An Assessment: Read All About It!

In this lesson students create a newspaper that communicates what they have learned about upwelling. Students will be expected to predict what would happen to the food web in El Nino years and in November/December of upwelling years. They will also be expected to include explanations of the sequence of events that leads to upwelling and the effects of upwelling on marine food webs.

Concepts and
learning outcomes

Students will understand that:

The marine ecosystem is dependent upon the cyclical nature of biotic and abiotic processes.
Living organisms form complex food webs.
Abiotic cycles drive biotic cycles in marine ecosystems.
The number of organisms a marine ecosystem can support depends on the food resources available and abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and dissolved nutrients.
Coastal upwelling is a seasonal event.
Coastal upwelling zones are rich marine resources.

Time requirements

Four to five 50-minute class periods

Materials / Preparation

Computers with word processing (or a print design program) for each group.
Copies of the student worksheet, Writing a Science Newspaper, for each student.

Grouping

Groups of five or six

Teacher tips

Before starting, consult Science Writing Center for excellent strategies on how to present writing science papers.

Procedure

Divide students into small groups of two to three and give them copies of a daily newspaper. Ask students to brainstorm reasons why the local newspaper is designed the way it is (Example: Why is one article a headline story while another is found on page three? ) What are the sections of the newspaper? What is the purpose of the editorial page?
Students will assume the role of newspaper reporters. Their task is to produce a newspaper designed to convey information on topics studied in the Feeding Frenzy Teaching Box.
a. Give the students a copy of the student worksheet: Writing a Science Newspaper and review all of the requirements.
b. The students will work within their groups assigning roles and tasks necessary to complete their newspapers.

Extensions

Use the NOAA El Niño website to discuss El Niño and its relationship to upwelling.
The NASA Primary Production site has excellent maps, graphs and data tables related to upwelling. This would be a good resource for high school classes to further investigate the importance of coastal upwelling zones.
Visit to an Ocean Planet CD-Rom—Interactive, is an educational CD-ROM that reveals the importance of our oceans to global climate and life. Allows users to explore the Gulf of Mexico with satellite data, investigate the 1997-98 El- Niño , discover "what's up" with Earth-orbiting satellites, and learn about the research activities of real life oceanographers. The curriculum background materials are arranged in the context of widely accepted teaching themes. The CD-ROM also highlights results from the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite launched by NASA and CNES. It has been measuring our oceans since 1992. Produced by the TOPEX/Poseidon project. The activities on this CD-Rom are also available for free as .pdf files at the Visit to an Ocean Planet CD-Rom—Interactive website.
Watch the movies “Finding Nemo” and/or “Sponge Bob” and critique the marine science. Look for evidence of concepts related to upwelling (such as the photic zone, consumers/producers, plankton)

Resources used

Writing a Science Newspaper
http://www.teachingboxes.org/upwelling/lessons/lesson4_supplement/WritingScienceNewspaper.pdf

Science Writing Center
http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=DLESE-000-000-008-937

NOAA El Niño
http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=BRIDGE-888

Visit to an Ocean Planet CD-Rom—Interactive
http://www.teachingboxes.org/catalog.jsp?id=DLESE-000-000-000-032