Date: May 1, 2009
Time: (Eastern Daylight Time) -- Time Zone Converter
Program Title: Understanding the Effect of Sea Level Rise
Suggested Grade Level: 9-12 (may be adapted to younger students)
Field Trip Overview:
If the sea rises due to global climate change, how will estuaries change? Will they move or disappear? And what about the plants and animals that live in estuaries? This EstuaryLive program will focus on predicted effects of sea level rise on the shoreline and biology of Padilla Bay. The broadcast will take place at Bay View State Park on the eastern shore of Padilla Bay in Skagit County, Washington. On this part of the shoreline, waves lap against a bluff at high tide. Erosion is an issue for development at the State Park and in the town overlooking the bay. Just north and south of this site, a long dike has held saltwater at bay for over a hundred years protecting farmland. On the saltwater side is a large intertidal mud flat with a remarkable eelgrass meadow – nearly a fifth of all the eelgrass in Washington State. Researchers and high school students will demonstrate how they use sediment elevation tables (SET) to predict how the bay will be affected by rising sea level.
Field Trip Outline:
- Introduction by Glen Alexander (2 minutes)
- In this section you will learn where Padilla Bay is located in the Salish Sea and how it fits the definition of an estuary. There will be a brief description of local tides and significant organisms such as eelgrass, salmon and crab.
- Meet college students and researchers as they demonstrate the use of a sediment elevation table (SET)(4 minutes)
- You will learn how a SET is used to measure the change in elevation of the sediment on the bottom of the bay and why these data are collected.
- What questions do you have? (1 minute)
- Participating students will be invited to ask questions about this SET equipment that will be answered later in the program.
- Observe student data collection (3 minutes)
- High school students will use the SET to collect data.
- Learn what researchers have learned from this work and how it how it helps them predict changes due to sea level rise. (5 minutes)
- Students and researchers answer the questions submitted by participants. (5 minutes)
- Observe and discuss the effects of erosion on Padilla Bay shoreline. (3 minutes)
- Participate in a discussion of potential effects in your area. (7 minutes)
Student Learner Objectives:
| Define estuary |
Students will understand how Padilla Bay and the Salish Sea fit the definition of an estuary. Students will be able to describe an estuary as a body of water with one, saltwater from the ocean; two, diluted by freshwater from the land; and three is partly surrounded by land. |
| Locate an estuary on a map, distinguishing it from rivers, oceans and land |
Students will be able to recognize Padilla Bay, Puget Sound and the Salish Sea as an estuary by seeing a map of the area. |
| Identify tides as a daily event in an estuary |
Students will understand that an estuary has a tide and this has an affect on estuary organisms. |
| Describe at least two important functions of estuaries |
Students will be able to identify two functions of an estuary. |
| List at least three plants or animals that live in an estuary for at least part of their life cycles |
Students will be able to list at least 3 organisms that live in Padilla Bay. |
| Describe how at least one plant or animal has adapted to live in an estuary |
Students will be able to describe ways in which at least one organism is adapted to the special conditions of an estuary. |
| State two human activities that might cause an estuary to become unhealthy |
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| Describe how runoff into an estuary might affect the plants, animals, and people |
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| Identify food webs of estuary plants and animals |
Students will be able to tell who eats whom in Padilla Bay. |
| Describe what they can do to maintain or improve the health of an estuary |
Students will be able to state at least two things they can do to help keep estuaries healthy. |
| Students will be able to describe at least one way that global climate change could affect estuaries |
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| Students will be able to describe at least two activities of estuary scientists |
Students will be able to describe how and why estuary scientists learn about estuary organisms. |
Program Vocabulary:
- Adaptation
- Eelgrass meadow
- Estuary
- Estuary scientist
- Interdependence
- Sediment elevation table (SET)
- Tide
- Water level
- Dungeness crab
- Salmon
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Where else does eelgrass live?
- Is eelgrass edible?
- How is eelgrass adapted to life in an estuary?
- What kinds of fish and other life need eelgrass?
- How deep or shallow can the water get and still support eelgrass?
- Would a higher sea level be a good or bad thing?
Links to Supporting Materials: Visit this site again soon for more information on supporting materials.
National Education Standards Addressed:
Grades 9-12
- Understanding about scientific inquiry
- Interdependence of organisms
- Understanding about science and technology
- Natural resources
- Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges
- Natural and human-induced hazard
Contact Information:
Please contact Glen "Alex" Alexander, Padilla Bay NERR Education Coordinator for more information about this program or visit the Padilla Bay Reserve's web site.