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CORAL CAM LESSON PLANS |
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Sexy Coral Reef and I Want My Own Space Gail Swenson |
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OBJECTIVE: To learn how coral polyps increase the chances of egg and sperm |
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AGE GROUP: Suitable for ages 10 and up |
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BACKGROUND |
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Like many organisms, corals reproduce sexually using egg and sperm cells. Their romantic life is a bit different, in some ways, from what we humans are used to. For one example, reproduction seems to be partly controlled by water temperature. Once an egg cell is fertilized by a sperm cell, the resulting zygote becomes a planula larva, which needs to find a place to settle and grow into a coral polyp. In these activities you will learn about some of the adaptations that have helped insure the success of the next generation of coral. Before starting the activities, you should view the video on this web site: http://www.coexploration.org//bbsr/coral . Here you will see exciting video of coral polyps releasing their eggs and sperm into ocean water. |
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ACTIVITY 1 |
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MATERIALS |
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Bottles of the soft drink called ORBIT |
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PROCEDURE |
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1.Tip and turn the bottle of ORBIT to try to cause collisions between the DIFFERENT colored spheres floating in the soft drink liquid. Let your lab partner try his or her skill at achieving collisions. 2.Now fill the plastic jar about ¾ full of water and add the different colored beads. Remember that the beads must float. Put the cover on the jar and try to cause collisions between the DIFFERENT beads. Processing the Results: 1.How many different directions could the ORBIT spheres move? |
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ACTIVITY 2 |
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PURPOSE: To learn about density of liquids and relate to egg and sperm cells of coral polyps. |
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MATERIALS |
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Metric Balance Two liter empty soda bottle Graduated cylinder (100 ml) Small plastic pail Calculator Small funnel with stem that will fit into tubing Water Cooking oil Tubing (rubber hose or any other small diameter tubing) |
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PROCEDURE |
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1.Mass 100 ml of water. Record mass:_________ Processing the Results |
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ACTIVITY 3 |
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PURPOSE: To learn about the survival challenges faced by the planula larvae when they |
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MATERIALS |
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Plastic bingo tokens or lots of pennies |
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PROCEDURE |
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1.Students should design a sea floor that has different sites. Each sea floor will be different but be sure that each poster has EXACTLY the following: Two strong current areas (planula cannot attach) 2.Standing a challenging distance above the poster board, each student should drop 50 tokens or pennies onto the poster board sea floor . 3.The 50 tokens must be dropped in 10 seconds. Any tokens not dropped WILL DIE. 4.Your lab partner will record how many planula larvae successfully attached. 5.Repeat using your lab partner's sea floor. Processing the Results: 1.What percentage of the planula larvae survived the settling and successfully attached? |
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© BBSR and TCOE Coral Web Site Team 1999 http://www.coexploration.org/bbsr/coral |