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Estuaries are an Important Concept of the Climate Literacy Essential Principles & Concepts
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Estuaries can provide a powerful vehicle for presenting some of these climate essential principles. We provide here examples from the Estuaries 101 Curriculum modules that support some of these essential principles.
- Life on Earth has been shaped by, depends on, and affects climate – Estuaries are exquisitely sensitive to the climate. Students see this by comparing estuaries across different climatic environments.
- We increase our understanding of the climate system through observation and modeling – Observation and modeling lie at the heart of the inquiry-based approach used in the Estuaries 101modules. Students use data and models to explore featured estuaries, including their climatic conditions.
- The sun is the primary source of energy for the climate system – Students learn about insolation and the central role of the sun in estuary systems. They track solar energy as it warms the water on daily and annual cycles, and as it is converted to food by algae and other aquatic plants and on through the food chain.
- Earth’s weather and climate systems are the result of complex interactions – Students see the complexity in the rich diversity of habitats and life throughout individual estuaries and across a range of estuaries.
- Earth’s weather and climate vary over time and space – By comparing estuaries, students learn about the tremendous variety of weather and climate conditions, and how they vary from one location to another and across seasonal cycles.
- Evidence indicates human activities are impacting the climate system – Estuaries are essential harbingers of climatic change. Students
learn about experiments scientists are now conducting in estuaries to monitor climatic change,
including changes in seasonal variation, possible
global warming, and sea level rise.
- Earth’s climate system is influenced by complex human decisions involving economic costs and social values – Students learn how their own behavior is part of a larger picture—that it impacts not only nearby estuaries, but also the larger climatic system of which we are all a part. They also learn about the social and economic factors that affect our ability to work constructively to reduce the scope and impact of climate change.
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Last Updated on: 02-27-2012
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