Activity: Design a coral reef – Year 9

Teacher preparation:

Overarching learning goal: Students recognise the range of abiotic and biotic conditions that are required to support a shallow-water coral reef and identify coral reef food chains. Students also reflect upon the threats to coral reefs from human activities, including climate change.

Teacher content information: Coral reefs are often referred to as “the rainforests of the ocean”: they are among the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. They support a huge range of marine creatures, some of who spend their whole lives living on these reefs and others just drop by to visit the reef for food or a clean. Some creature visit the reef for shelter or food at certain times of the year while others come to breed and provide a place for their young to mature away from the predators of the open ocean.

Coral reefs occupy less than 0.1% of the world’s ocean surface yet they provide a home for 25% of all marine species, including fish, molluscs, worms, crustaceans, echinoder

Thought starter - How old is the Great Barrier Reef?

In this activity you will be designing and creating a 3D model of a shallow-water coral reef.

Research - In order to do this you will first need to research all the biotic and abiotic conditions required to support a shallow-water coral reef. You can find a list of points to guide your research below:

1. Energy - How is energy produced and transferred in a reef ecosystem?

2. Waste - What happens to waste products?

3. Oxygen - how does oxygen move through the reef system?

4. Food chains - How many food chains can you find and how many links are there in these food chains?

5. Water temperature - What water temperature is required to keep a reef healthy?

6. Water movement - How does water movement affect the health of a reef?

7. Location - What are the conditions required to sustain a reef, e.g. depth, distance to shore, atmospheric temperature?

8. Salinity - Are reef ecosystems affected by the salinity of t