Provide possible explanations for your findings.

PROCEDURE CONTINUED:

• Make sure students understand the structure of a scientific poster or oral presentation. Give students the appropriate handout that describes this structure.

• Instruct students how to cite sources, and provide a bibliographic style for them to follow. If you want your students to cite scientific research papers, introduce them to Google Scholar and give them the Student Handout: Where Can I Find Scientific Research Articles About Mole Crabs? You may want to give them a minimum number of research papers to cite.

• If your students are preparing oral presentations, they may use handouts or PowerPoint to aid them in their talk. The printed information should be clear and concise and reflect the key points of the study. Provide your students with a time limit for the talk, 5–10 minutes is sufficient.

• Students can use the LiMPETS website to generate the relevant graphs and tables they will use in their presentation or poster.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

• As an extension to this activity, you may wish to have your students communicate their findings to your community. There are a variety of ways you could do this. Examples include: communication through videos or other local media, online social networks, etc.


STUDENT HANDOUT

Creating a Scientific Poster

What is a scientific poster? Posters are a common

way for scientists to communicate their research at

conferences and meetings. A poster is composed

of a short title, an introduction to your enthralling

question, an overview of your methods, your results,

some brief discussion of your results, and a list of

references and scientific articles that were cited in

the poster. Text should be kept to a minimum so that

a person can read your poster in under 10 minutes.

What Should Be Included in Your Poster

TITLE: Your title indicates what the poster is about. It should be clear, eye-catching, and not too wordy. Place the title at the top of the poster with your name and school below.

INTRODUCTION: The introduction provides the background information for your study. Briefly describe the history of your topic, the purpose of your investigation, and end with a statement of your study question.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This section describes how you conducted the study. Include the methods, techniques and instruments you used, as well as any photos.

RESULTS: The results section displays the data using graphs, tables, charts, or pictures. Make sure all figures are properly labeled and readable from a distance. You also need to state your findings clearly in writing.

DISCUSSION: The discussion explains what your results mean. Make conclusions about your study and indicate whether or not your results supported your hypothesis.

REFERENCES: If you cited the work of others in your introduction or discussion, list the sources in this section.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:You can thank any individuals who assisted you in your investigations and poster.

For a Low-Tech Poster

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Computer, internet access, Microsoft Word (or similar) and printer

• Poster board

• Heavy weight paper: white and contrasting color

• Rubber cement or glue

PROCEDURE:

• If creating the poster on poster board, create each section using a program like Microsoft Word. You may choose to create separate files for graphs and photos.

• Print each poster section, photos, and graphs onto white paper and mount evenly onto colored paper. Glue the sections to the poster board.

• Layout: See an example of poster layout in the figure on the next page. Feel free to be creative. Make sure there is plenty of white space and keep the alignment of columns and the flow of information logical.


For a High-Tech Poster

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Computer, internet access, and design software (see below).

• Choosing software: For the most part, you will probably choose to use PowerPoint to create your poster. However, there are other choices as well. The best programs for designing large-format posters are programs such as QuarkXPress, InDesign, and LaTeX. These programs allow control of text wrapping, text flow among associated text blocks, and much more.

PROCEDURE:

• Layout: Find a poster template online. You can make your poster any size, however, as a suggestion, you may want to set your poster size to 36” by 48”. Poster template files for many of the above programs can be found on the internet by conducting a search in Google for “poster template” and then adding the application name (e.g., PowerPoint).

• How to print: Before you print, save your file as a PDF first. Does your school or organization have a poster printer? If not, you will need to go to a place like Kinkos. A poster may cost about $20–30 to print.

Tips for a Successful Poster

• Keep the style consistent.

• Balance large and small items.

• Choose one warm color to use throughout your poster.

• Use black text.

• Avoid decorative, hard-to-read fonts.

• Use a larger font for the headings.

• Make sure the poster text can be read from a distance of 4 – 6 feet.

• Use photos of study site, specimens, etc.

• Use active voice in your writing.

• Limit the amount of text. Be clear and concise in your writing.

References

• Purrington, C.B. (2009). Advice on designing scientific posters. Web Oct. 2010. http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/posteradvice.htm.

TITLE Name & School Results

Introduction

Methods

Graph 1 Discussion

Table

Graph 2 References

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/posteradvice.htm

http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/posteradvice.htm


STUDENT HANDOUT

Preparing and Presenting a Scientific Talk

A scientific talk is a professional version

of show and tell. If done well, the speaker

communicates new information and

knowledge to an audience so that they

can best understand and remember it.

Presenting and attending oral presentations

is an important part of science, as well as

many other careers. A good talk has an

introduction, a body and a conclusion, uses

simple, direct language and summarizes the

facts and data.

PREPARING THE TALK: Decide what you are going to say, practice saying it, and make notes to use during the talk. Your visual aids will guide you through your presentation, but you cannot simply read them to the audience.

OUTLINE THE TALK:

• Introduction: Begin by introducing the topic to the audience. Describe why the topic is of interest and what was known about it prior to your study. Share your own observations that led to your question. Clearly state your purpose for conducting the study. (3 – 4 minutes)

• Materials and Methods: Describe the materials and methods you used to collect your data. Indicate where and when you conducted your investigations and for how long. (2 – 3 minutes)

• Results: Summarize your data, pointing out any trends or unexpected results. Explain what your results mean. (5 – 6 minutes)

• Conclusions: Express your conclusions about your research. Review what you set out to learn, and discuss what you found out. If you determine that more information is needed to understand what is going on, suggest what you could do next to continue

the study. If the study led you to ask more questions, present them at the end of this section. (3 – 4 minutes)

PREPARE THE VISUAL MATERIALS: You may choose to use handouts or a computer presentation.

• Handouts: Pass out before your talk, allow the group a minute or two to look them over.

• Computer presentation: If available, use a program such as PowerPoint to combine words and pictures into a series of slides.

REHEARSE THE TALK:

• You are choosing words to be spoken, not read. Make sure what you plan to say sounds logical and natural.

• Practice, practice, then practice again. Do not simply memorize the words to say. Practice speaking aloud to make sure your thoughts flow easily. Practice your talk in front of a friend or family member, someone who can help you identify any awkward or unclear points in your presentation.

• Rehearse with your visual aids, so you aren’t fumbling with them for the first time in front of an audience.

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TIPS FOR VISUAL AIDS:

• Select images that relate to and clarify the material covered in your talk.

• Printed information shoud be brief. Use the fewest number of words possible.

• Make sure your visual aids are easy to understand, and visible to the entire audience.

• Do not include too many visual aids in your talk. The audience will spend more time and energy reading than listening to you.

• Do not read your visual aids to the audience! They are meant to support what you are saying, not be the only things you say.

PRESENTING THE TALK:

• Like it or not, you are presenting yourself as well as your information. Your voice and body language can say more than your words.

• Speak clearly. Speaking too softly or too loudly will distract and frustrate your audience. Speaking too quickly makes your talk difficult to understand, and indicates nervousness. Slow down, and say your words thoughtfully.

• Vary the tone of your voice. Use a conversational tone when addressing a group. The sound of your voice should capture the group’s attention and reflect that you are interested in what you are saying.

• Project your voice. Make sure everyone in the room can hear you. Take care not to talk when your back is turned to the audience.

• Maintain eye contact. Try to look at the audience as you speak, especially when you are emphasizing an important point.

• Be aware of your posture. Stand up straight, but not rigidly. You don’t want to look unconcerned or uncomfortable. Although it is difficult when standing in front of people, try to appear relaxed and confident.

The more you practice, the more confident and relaxed you’ll be.


STUDENT HANDOUT

MOLE CRAB DISTRIBUTION OR AGGREGATIONS:

• Dillery, D.G. and Knapp, L.V. (1970). Longshore movements of the sand crab, Emerita analoga. Crustaceana 3 (18): 233-240.

• Perry, D.M. (1980). Factors influencing aggregation patterns in the sand crab Emerita analoga. Oecologia 45 (3): 379-384.

LIFE HISTORY, POPULATION DYNAMICS AND GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION:

• Dugan, J. E., Hubbard, D.M. and Wenner, A.M. (1994). Geographic variation in life history in populations of the sand crab, Emerita analoga Stimpson, on the California coast: relationships to environmental variables. Journal of Experimental Biology and Marine Ecology 181 (2): 255-278.

EL NIÑO AND UPWELLING: EFFECTS ON RECRUITMENT OF MOLE CRABS

• Diehl, J.M., Toonan, R.J., and Botsford, L.W. (2007). Spatial variability of recruitment in the sand crab Emerita analoga throughout California in relation to wind-driven currents. Marine Ecology Progress Series 350: 1-17.

• Sorte, C.J., Peterson, W.T., Morgan, C.A. and Emmett, R.L. (2001). Larval dynamics of the sand crab, Emerita analoga, off the central Oregon coast during a strong El Niño period. Journal of Plankton Research 23(9): 939-944.

HUMAN IMPACTS, POLLUTION AND TOXINS:

• Barron, M.G., Podrabsky, T., Ogle, R.S., Dugan J.E. and Flicker. R.W. (1999). Sensitivity of the sand crab Emerita analoga to a weathered oil. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 62 (4): 469-475.

• Dugan J.E., Ichikawa, G., Stephenson, M., Crane, D.B., McCall, J. and Regalado, K. (2005). Monitoring of coastal contaminants using sand crabs. Final Report. Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA.

• Ferdin, M.E., Kvitek, R., Bretz, C., Powell, C., Doucette, G., Lefebvre, K., Coale, S. and Silver, M. (2002). Emerita analoga possible new indicator species for the phycotoxin domoic acid in CA coastal waters. Toxicon 40 (9):1259-65.

ACANTHOCEPHALAN PARASITES:

• Smith, N.F. (2007). Associations between shorebird abundance and parasites in the sand crab, Emerita analoga, along the California Coast. Journal of Parasitology 93 (2): 265-273.

Use reputable websites that you TRUST. Websites created by

government or scientific institutions and universities are your best bets.

You can find these and other related scientific articles by using Google

Where Can I Find Scientific Research Papers About Mole Crabs?


ACTIVITY

Taking Personal Action to Protect the Ocean – Us Vs ThemModified from an activity by Cynthia Cudabeck.

OBJECTIVE:

• Students understand that large-scale impacts to our beaches and ocean are largely due to the accumulated actions of many individuals.

• Students understand that small individual actions can make a big difference towards helping diminish human impacts to our ocean.

• Students are inspired to become ocean stewards by taking personal action at home, at school or in their communities.

ACTIVITY LENGTH: 30–45 minutes

GRADE LEVEL: 9–college

BACKGROUND: Though communicating science through papers and posters is a valuable activity for most students, it has the potential to leave students feeling frustrated by the slow nature of science. In general, it can take years for science to reveal trends or identify potential environmental problems. After problems are identified, it could take many more years for new protections to be put in place to help reverse damaging impacts to the environment. Local impacts are more manageable and have the potential to be resolved more quickly, but global or regional issues such as climate change are more difficult to tackle.

You and your students have already taken action to help protect the ocean by participating in the LiMPETS program. The data that you have collected are helping to reveal long-term trends and identify potential problems along our beaches. However, you may want your students to think beyond the science and consider how their personal actions may be impacting the beach and ocean. It is tempting to blame “them” for our ocean’s problems such as pollution, global warming and the destruction of ecosystems. But, ultimately, there is no “they.” All humans are damaging the environment, and we all must work together to save it.

MATERIALS:

• Student handout

• Optional reading #1: Sandy Beaches at the Brink (http://www.researchgate.net/publication/227546701_Sandy_beaches_at_the_brink).

• Optional reading #2: Dominant threats and collaborative solutions in the world’s largest ocean: the Pacific (http://iopscience.iop.org/1755-1315/6/35/352015/pdf/1755-1315_6_35_352015.pdf).

• Internet access

PROCEDURE:

• Engage students in a discussion about local and global threats to our beaches and ocean. Climate change, pollution, habitat destruction, and overfishing have been identified as the four most serious threats facing the Pacific. Local threats to your beach will vary depending on where you are in California; however, climate change, pollution, marine debris, litter, coastal armouring, coastal development, beach grooming, and wildlife disturbance are all potential key issues.

• You may opt to assign students readings that discuss beach and ocean threats in more detail. Readings can be downloaded as PDFs. Web addresses are listed in the Materials section above.

• Ask students to complete the student handout as a classroom or homework assignment. Part 2 of the handout requires that students have internet access.

ASSESSMENT:

• Part 2 of the sudent handout includes self-assessment.

• Alternatively, you can go beyond a self-assessment and ask individual students, your class or the entire school to make a commitment to take action. You can set achievable goals and gauge progress throughout the school year.


STUDENT WORKSHEET

Taking Personal Action to Protect the Ocean – Us Vs Them

Name

You have already taken action to help protect the ocean by participating in the

LiMPETS program. The data that you have collected are helping to reveal long-

term trends and potential problems along California’s beaches. However, it is

important to think beyond the science and consider how your personal actions

may be impacting the beach and the ocean.

It is tempting to blame “them” for our ocean’s problems such as pollution,

global warming and the destruction of species and ecosystems. But, ultimately, there is no “they.” All humans are

damaging the ocean, and we all must work together to save it. In order to work together, we must understand the

magnitude of impact a particular action might have. For example, is ocean pollution due to large events, like oil spills

at sea, or due to the accumulated impact of small events, like oil that washes off the streets into storm drains?

Part 1: Who is Responsible?

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the following questions using the graphs on the following page; links to the original online sources are given above each figure.

1. Consider the sources of the information. Do you think these sources are reliable, or are they biased and presenting only one side of the story?

2. Try to figure out where you fit into each picture. To which source of beach trash, oil pollution or CO2 do your actions contribute?

3. List some specific things you could do to reduce these impacts. How much difference would it make if everyone did these things?

4. What industries or government agencies contribute to this environmental problem? How could you affect the decisions made by those entities?


Part 2: Small individual actions can make a big difference

INSTRUCTIONS: Using the links below, as well as anything you remember from class, make a list of 5 or 6 things you personally could do to help the ocean. Make some estimate of how likely you are to actually do these things, and write down some reasons that you would or would not do them. You will not be graded on your environmental ethics. This exercise is for honest self-assessment.

• Heal the Bay – http://www.healthebay.org/get-involved/take-action

• Thank You Ocean – www.thankyouocean.org/take-action/pledge

• Ocean Conservancy – http://www.oceanconservancy.org/keep-the-coast-clear/

Worldwide Sources of Marine Debris: 2009

www.oceanconservancy.org

Oil Pollution Sources: 2014

http://worldoceanreview.com/wp-content/downloads/wor3/WOR3_english.

World CO2 Emissions: 2012

http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/

http://www.healthebay.org/get-involved/take-action

http://www.thankyouocean.org/take-action/pledge

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/keep-the-coast-clear/

http://www.oceanconservancy.org

http://worldoceanreview.com/wp-content/downloads/wor3/WOR3_english

http://worldoceanreview.com/wp-content/downloads/wor3/WOR3_english



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