Provided by: BioInteractive |Published on: October 15, 2021
Videos
9101112
Synopsis
In this downloadable animation, students explore the symbiotic relationship between algae and corals, seeing what happens when ocean temperatures get too hot.
Students will learn how and why coral bleaching happens and see the parts of the algae and coral cells that are involved.
The animation starts from a satellite image of the Earth and zooms all the way in to see the inner workings of an individual coral and its symbiotic algae cells.
Additional Prerequisites
There is a PDF transcript of the video that can be downloaded and the video is available in a number of different formats (in HD or SD).
The material is also available in Spanish.
You must download the video before watching it.
Differentiation
It may be helpful for students to pause the animation at various points to discuss specific parts of the corals or algae, as well as different steps in the process.
The teacher could ask advanced students to use the video as a basis for a presentation of their own to explain the coral bleaching process to their classmates.
After watching this video, students could graph and analyze ocean temperature data for coral reef sites around the world.
This would be an excellent animation to accompany lessons about photosynthesis, cellular respiration, organelles, cells, symbiotic relationships, heat energy, ocean ecosystems, and chemical reactions.