Yunjung Hong

June 5, 2015
MAR-229
Independent Project
Introduction to Marine Science Unit Plan Guide for Teachers
Scope:
This unit plan is made for a secondary level marine science class, more specifically 10th
grade, but can be easily modified for 9th or 11th grade. The whole plan is a part of the Biology
unit but can easily integrate the other sciences in it as well. By the end of this unit students will
learn more about marine life, abiotic and biotic factors, and interactions of organisms. With this
information they will be able to determine the answers to the driving questions that are presented
below. It will also provide students evidence about what biology is and how we can study it by
providing hands-on (inquiry based learning) activities. They will also learn more about how
organisms behave a certain way and why organisms interact/react to abiotic and biotic factors in
its surroundings. Things such as natural selection, habitats, and abiotic factors will become a
reality as students learn more about planet they live on through this unit.
Time: Approximately 8-10 weeks
Driving questions:

If humans adapt to abiotic factors and interact with one another, do other organisms in
this earth as well?
If people deal with stresses in our environment, how to other organisms deal with the
same factors?
Idea that living organisms on Earth interact and deal with factors similar to humans.

Unit Objectives (Students will be able to):

Determine what scientists do when they gather research and analyze it. Also how to
collect data and present in a form of a paper. More specifically explain what marine
biology is, and what marine biologist study.

State what is considered a living organisms, and determine abiotic and biotic factors the
organism deals with while using examples from the real world. Also seeing how the
organism adapts to the abiotic/biotic factors.
Identify the what natural selection includes, how Darwin concluded his studies, and how
scientists use this information today to get a better understanding of the organisms we
encounter.
Determine the different adaptations/abiotic factors of marine organism verses other
organisms.
Acknowledge that there are different biomes in the world and concentrate on the
environments found in the Caribbean, specifically rocky intertidal.
Prove that organism interact with one another and are constantly dealing with abiotic
stresses.
Write a complete lab report

Sequence:
1. Study of biology
a. Classification of organisms
i. In this lesson students will learn about living organism, and what makes
something living or non-living. They will also learn the hierarchical
system of the biological classification of an organism.
b. Abiotic v.s. biotic
i. Students will learn to differentiate abiotic and biotic factors. They will
then learn traces in interactions organisms have with these factors in an
ecosystem.
c. Competition, predation, and niches
i. This lesson is when we get a closer look into organisms life, environment,
and interactions. Students will learn different relationships organisms have
within a niche or environment. For example students will learn that the
predator-prey relationship is present in almost every ecosystem on this
Earth.
d. Natural selection/adaptation
i. In this lesson students will learn about Darwin, and his accomplishments
with the study of natural selection. The students will learn that organisms
evolve to adapt better to their environment through natural selection and
the effect of the organisms gene-pool.
e. Land biomes v.s. aquatic biome
i. Students will learn about different types of aquatic biomes including;
estuaries, rocky intertidal, coral reef, wetlands, etc. Then they will learn
about the different types of land biomes including; deserts, forests,
grasslands and tundras. This lesson will teach students how to differentiate
these biomes and where in the world they are located.
2. Marine ecosystems
a. Oceans and abiotic factors

i. Students will learn about the major ocean and water masses of the world
and characteristics that differentiate this environment to land environments
(determine abiotic stresses e.g. salinity, temperature, and pressure).
b. Adaptation of marine animals
i. This lesson will be a continuation of the previous lesson. In this lesson,
students will use the information found and determine what specific
adaptations marine animals have to survive with this stresses (e.g. gills to
collect oxygen to breathe underwater).
c. Caribbean marine environments
i. Rocky intertidal
1. What organisms are found in the rocky intertidal and what is
zonation?
ii. Coral reef
1. Species diversity in the coral reef, and why it is important.
iii. Mangrove
1. What are mangrove, and why are they significant to the marine
environment

Sample lesson plan for rocky intertidal 1

Observing zonation and species diversity in the rocky intertidal (3 day lesson plan)
Objectives:
-Students will be able to observe the zonation in rocky intertidal environments and maps out the
organisms found within a certain transect.
Standards (Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards):
-RST.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text.
-RST.6-8.8: Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and
speculation in a text.
-HS.LS2-6: Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in
ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organism in stable conditions,
but changing may result in a new ecosystem.
-HS.LS2-8: Evaluate the evidence for the role of group behavior and species chances to survive
and reproduce.
Materials:

1mx1m quadrant
colored pencils
white bulletin board paper
ruler
devices

DAY 1
Engage (10 minutes):

Show this photo to the students:

Ask students to turn and talk to the people around them about things they notice on this
rock. If students are having a difficult time, explain that everything they see that is not
rock, are living organisms.
o This is to tap into students minds and get them engaged in the rest of the lesson.
What the students are supposed to notice is the zonation of the organisms on the
rock of a rocky intertidal area and the diversity of species found

Then after they are drawn into the lesson, ask guiding questions :
o Why do you think the organisms are set up this way?
o Where do you see this in New Jersey?
o What might be the cause of this?

Explore (20 minutes):

Students will be given Chrome book, laptops, or the ability to use their own devices to do
research on rocky intertidal. This is to familiarize themselves about the field site they will
be going to collect data.

During this time teacher should be walking around and keeping an eye on how the
students approach this task.

o Ask students guiding questions such as:

What are you finding?

Any interesting facts about the site?

Why do you think we are collecting data here?

Explain (20 minutes):

Show students this video that explains the basic information about the rocky intertidal.
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u64ppKBY3cM
o During this video ask students to stop and jot any important notes that might help
them with the lab.

After the video, go over the information that was provided. Also explain the possible
organisms that they will find at the rocky intertidal and what they look like so it can help
them identify for the data collection. (Barnacle, mussels, snails, green algae, brown algae,
crabs, ect.) Also explain that the organisms adaptation determine where on the rocky
intertidal they will live. The species that can handle the wave action and cannot survive
extreme sunlight will be found closer to the water line. This causes a zonation of
organism because every organism has different adaptations.

Explain to the students tomorrow they will be going to a rocky intertidal and collecting
data and looking at the species diversity and the zonation of the rocky intertidal.

DAY 2
Elaborate (One full class period):

Before heading out to the field location explain what will be happening. Divide the class
into 6 groups. Each group will do 2 1x1 meter quadrat of information on the exposed and
2 on the sheltered side of the rocky intertidal (sheltered side is for the next lesson). The
groups should be close to one another so the data collection is continuous on one transect.
Give students these directions for collecting data.
o 1. Place the quadrat on the exposed face side of the rock so the bottom is standing
on the sea floor and the face of it is leaning on the rock. .
o 2. Draw the shape of the rock and the water line. Then start taking note of all the
organisms on the rock. The students will count the organisms. These notes will be

taken as sketch on the rock. So students should specify where on the rock it is
located and how many of the species were there.
o 3. Do these same steps for the sheltered side of the rock.
o Here is a sample of a sketch drawn at the field site.
o

o At the field site, walk around helping students measuring the organisms and
identifying the unknown organisms. Have a camera around so unknown species
can be identified later in the classroom.
o When data collection is finished head back to the classroom and keep data safe for
the next class period.
DAY 3
Evaluate (One-two full class period):

On this day, students will be putting all of their data into excel and analyzing it.
Remember this lab is only focusing on the exposed side of the rocky intertidal. The
exposed v.s. sheltered will be the next lab.

There is one long bulletin board paper with scaled down quadrants drawn on it. Each
group will draw their findings on the paper using a given key. In the correct order,
students will copy their sketch onto this paper of the exposed side of rocky intertidal.
This is a mapping of the rocky intertidal on a transect.

Here is an example of a rocky intertidal map

o
o

After the maps are drawn students will create graphs that represent the information given.
This can done through excel or any other program available. Below are sample graphs
(from rocky intertidal study in Roatan, Honduras).

% of organisms found below water level

100%
80%
60%
Percent

40%
20%
0%
Rock Boring Sea Urchin
Organism

Long-spined Urchin

o This graphs shows that below the water level there were only two species of
urchins and all the urchins found at the site were below water level. This shows
clear zonation of urchins only being present below the water level.

Organism found from 0-33 cm above water level

120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
Percent found

20%
0%

Organisms

o This graph shows the percent these organisms that were found in the middle
zone which was 0-33 cm above water level.

Organisms found higher than 34 cm above water level

70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
percent found 0%

organism

o This graph shows the highest zone of the rocky intertidal. There were only 3
organisms found that far up and in pretty low percentages.

After all the data is graphically shows, it is time to analyze. The students will take about 5
minutes to look at all the map, and all the graphs created and look for trends within their
data. At this time walk around asking guiding questions such as:
o What trends do you see?
o Why do you think there are no urchins above water?
o Why are there only a few organisms at the top zone?

Have students write a short report about their findings. Give them these articles that make
help explain some of their findings. `

In my study, I found that there was a clear zonation of organisms on the rocky intertidal
which is what was hypothesized. All of the urchins were found below the water level. Sea
urchins need to be completely submerged underwater in order to survive but often attach
themselves to hard substrates. The snails are found in the middle zone because they
cannot be submerged under water, but they also cannot be too far up because they will be
dried up by the sun. The knobby periwinkle was the only organism that was found in the
top zone in abundance. This is due to the high tolerance the knobby periwinkle has to
desiccation and other abiotic factors. The west indian top snail was only found in small
numbers, it is said that because of over fishing and high demand it is almost extinct in

some Caribbean locations. This explains the low numbers found in both the sheltered and
exposed side of the rocky intertidal. They are also found often found at the water level
and almost never move or have a short range in movement.

Sample Lesson Plan for Rocky Intertidal 2

Observing differences between sheltered and exposed (from wave action) face of rocky intertidal
(two day lesson plan).
Objectives:
-Students will be able to explain the differences between the sheltered and exposed side of the
rocky intertidal and determine what the wave action changes in the species diversity/distribution.
Standards:
-RST.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text.
-RST.6-8.8: Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and
speculation in a text.
-HS.LS2-6: Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in
ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organism in stable conditions,
but changing may result in a new ecosystem.
- HS.LS2-8: Evaluate the evidence for the role of group behavior and species chances to survive
and reproduce.
Materials:

Data from previous lab

Bulletin board paper
Colored pencils
Devices
Graphing program

Day 1
Engage (5 minutes):

Have the students look back at the maps that they created on the exposed side of the
rocky intertidal in the previous lesson. Ask each student to take about 5 minutes to make
a sketch of what they believe the map of the sheltered side would look like.
o This will allow students to recall the information that found in the previous
lesson.

Explore (15 minutes):

At this time students will start creating the map of the sheltered side. This will be made
the same scale and key as the previous lesson. It will then be put together to be compared
to one another.
After the map is made, ask the students to make a list of trends they see and notice.

Explain (15 minutes):

By the end of the explanation, the students will get a better understanding of what the
meaning of the trends are.
Here is where you explain all the abiotic factors that the rocky intertidal deals with daily.
The main abiotic factory is the constant wave action that the rocks get. This is why we
also collected data from the sheltered side. The waves do not hit and affect the organisms
as much as the side where the waves come from. This experiment allows for visual
guidance in comparing the two.

Elaborate (20 minutes):

For better understanding the students will map a graph representing the comparison of the
exposed and sheltered side of the rocky intertidal.
Below is a graph of the snails that were found in my study. It is a clear representation that
there are more organisms on the sheltered side. This is because being on the sheltered
side lowers one stress the organisms have to deal with.

Organism found in sheltered v.s. exposed

160
140
120
100
80
60
# of organisms

40

Exposed

20

Sheltered

Orgaism

Have the students analyze their data, graphs, and map for homework and prepare to
finalize their findings.

Day 2
Evaluate (one full class period)

In this class period the students will analyze the data found and write a short report about
their findings.

What I found at my study was that there were a larger number of snails in the sheltered
side but there were fewer urchins in the sheltered side. The snails all have a shells that
allow then to keep enough water to survive when the sun is out, however the sheltered
side had little to no wave action which allows the shells to move to an area they will not
have to worry about falling off or drying up. The urchins on the other hand were more
often found in the exposed side. The sheltered area had a very low water level which may
not be enough for the urchins because they must be constantly submerged underwater.

Sample Lesson Plan for Rocky Intertidal 3

Comparing hermit crab shells to snail present in rocky intertidal (3 day lesson)
Objectives:
-Students will be able to determine if the ratio of snails and hermit crab shells are equivalent, and
why or why not.
Standards:
-RST.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text.
-RST.6-8.8: Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and
speculation in a text.
-HS.LS2-6: Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in
ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organism in stable conditions,
but changing may result in a new ecosystem.
- HS.LS2-8: Evaluate the evidence for the role of group behavior and species chances to survive
and reproduce.
Materials:

Data from previous lab

Buckets
Devices
Graphing program
Notebook and pencil

Day 1
Engage (5 minutes):

Have students write down all the prior knowledge about hermit crabs. This is tapping into
prior knowledge, while introducing the topic. In order to get students involved you can
create a list of true or false facts about hermit crabs and ask students to determine if they
are true or false.

Explore/explain (rest of the class period):

Students will research the relationship between snails and hermit crabs. Now that the
students know a lot about the snails found on the rocky intertidal, they can learn about the
snails that are found near the shore and see how and where their shells come from.
The students can do this research in pairs.
At the same time, ask guiding questions for further understanding such as:
o Which shell is the most common for hermit crabs?

o How do the hermit crabs get these shells?

o How often do they switch shells?
o Do they continue to use the same type of shell?
Explain that since the hermit crabs use the snails shell, there should be a similar ratio of
hermit crab shells and snails found in the same area. This will be the class hypothesis.
After this activity, explain to the students that tomorrow or they next time they need they
will be going out to the field and collecting hermit crabs. Each pair will collect 50 hermit
crabs in their bucket and one by one take them out and tally the type of shell is it in.

Day 2
Elaborate (one full class period):

This is when the students will go out to the field and collect their data. They will come
back and combine all the data found and create one big graph as a class. Here is the graph
that I created for my study.
o

Snail v.s. hermit crab ratio

60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
% of total
10% count found on rocky intertidal
% found

% of hermit crabs

0%

Types of shells

o Creating one graph that compares both of the information allows better analyzing.

Day 3

Evaluate (one full class period):

On the final day of this lesson, the students in pairs will analyze their data together and
write a report about their finding. The students will have to explain if the class hypothesis
was supported or rejected by the data.
In my experiment I found that the ratios may have not been exactly the same, but it
followed a similar trend. Exactly half of the hermit crabs that were found had the shell of
a knobby periwinkle, while on the rocky intertidal, a little more than 40% of snails were
knobby periwinkle. Although they percentages do not equal one another, it is similar
enough to assume there is a relationship. Since the hermit crabs need the right size shell,
the availability really depends on the abundance of the gastropods present. Since there are
more knobby periwinkles on the rocky intertidal, there will be a lot more hermit crab with
the knobby periwinkle shell.

End of the Unit Project

Students will work with a partner or on their own.

Students will be able to choose their own specialty topic, but it will be first come first
serve and no doubles allowed.
The topic must be offered at RIMS or Roatan, Honduras and approved by the teacher.
The presentation will be 10-15 minutes.

You are the new employee of the Roatan Institute of Marine Science (RIMS),
congratulations! Your first assignment given by the job is to create a presentation on this
institution. Geologists, ecologists, marine biologists, geographers, paleontologists, and many
other scientists from all over the world will be watching your presentation. Your goal is to get
these scientists to come to Roatan, Honduras to work with you and RIMS, and do research on
anything they offer here. Make a convincing presentation on everything you know about the
RIMS. These scientists are not looking for information about the recreational stuff available on
the island; they want to know all the helpful science background that will draw them to so
research. Things like; who has come here to do research, what ecosystems are available for
studying, what organisms are present on the island, what they offer for the specific study sites,
how easily accessible is the lab and field sites, etc. Your presentation can be in any form, so get
creative! Remember, the more enthusiastic and the more creative the more your audience will
remember it.
Here is a list of all the things that must be included:

 Name and location of RIMS

What studies they offer
Detail on all different types of marine biomes found in Roatan
o Mangrove
o Rocky Intertidal
o Coral Reef
o Sandy Shores
o Deep Ocean
What other science studies are available at RIMS (e.g. can you study geology there, if so
how?
A map of the island
Why should the scientists do research there?

Name:

2 book sources and 2 internet sources with citations.

Category

Novice (1pts)

Apprentice(2pts)

Practitioner(3pts)

Expert (4p

Citations

There are no citations

present

There are 1 or 2
citations

There are 2 book

citations and 2 online
citations

There are m
than 2 boo
citations a
online cita

Creativity and
Organization
and
Teamwork (if

The presentation was

choppy, and there was
no creativity. The
partnership did not

The presentation was

somewhat organized
and ideas were
presented in a

The presentation was

organized and the
project was presented
in a creative way. The

The presen
was very w
organized
presentatio

applicable)

meet regularly and

work was not fairly
contributed.

convincing way. The

partnership met a few
times and contributed
almost equally.

partnership met
regularly and
contributed equally.

very creati
convincing
out of the
partnership
regularly a
worked gr
team.

Preparation
and Time

On the day of the

presentation student(s)
were not prepared their
presentation was not in
the allotted time of 1015 minutes.

On the day of the

presentation student(s)
were mostly prepared
and the presentation
time came close to
allotted time given.

On the day of the

presentation student(s)
were prepared their
presentation was 10
minutes.

All of prac
and time o
presentatio
15 minutes

Information
provided

The project includes 05 required information

on the checklist
provided and it is
inaccurate.

The project includes

5-9 required
information on the
checklist provided and
some of it is accurate.

The project includes

all of the required
information on the
checklist and is mostly
accurate.

The projec
includes al
required
informatio
checklist a
extra infor
that will co
the scienti
is all accur