Teacher preparation:

Overarching learning goal: Students identify key features of coral reef ecosystems and recognise core elements of newspapers and news print media.

Teacher content information: Earth Hour is a WWF-Australia initiative, and is the world’s largest community-driven climate change campaign. At the centre of Earth Hour is switching off lights to show a commitment to taking action. Thousands of teachers use Earth Hour’s education program to enrich their curriculum and provide pathways for young people to create change in their world.

Download the Earth Hour starter kit for your school: Earth Hour for Schools

Ask students to complete the flipped classroom activity prior to commencing this activity.

Student and classroom organisation:

Step 1.

Begin the activity by asking students to share what they already know about coral reefs. Consider the following questions in your discussion and share the answers on the board:

What are the main features of a coral reef?
What sorts of animals and plants can you find in a coral reef?
Where can you find coral reefs around the world?
Which coral reefs have you visited, if you’ve been lucky enough to visit any?

Step 2.

Break the class into at least 8 groups, and assign each group with one of the following categories:

Coral
Fish
Cetaceans
Crustaceans
Molluscs
Jellyfish
Marine reptiles
Birds

In their groups, ask students to undertake research online to find out the main features of the category they have been assigned. Students should look for the most important or interesting details of the creature they are looking at, including their relationships with other plants, animals and features of the coral reef ecosystems. Ask groups to use the student worksheet to guide their research.

Step 3.

When students have completed their research, ask groups to prepare a page or two (depending on the depth of work you want your students to do) of a newspaper that includes stories, images and advertisements based upon the research they collected about the group of animals they were assigned. Explain to students that their work will be edited at the end of the activity. Encourage students to use the editing tips to help guide the creation of their newspaper page.

Groups can create their newspaper articles by hand or use a desktop publishing program

For example:

News story - This could detail the behaviour or role of a particular creature in the coral reef ecosystem, and should be written in the style of a news story (eg a heading could be “Now you sea them, now you don’t: clown fish keep us laughing”, followed by a story explaining the reason why clown fish dart in and out of sea anemones).
Opinion piece - Students could prepare an opinion piece based upon their own opinions about parts of the coral reef, or the impacts of climate change on the reef, or the role of governments in protecting coral reefs.
Diagrams - Students could prepare diagrams showing the food web of the reef with particular focus on the creatures they have researched.
Advertisements - Students could create mock advertisements based upon their research, such as the most exclusive holiday destination for sea slugs, or the dates to maximise the feeding opportunities provided by spawning fish, or gill cleaning services offered by various sea creatures.
Wanted ad's - Students could create wanted ads based upon their research, such as “Attractive fish couple looking for nice, clean home with security. Willing to do grocery shopping in exchange for rent” or “Photosynthetic partners needed immediately! Global warming threatens health of reef. If available to volunteer to help, report to any reef-building coral immediately.”

Assessment

Once students have created their newspaper pages, ask groups to share their newspapers with another group for editing. Groups should edit for:

Presentation
Clarity in communication
Errors

Groups can use the editing information ('Editing the news') on the Student Worksheet to assist their editing.

Earth Hour - Breaking News from the Coral Reef

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