Research a Marine Organism

Materials / Preparation

Each student will need a copy of each of the following worksheets:

• Marine Species List
• Resources for Marine Research (These are also linked from the Exploring Oceans Student Web Page.)
• Marine Research Worksheet

Students will need access to computers to use the online resources and the Exploring Oceans Student Web Page.

Grouping

Groups of two or individually

Teacher tips

Remember to have students observe the results of their Making Algae Grow experiments and to make notes in the appropriate tables.

A lottery system may work best in assigning organisms because students often choose the sharks or whales as animals to study and few students select plankton or krill.

There are 18 marine organisms on the species list. Start assigning species from the top of the list down since the first animals are the producers of the marine food web.

Procedures

1. Ask students to recall the list of animals that they made during the last class. Tell them that today they will be taking a closer look at some of the organisms that may have been on the list.
2. Hand out the Marine Species List and tell them that they will be assigned one of the organisms on the list and that their job will be to find out as much information as they can about that organism.
   a. Tell them that this list is representative of the major groups feeding in the North Pacific Ocean and similar species can be found in other oceans around the world.
   b. Assign one species per student or group of two students.
   c. Hand out the Resources for Marine Research list or tell the students that they can find suggested resources for their research by going to the Resources for Marine Research part of the Exploring Oceans Student Web Page.
   d. Hand out and explain the Marine Research Worksheet.
   e. Tell students that they can use other resources than those listed on the resource list, but if they use another resource, they should list the title and the URL, or title, author, and date if publication if using a hard copy resource.
3. Explain to students that their research should be written in note form and that they will be giving an oral presentation to the rest of the class and a written report.
4. Provide sufficient time for students to complete their research and their reports.
5. After their presentations, have the students save their reports for use in Activity 6 because these species will become part of a class marine food web. They will also use this information in the final assessment activity.

Resources used

Marine Species List
http://www.teachingboxes.org/upwelling/lessons/lesson1_supplement/MarineSpeciesList.pdf

Resources for Marine Research
http://www.teachingboxes.org/upwelling/lessons/lesson1_supplement/ResourcesMarineResearch.pdf

Marine Research Worksheet
http://www.teachingboxes.org/upwelling/lessons/lesson1_supplement/MarineResearchWorksheet.pdf