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Safe and Smart Seaweed Farming

  • Difficulty:
  • Time: 60-75 mins
  • Categories: Oceans, Smart Farming

In this lesson, students will explore the benefits and risks of seaweed farming and learn how technology can help make seaweed farms safer for ocean animals. Using the Climate Action Kit, they will build their own smart seaweed farm model that can send out alerts to farmers on land if an animal is tangled in the ropes.

Get Started

What this lesson includes

  • Lesson Content

    Marine Ecosystems, Forces and Motion

  • Real-World Example

    World Wildlife Fund

    Supporting safer seaweed farming with sensors and new materials

  • Coding Tutorial

    Block-based

  • Assessment

    Triangulated Assessment Options

Educator Resources

Looking for  more educator resources

Overview Accordion

Learning Goals

  • Describe at least three benefits of seaweed farming
  • Identify risks of seaweed farming, such as marine animal entanglement and ecosystem disruption
  • Build a seaweed farm model that:
    • uses an accelerometer sensor to detect unusual movement in the ropes
    • triggers a radio alert to the farm technicians when excessive movement is detected, so trapped animals can be released

Preparation Accordion

Materials

  • Climate Action Kit
  • micro:bit V2 (x2)
  • Computer with access to Microsoft MakeCode
  • Craft supplies:
    • string/yarn/elastic bands to represent farm ropes
    • construction paper for seaweed
    • scissors

Get to Know the Content

  1. Make sure you've completed our 'Getting Started with the Climate Action Kit' course
  2. If it has been awhile, review the micro:bit features used in this lesson:
  3. Review the lesson
  4. Explore thinking routines like “See, Think, Wonder” from Project Zero to encourage observations and reflections

Activity Accordion

Big Idea (15 minutes)

Students will:

  • Explain how seaweed farms provide food and shelter for ocean animals
  • Identify how seaweed absorbs carbon dioxide to help fight climate change
  • Discuss risks, like animal entanglement and sunlight blockage, and how technology can help mitigate these issues

Take Action (60 minutes)

Students will use the Climate Action Kit to design, build, and code their own seaweed farm model. The model will detect movement and send alerts if an animal gets tangled in its ropes.

We've provided 3 ways students may build the project to support scaffolding and differentiation in your classroom: 'Use', 'Modify', and 'Create'.*

Activity Description
Use

Students follow a tutorial to build and test a seaweed farm model that detects unusual movement in the ropes.

Success Criteria

I can:

  • build a seaweed farm model using the Climate Action Kit
  • name and describe the main parts of my model
  • explain how the model senses when an animal gets caught in the farm ropes
  • discuss what the model does well and how I could make it better

Resources

Tutorial
Final Code
Modify

Students follow a tutorial to add new features to their farm, such as sound alerts and radio communication to send signals to another micro:bit when an animal is caught in the ropes.

Success Criteria

I can:

  • build a seaweed farm model using the Climate Action Kit
  • change the code to add new features, like radio alerts or sound signals that tell the farmer when an animal is caught

Resources

Tutorial
Final Code
Create

Students work in small groups to design, build, and code their own smart seaweed farm model.

Success Criteria

I can build a smart seaweed farm model that:

  • uses sensors to detect when an animal gets tangled in the farm ropes
  • sends alerts using sounds, lights, or radio signals

Resources

Blank Project

*Irene Lee, Fred Martin, Jill Denner, Bob Coulter, Walter Allan, Jeri Erickson, Joyce Malyn-Smith, and Linda Werner. 2011. Computational thinking for youth in practice. Acm Inroads 2, 1 (2011), 32–37.

Assessment Accordion

Use the following criteria to assess student learning. Students can:

Conversations

  • Can students explain how seaweed farms benefit the ocean and people on land?
  • Are students able to communicate the risks of seaweed farm and explain how technology can help solve these problems?
  • Can students explain how the sensors and alerts work in their model? (Use, Modify, Create)

Observations

  • Do students methodically test and debug their models? (Modify, Create)

Products

  • Students annotate their code to explain how it work (Use, Modify, Create)
  • Students add their own events to trigger output (Modify, Create)
  • Student-created models meet the design criteria outlined in the lesson (Create)

Standards Accordion

Next Generation Science Standards

Grade 3-5

3-LS4-4 Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused by changes in the environment that affect the types of plants and animals that live there.

3-PS2-2 Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.

4-PS4-1 Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.

5-PS3-1 Use models to describe that energy in animals' food was once energy from the sun.

5-LS2-1 Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.

3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

Computer Science Teachers Association Standards

Grade 3-5

1B-CS-01 Describe how internal and external parts of computing devices function to form a system.

1B-CS-02 Model how computer hardware and software work together as a system to accomplish tasks.

1B-CS-03 Determine potential solutions to solve simple hardware and software problems using common troubleshooting strategies.

1B-NI-04 Model how information is broken down into smaller pieces, transmitted as packets through multiple devices over networks and the Internet, and reassembled at the destination.

1B-AP-10 Create programs that include sequences, events, loops, and conditionals.

1B-AP-12 Modify, remix, or incorporate portions of an existing program into one's own work, to develop something new or add more advanced features.

1B-AP-13 Use an iterative process to plan the development of a program by including others' perspectives and considering user preferences.

1B-AP-15 Test and debug (identify and fix errors) a program or algorithm to ensure it runs as intended.

1B-AP-17 Describe choices made during program development using code comments, presentations, and demonstrations.

United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals

2 Zero Hunger

12 Responsible Consumption and Production)

13 Climate Action

14 Life Below Water

Common Career Technical Core Standards

STEM Cluster: Engineering & Technology Career Pathway

ST-ET 1.3 Use computer applications to solve problems by creating and using algorithms, and through simulation and modeling techniques.

ST-ET 2.1 Select and use information technology tools to collect, analyze, synthesize and display data to solve problems.

ST-ET 3.1 Use knowledge, techniques, skills and modern tools necessary for engineering practice.

ST-ET 3.2 Describe the elements of good engineering practice (e.g., understanding customer needs, planning requirements analysis, using appropriate engineering tools, prototyping, testing, evaluating and verifying).

ST-ET 3.4 Illustrate the ability to characterize a plan and identify the necessary engineering tools that will produce a technical solution when given a problem statement.

ST-ET 4.1 Explain why and how the contributions of great innovators are important to society.

ST-ET 4.2 Explain the elements and steps of the design process and tools or techniques that can be used for each step.

ST-ET 4.3 Describe design constraints, criteria, and trade-offs in regard to variety of conditions (e.g., technology, cost, safety, society, environment, time, human resources, manufacturability).

ST-ET 5.1 Apply the design process using appropriate modeling and prototyping, testing, verification and implementation techniques.

ST-ET 5.2 Demonstrate the ability to evaluate a design or product and improve the design using testing, modeling and research.

ST-ET 5.3 Demonstrate the ability to record and organize information and test data during design evaluation.

STEM Cluster: Science and Math Career Pathway

ST-SM 1.1 Apply science and mathematics concepts and principles to resolve plans, projects, processes, issues or problems through methods of inquiry.

ST-SM 1.2 Use the skills and abilities in science and mathematics to access, share, and use data to develop plans, processes, projects and solutions.

ST-SM 1.3 Use the skills and abilities in science and mathematics to integrate solutions related to technical or engineering activities using the content and concepts related to the situations.

ST-SM 1.4 Explain the role of modeling in science and engineering.

ST-SM 1.6 Communicate with others on inquiry or resolution of issues/problems in the global community.

ST-SM 2.1 Demonstrate the ability to recognize cause and effect when faced with assigned projects or issues.

ST-SM 3.1 Evaluate the impact of science on society based on products and processes used in the real world.

ST-SM 3.3 Research how science and mathematics influence the professions and occupations supported by the STEM Career Cluster.

Information Technology Cluster: Programming & Software Development Career Pathway

IT-PRG 4.1 Employ tools in developing software applications.

IT-PRG 6.1 Explain programming language concepts.

IT-PRG 6.3 Demonstrate proficiency in developing an application using an appropriate programming language.

IT-PRG 6.4 Explain basic software systems implementation.

IT-PRG 7.1 Develop a software test plan.

IT-PRG 7.2 Perform testing and validation.