FREE PRIMARY SCIENCE · Year 6
Reef in hot water
How do changes in temperature, light and water quality affect the survival of corals?
Students learn what corals need and why they bleach, analyse example data linking hot-water weeks to bleaching (and how teams of scientists, rangers and citizen scientists collect reef data), then test how muddy water cuts the light corals depend on. Lessons 1 and 2 need only iPads; lesson 3 uses clear cups, soil and a printed reading card.
3 free lessons · Australian Curriculum v9
Lessons in this topic
Each lesson includes a teacher plan and activities. Check its materials label before teaching.
What corals need
Which physical conditions do corals need to grow and survive?
Open free interactive lesson →Reading the reef
How does the length of a marine heatwave affect coral bleaching?
Open free interactive lesson →Muddy water, less light
How does soil in water change how much light gets through?
Open free interactive lesson →
How to use these lessons
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