A coral reef is a busy community where fish, coral, and other marine animals live together and depend on each other.
Coral reefs can be affected by changes in their environment. One big problem is coral bleaching, which happens when the ocean water gets too warm.
Let’s compare a healthy reef to a bleached reef and see what differences we can find.
LET’S CREATE A PICTOGRAPH!
- Count the different types of fish, corals, and other animals or plants in the healthy reef. What colours stand out? Then, do the same for the bleached reef.
- Create a pictograph to show the number of each type of animal or plant you counted in each reef.
- For example, you could draw one fish to represent 5 fish, and use other simple pictures for the coral and other animals.
- For example, you could draw one fish to represent 5 fish, and use other simple pictures for the coral and other animals.
- For example, you could draw one fish to represent 5 fish, and use other simple pictures for the coral and other animals.
- Compare your pictographs. What differences do you notice between the healthy reef and the bleached reef? Are there more or fewer animals and plants in the bleached reef?
- Discuss with a partner. What do these differences make you wonder?