Exam (elaborations) GIZMO MAST Coral Reef Gizmo Ecosystem 1

Exam (elaborations) GIZMO MAST Coral Reef Gizmo Ecosystem 1 Vocabulary: consumer, coral, coral bleaching, coral reef, filter feeder, food chain, food web, grazer, nutrients, ocean acidification, pH, plankton, predator, producer, sediment, zooxanthellae Prior Knowledge(Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) 1. Look at the graph to the right. What does it show? Percentage of coral cover in Caribbean Reefs. It shows a decline over time 2. Why do you think corals have declined since 1977? people are killing and selling them. Gizmo Coral reefs are some of the most diverse habitats on Earth, home to over a quarter of all marine species. The Coral Reefs Gizmo provides a simplified model of interactions among 10 key species in Caribbean reefs. In the Coral Reefs 1 exploration, you will focus on the effects of environmental factors on Caribbean reefs. GIZMO MAST Coral Reef Gizmo Ecosystem 1 2019 Activity A: The Caribbean reef ecosystem Get the Gizmo ready:  On the CONDITIONS tab, click Return to original settings. Click Restart.  Select the CORAL REEF tab. Introduction: A healthy Caribbean reef is home to over 50 species of coral and over 400 fish species. In this simplified model, we only consider the interactions of ten important species. Question: How do different species interact in a healthy coral reef? 1. Describe: On the CORAL REEF tab, click on each organism shown in the table below. For each organism, give its name and what it eats (or how it obtains energy). Picture Name What it eats (or how it obtains energy) Staghorn Coral photosynthetic symbiotic algae Boulder Star Coral photosynthetic symbiotic algae Sponge plankton Algae sun Stoplight Parrotfish algae Queen Angelfish sponge yellowtail Snapper young fish, crabs, shrimp, and worms Nassau Grouper Longspine Many reef fish Sea Urchin algae Hawksbill Sea Turtle sponge 2. Corals obtain energy from tiny photosynthetic algae, called zooxanthellae, which live inside the coral’s tissue. How do you think corals would be affected by cloudy, muddy water? 2019 Their food supply would be low because the cloudy, muddy water would block the sun from reaching it (Activity A continued on next page) 2019 Activity A (continued from previous page) 3. Classify: A producer is an organism that makes its own energy, usually from sunlight. A consumer is an organism that gets energy by feeding on other organisms. A. Which of the reef organisms in this Gizmo are producers? Algae B. Which of the reef organisms are consumers? yellowtail snapper, Nassau grouper, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Long-spine Sea Urchin, Queen Angelfish C. Consumers in the reef can be further classified as filter feeders, or organisms that eat plankton by filtering water; grazers, or organisms that feed on organisms that don’t move; and predators, or organisms that eat other animals. List at least one example of each. Filter feeders: sponge Grazers: spotlight parrotfish Predators: yellowtail Snapper 4. Create: A food chain is a series that shows what organisms eat other organisms. For example, the food chain “grass → mouse → hawk” means that the mouse eats grass and the hawk eats the mouse. Create two possible food chains for the Caribbean coral reef based on what you have learned about the ten organisms in this Gizmo. Food chain 1: sun---algae---stoplight parrot Food chain 2: plankton---sponge---queen angelfish 5. Challenge: A food web is a morecomplicated diagram that shows the feeding relationships of all the organisms in the ecosystem. As with a food chain, an arrow pointing from species A to species 2019 In the diagram at right, create a food web by drawing arrows to show which organisms are eaten