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Exploring shipwrecks and natural hard bottom
ecosystems through the mask of a scientific diver
Author: Emily Pickering
Location: UNC-Institute of Marine Sciences
Contact: [email protected]
Grade Levels: Middle (6th-8th)
Materials can be adapted for any age group.
Subject area: Middle School Biology and Life
Sciences
Setting: Indoor and outdoor activities
Approximate time: 2 hours
Student Resources: Internet access,
worksheets, drawing utensils, measuring tape,
pencil, paper, and creativity!
Educator Resources: Powerpoint capabilities
Apendices: Worksheet templates, tests, rubrics
Introduction
Onslow Bay harbors an abundance of
hidden treasures on its expansive
continental shelf. Shipwrecks and natural
hard bottom ledges are home to a variety
of fish, sharks, marine mammals,
invertebrates, and even reptiles!
Students will explore these ecosystems
from the perspective of a scientific diver.
Watching underwater video footage,
collecting their own data, and diving into
the marine environment is all part of the
fun. So dive in! And discover the deep,
blue world that is our backyard.
Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson,
students will be able to (1)
describe local marine
ecosystems occurring on
artificial reefs and natural hard
bottom in Onslow Bay, (2)
formulate their own scientific
questions relating to offshore
ecosystems, (3) collect,
organize, and analyze their own
data using scientific diving
methods, and (4) demonstrate
their knowledge of ecosystem
interactions between fish and
invertebrate communities in
Onslow Bay.
Lesson Plan Outline
Presentation (40 minutes) - All of the background information needed is included in the
notes section of the powerpoint presentation. Please contact me if you would like me to
visit your classroom and give the presentation myself with dive gear and survey equipemtn
in hand! Or we can arrange a visit to UNC-Institute of Marine Sciences.
Video (6.5 minutes) – This video takes students underwater through the mask of a
scientific diver! The video starts on our research vessel while we are gearing up with
cameras, transect tapes, dive computers, and slates. I take the plunge and down we go to
explore the shipwreck of the Titan.
In class exercise (15 minutes) - The in class exercise is a chance for students to tackle
scientific questions. Students must develop hypothetical experiments to answer the
questions assigned to them and present their ideas to the class. The goal of this activity is
to determine what data is needed to answer real scientific questions and how that data
could actually be collected in the field.
Ecosystem Activity/ Homework (30-40 minutes) – The ecosystem activity itself should
take 30-40 minutes, depending on how detailed and in depth you want the underwater
scenario to be. There is about an hour of preparation required by the students to research
the animals they are going to play during this activity.
1) The first step is to assign students a species of fish. Student will become experts on
what their fish eats, where it sleeps, how it behaves during the day, and its common
predators. Students will draw their fish to scale and with as much detail as possible.
2) Step two is to teach kids how to collect scientific data. Students will be given data sheets
to fill out with certain rules to follow. The idea is to make this experience as realistic as
possible. Checking the weather online, noting the time and date, staying close to dive
buddies, and not exceeding your allowed bottom time is all part of the scenario.
3) When all students are prepared to be fish and scientists, the ecosystem activity may
begin! For round one, half of the class will act like their fish species, while the other half are
scientific divers. Scientists will begin the dive by noting the time, filling out the preliminary
data on their sheets, and laying out the transect line. They will then record the fish species,
abundance and size (in cm) as they walk along the transect line, counting only the fish that
are within 2 meters. Meanwhile, student fish are milling about feeding on one another and
behaving like they would in the wild. Teachers may choose to include interactions such as
competition, predation, mutualism, and parasitism in their scenarios.
Background Information
Commonly known as the graveyard of the Atlantic, treacherous waters and hazardous
weather conditions extend along the entirety of North Carolina's shore, taking thousands of
ships and human lives since its first documented wreck in 1526. Due to a gently sloping
continental shelf, shipwrecks can be found as far as 20 miles offshore lying in a mere 100
feet of water. Concrete pipes, reef balls, tires, colonial ships, planes, warships, barges,
tugboats, German U-boats, even pirate ships, all constitute a diverse network of artificial
reefs supporting a wealth of life. In addition to these artificial habitats, an expanse of natural
hard bottom ledges also provide essential fish habitat. Consisting primarily of limestone,
these ledges provide refuge and feeding grounds for many fish species.
Factors shaping North Carolina’s Marine Ecosystems:
The Gulf Stream (a wind-driven current surging up from the Gulf of Mexico and parts of the
Caribbean) brings warm water, tropical fish species, and weather systems from the south.
During the summer months, water temperatures are in the balmy 70's. Winter drops near
shore waters to the 40's while offshore waters remain warmed by the Gulf Stream. These
warm waters allow tropical species to exist offshore. The Labrador
Current comes in from the north Atlantic, bringing with it cold water and
temperate species. Off the coast of North Carolina’s barrier islands, the
Gulf Stream and Labrador Current mix, co-mingling temperate and
tropical species and making it a very interesting transitional marine
environment.
The two main forms of hard substrate found offshore in North Carolina include
natural hard bottom (rock ledges, boulders, and bare rock) and artificial reefs (human
made underwater structures including pipes, shipwrecks, reef balls, and other equipment).
On these hard surfaces, organisms find refuge, feed, and reproduce. Some important
features of these natural and artificial reefs include the fish and invertebrate communities
inhabiting them, the structural complexity, depth, temperature, sunlight reaching the ocean
floor, the amount of disturbance due to storm events, the flow, the amount of nutrients,
recruitment, fishing pressure…and the list goes on and on.
These hard bottom habitats are surrounded by expanses of soft sediment. This
sediment is frequently moved after storm events and can quickly cover or uncover a ledge
Large storms can even move an entire shipwreck! The sediment movements and intense
weather makes the offshore landscape of Onslow Bay a very dynamic habitat for fish and
invertebrate communities to live in. The networks of ledges, shipwrecks, and artificial reefs
support a diversity of life which attracts the attention of SCUBA divers, fishermen,
scientists, and many tourists from around the world.
Common groups of organisms living in Onslow Bay include:
plankton (small drifting organisms)
fish (herbivorous, carnivorous, omnivorous,
algae (photosynthesizing organisms)
tropical, temperate, bony, & cartilaginous)
bryozoans/ hydroids (encrusting animals)
sharks (sand tigers, hammerheads,
cnidarians (corals and jellyfish)
sandbar, Atlantic sharpnose)
crustaceans (shrimp and crab)
sea turtles (loggerhead, green, leatherback)
echinoderms (sea stars and urchins)
marine mammals (Bottlenose dolphin).
mollusks (bivalves, whelks, squid, octopus)
These ecosystems not only support a wealth of life and biodiversity, but also contribute
valuable ecosystem services to humans. Ecosystem services are benefits humans
receive from an ecosystem in a multitude of ways. These services include:
Provisional services, such as food, medicine, and clean air. Coastal communities, such
as those on the coast of North Carolina, rely heavily on their fisheries for food, sports
fishing, and tourism.
Regulation services, such as the Gulf Stream regulating climate and contributing to
storms, wind, and precipitation.
Supporting services, such as nutrient and nitrogen cycling occurring on coral reefs.
Cultural services provide spiritual and recreational benefits, such as historical shipwrecks,
war history, scuba diving, tourism, and education.
For these reasons and more, the conservation of our oceans is crucial for generations
to come. As humans, we are intricately connected to the oceans. We depend on the food,
oxygen, water, weather systems, and medicines that come from its depths. We live on a
blue planet and it is important that we protect this valuable resource.
Standards Met
NC Essential Standards:
8.L.3 - Understand how organisms interact with and respond to the biotic and abiotic
components of their environment. 8.L.3.1 Explain how factors such as food, water,
shelter and space affect populations in an ecosystem. 8.L.3.2 Summarize the
relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers including the positive
and negative consequences of such interactions including: • Coexistence and
cooperation • Competition (predator/prey) • Parasitism • Mutualism 8.L.3.3 Explain how
the flow of energy within food webs is interconnected with the cycling of matter
(including water, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen).
Bio.2.1 Analyze the interdependence of living organisms within their environments
2.1.1 Analyze the flow of energy and cycling of matter (water, carbon, nitrogen and
oxygen) through ecosystems relating the significance of each to maintaining the
health and sustainability of an ecosystem.
Bio.2.2 Understand the impact of human activities on the environment (one generation
affects the next)
2.2.2 Explain how the use, protection and conservation of natural resources by humans
impact the environment from one generation to the next.
Next Generation Standards:
LS2-7- Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human
activities on the environment and biodiversity.* [Clarification Statement: Examples
of human activities can include urbanization, building dams, and dissemination of
invasive species.
Ocean Literacy Plan Principles:
Principle 5- The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems
Principle 6- The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected.
A- The ocean affects every human life. It supplies freshwater (most rain
comes from the ocean) and nearly all Earth's oxygen. The ocean
moderates the Earth's climate, influences our weather, and affects human
health.
G- Everyone is responsible for caring for the ocean. The ocean sustains life
on Earth and humans must live in ways that sustain the ocean. Individual
and collective actions are needed to effectively manage oceans resources
for all.
Emily Pickering
UNC-Institute of Marine Sciences
February 2015