Mangrove Forests: Coastal Erosion Mitigation
Provided by: The Kid Should See This|Published on: April 18, 2025|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Videos
Subjects: Biology, Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: The Kid Should See This
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- In this video, students will see a demonstration of a storm surge on a coastline using a model that was built to demonstrate how mangroves function to protect the coast during storms.
- Students will learn how mangroves can protect the coast and will be introduced to geomorphology.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This article and video are both brief, making them easy to fit into a pre-existing lesson.
- The model demonstration is very interesting and includes text to help illustrate what is happening.
Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with mangroves and where they grow.
- It may benefit students to understand that coastal flooding and stronger storms are side effects of global warming and climate change.
Differentiation & Implementation
- This video and article can introduce students to the power of mangroves as a barrier between land and sea. After learning this, students can study the other ecosystem services mangroves provide. The Magic of Mangroves Secondary Lesson Plan can help with this.
- Teachers can implement this video in a lesson about nature-based solutions.
- Advanced students can look at the sequestration power of mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes with the Project Drawdown article Coastal Wetland Protection.
- Language arts students can precede this video with a vocabulary exploration of the word geomorphology, separating the word parts to hypothesize a definition.
This resource provides a brief introduction to the function of mangrove forests. While largely focused on coastal erosion, mangrove forests’ role as a major carbon sink is also highlighted. The text is clear, with many helpful links provided, and the wave basin videos included clearly illustrate coastal erosion with and without mangrove forests. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
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