Learn what it takes to work in ocean conservation.

Students will learn about marine biodiversity, trophic relationships in marine communities, the role of the ocean in the carbon cycle, and the impacts of global climate change on ocean ecosystems. Activities will include plankton tows and subsequent identification of planktonic organisms using microscopes, wading and snorkeling on shallow reefs in Kaneohe Bay to survey biodiversity and deduce a food web for the ecosystem, quadrat and transect sampling on the reefs to estimate population abundances and biodiversity, ocean monitoring over a 24 hour period to determine natural changes in pH over a diurnal cycle, and a controlled lab experiment to determine the effects of ocean acidification on coral skeletons.

Lead(s): Taylor Souza

Requirements: 15 and older

United Nations SDGs