How Can We Protect the Seabed from Storms?

• This simplified scientific paper is about the effects of storms on ocean environments in protected and unprotected marine areas.
• Students read the article, answer comprehension questions, and watch videos to learn about the scientific method, research design, and how climate change and fishing are affecting the seabed.

Positives

• The first video follows the story of a collaborative effort between conservationists, fishermen, and scientists to protect a marine area, while not sacrificing the livelihoods of the people who rely on its resources.
• The paper includes an abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. It can therefore be used to introduce students to reading more complex scientific papers.

Additional Prerequisites

• Teachers must fill in a form with their name, email, and school information to access the teacher's key, which includes answers to the comprehension questions.
• The difference between conservation and preservation should be made clear to students before the lesson. Otherwise, the concept of fishing in a conservation area may be confusing.

Differentiation

• It may be helpful for some students to use the audio version of the article found at the bottom of the webpage.
• Have students think critically about what factors incentivized and enabled bottom trawling and overfishing, to begin with, and what could have been done to prevent the resulting marine degradation.
• Younger students can answer the comprehension questions in groups.
• This lesson can also be used in economics and civics classes during lessons about the unintended consequences of economic and policy decisions.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.