Current Events Lesson Plan: March 24-31, 2016
Current Event: Bleaching the Barrier Reef
Recent studies reveal that the Great Barrier Reef is suffering from severe and record-setting bleaching. Bleaching is a whitening coral disease caused by the loss of colorful single-celled algae called zooxanthellae. The main cause of bleaching is heat stress caused by rising water temperatures produced by global warming. This year’s El Niño, a periodic warming current in the Pacific Ocean, has added to the heat stress. Scientists who investigated the Great Barrier Reef found that 95 percent of 500 reefs studied showed evidence of severe bleaching, a drastic and record-setting percentage. If water temperatures cool, zooxanthellae will return and corals will survive and resume their normal colors. This process can take decades, however, and bleaching stress decreases coral’s future ability to grow and reproduce.
Objective:
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest system of coral reefs. It is made up of more than 3,000 individual reefs that extend about 1,400 miles (2,300 kilometers) along the northeast coast of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is famous for its beauty and for the variety of its wildlife. Many fish, other animals, and plants live on its reefs and in nearby sea-grass beds and mangrove swamps, coastal wetlands where the spreading roots of mangrove trees catch and hold soil. Today, the reef is one of the world’s largest marine parks. The United Nations recognizes it as a World Heritage Site, an area of unique natural or cultural importance. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore the Great Barrier Reef and other natural wonders.
Words to know:
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students what they know about Australia. (Students might say that it is the only country that is also a continent; Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere; Sydney is the largest city and Canberra is the national capital; Australia is famous for its kangaroos, koalas, platypuses, wombats, and other unusual animals; the Aboriginal people were the first humans to arrive in Australia.)
2. While there is no official list of “Seven natural wonders of the world,” the Great Barrier Reef is often considered one of the world’s most interesting natural wonders. Ask your students what they would consider to be the “Seven natural wonders of the world.”
3. Ask your students to debate, “Humans have an obligation to protect the environment no matter what the financial cost.”