Implement this Lesson:
This lesson can be implemented with an Ocean themed activity week or on human impacts.
Lesson Objective:
Students will understand that human activities may have an impact on living systems; students will understand how humans are dependent on ocean systems; students will know how human impacts benefit or harm ocean systems while connecting watershed lesson into impact on ocean systems.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
6.11(A) research and describe why resource management is important in reducing global energy poverty, malnutrition, and air and water pollution
6.11(B) explain how conservation, increased efficiency, and technology can help manage air, water, soil, and energy resources
6.12(A)* investigate how organisms and populations in an ecosystem depend on and may compete for biotic factors such as food and abiotic factors such as availability of light and water, range of temperatures, or soil composition
6.12(B) describe and give examples of predatory, competitive, and symbiotic relationships between organisms, including mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism
6.12(C) describe the hierarchical organization of organism, population, and community within an ecosystem
6.13(A) describe the historical development of cell theory and explain how organisms are composed of one or more cells, which come from pre‐existing cells and are the basic unit of structure and function
6.13(B) identify and compare the basic characteristics of organisms, including prokaryotic and eukaryotic, unicellular and multicellular, and autotrophic and heterotrophic 6.13(C) describe how variations within a population can be an advantage or disadvantage to the survival of a population as environments change
7.10(A)* describe the evidence that supports that Earth has changed over time, including fossil evidence, plate tectonics, and superposition 7.10(B)* describe how plate tectonics causes ocean basin formation, earthquakes, mountain building, and volcanic eruptions, including super volcanoes and hot spots
7.11(A)* analyze the beneficial and harmful influences of human activity on groundwater and surface water in a watershed
7.11(B)* describe human dependence and influence on ocean systems and explain how human activities impact these systems
7.12(A)* diagram the flow of energy within trophic levels and describe how the available energy decreases in successive trophic levels in energy pyramids
7.13(A)* identify and model the main functions of the systems of the human organism, including the circulatory, respiratory, skeletal, muscular, digestive, urinary, reproductive, integumentary, nervous, immune, and endocrine systems
7.13(C)* compare the results of asexual and sexual reproduction of plants and animals in relation to the diversity of offspring and the changes in the population over time
7.13(D)*describe and give examples of how natural and artificial selection change the occurrence of traits in a population over generations
7.14(A) describe the taxonomic system that categorizes organisms based on similarities and differences shared among groups
8.10(A) describe how energy from the Sun, hydrosphere, and atmosphere interact and influence weather
8.10(B) identify global patterns of atmospheric movement and how they influence local weather
8.10(C) describe the interactions between ocean currents and air masses that produce tropical cyclones, including typhoons and hurricanes
8.12(B) describe how primary and secondary ecological succession affect populations and species diversity after ecosystems are disrupted by natural events or human activity
8.12(C) describe how biodiversity contributes to the stability and sustainability of an ecosystem and the health of the organisms within the ecosystem
8.13(A) identify the function of the cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, ribosomes, cytoplasm, mitochondria, chloroplasts, and vacuoles in plant or animal cells 8.13(C) describe how variations of traits within a population lead to structural, behavioral, and physiological adaptations that influence the likelihood of survival and reproductive success of a species over generations
8.13(B) describe the function of genes within chromosomes in determining inherited traits of offspring
How Humans Affect Wetland Ecosystems
Wetlands are amazing, watery homes for plants and animals.
But humans can help or harm these ecosystems depending on what we do.
What Are Wetland Ecosystems?
Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil most or all of the year.
They include marshes, swamps, bogs, estuaries, and mangroves.
Wetlands are like nature’s filters and nurseries — they clean water, protect from floods, and give homes to countless living things.
How Humans Harm Wetlands
Sometimes people change wetlands without meaning to, and it can cause big problems.
| Human Activity | What Happens | Why It’s a Problem |
|---|---|---|
| 🏗️ Building on Wetlands | Wetlands are drained or filled for houses, roads, or farms. | Animals lose their homes and water can’t soak in naturally. |
| 🚜 Pollution from Farms and Cities | Chemicals and trash wash into wetlands. | Dirty water harms fish, plants, and animals. |
| 💧 Changing Water Flow | Dams or canals block or change how water moves. | Wetlands dry up or flood too much, hurting wildlife. |
| ⛽ Oil Spills and Runoff | Oil and gas can leak into water. | Pollutes the soil and kills plants and animals. |
| 🌡️ Climate Change | Rising sea levels and hotter weather. | Saltwater floods freshwater wetlands and changes where plants can grow. |
When wetlands are damaged, animals like frogs, herons, fish, and crabs lose their homes — and people lose the clean water and storm protection wetlands provide.
How Humans Help Wetlands
The good news is—people can make a BIG difference by protecting and restoring wetlands!
Helpful action and how it helps:
Wetlands restoration- scientists and volunteers replant native grasses and rebuild wetland areas
Clean Water efforts- Picking up trash and reducing pollution keeps wetlands healthy
Saving water- Less water waste helps keep wetland levels stable
Protecting water areas- Parks and nature reserves give animals safe spaces to live and breed
Learning and teaching- When people understand wetlands, they’re more likely to protect them!
Why It Matters
Wetlands:
-
Protect our coasts from flooding
-
Clean the water
-
Provide homes for fish and birds
-
Store carbon to fight climate change
When we care for wetlands, we care for all living things — including ourselves!
Possible Books:
- Greta and the Giants by Zoe Tucker
- Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World by Rachel Holmes
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
- What a Waste: Rubbish, Recycling, and Protecting our Planet by Jess French
- Old Enough to Save the Planet by various authors
Materials Needed:
- Textbook
- Powerpoint/Google slides
- Resources:
- http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZstore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=424024031
- www.nytimes.com/educationwww.actionbioscience.org/environment/pew.htmlhttp://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2004-02-16-01.asp
- www.marinebio.net/marinescience/06future/olhum.htm
- http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/activity/human-impacts-on-marine-ecosystems/?ar_a=1
- www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/feb/14/ocean.ecosystems
- www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/oceans/human.html
- http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/patch.html
- http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/tib/ecological.html
- www.teachoceanscience.net/teaching_resources/education_modules/aquatic_food_webs/explore/
Lesson Plan:
Engage:
- Watch a video on human interactions on the environment
Explore:
- Discuss different ways humans interact with and affect the environment in negative and positive ways
Explain:
- Discuss pathways by which chemicals enter watersheds, rivers and oceans. Discuss artificial reefs specifically
Elaborate:
- Students will hypothesis on how the Great Garbage Patch developed, and who is responsible and what are some ways
Evaluate:
- Show various human caused issues and have students answer the questions: What it is? Where is it located ? How did it get there? If you flew to Hawaii could you possibly see it? The effects of oceanic life. Photos of wildlife/ oceanic species that consume trash and skeletal remains show bellies full of plastic bottle caps and other trash. Students wrote down in their journals some ways we could solve this global problem.