MangroveWatch - A Citizen Science Project

Australian curriculum content descriptions:

Year 9 Science:

• Ecosystems consist of communities of interdependent organisms and abiotic components of the environment; matter and energy flow through these systems (ACSSU176)

Year 10 Science:

• The theory of evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of living things and is supported by a range of scientific evidence (ACSSU185)

Year 9 Geography:

• Distribution and characteristics of biomes as regions with distinctive climates, soils, vegetation and productivity (ACHGK060)

Year 10 Geography:

• Human-induced environmental changes that challenge sustainability (ACHGK070)
• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ approaches to custodial responsibility and environmental management in different regions of Australia (ACHGK072)

Year 11 and 12 Science – Biology

• Scientific knowledge can enable scientists to offer valid explanations and make reliable predictions (ACSBL013)
• Scientific knowledge can be used to develop and evaluate projected economic, social and environmental impacts and to design action for sustainability (ACSBL014)
• Biodiversity includes the diversity of species and ecosystems; measures of biodiversity rely on classification and are used to make comparisons across spatial and temporal scales (ACSBL015)
• Ecosystems are diverse, composed of varied habitats and can be described in terms of their component species, species interactions and the abiotic factors that make up the environment (ACSBL019)
• Models of ecosystem interactions (for example, food webs, successional models) can be used to predict the impact of change and are based on interpretation of and extrapolation from sample data (for example, data derived from ecosystem surveying techniques); the reliability of the model is determined by the representativeness of the sampling (ACSBL029)

Syllabus outcomes: SC5-14LW, GE5-1, GE5-2, GE5-3, GE5-4, GE5-5.

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Literacy, Intercultural Understanding

Cross-curriculum priority:

• Sustainability OI.7, OI.8
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Culture OI.3

Relevant parts of Year 9 Science achievement standards: Students analyse how biological systems function and respond to external changes with reference to interdependencies, energy transfers and flows of matter.

Relevant parts of Year 10 Science achievement standards: Students describe and analyse interactions and cycles within and between Earth’s spheres.

Relevant parts of Year 9 Geography achievement standards: Students analyse interconnections between people, places and environments and explain how these interconnections influence people, and change places and environments.

Relevant parts of Year 10 Geography achievement standards: Students identify, analyse and explain significant interconnections between people, places and environments and explain changes that result from these interconnections and their consequences.

Year 11 and 12 Science students:

• understand that ecosystem diversity and dynamics can be described and compared with reference to biotic and abiotic components and their interactions.
• understand how theories and models have developed based on evidence from multiple disciplines; and the uses and limitations of biological knowledge in a range of contexts.
• evaluate, with reference to empirical evidence, claims about relationships between and within species, diversity of and within ecosystems, and energy and matter flows.

Unit of work: MangroveWatch – Years 9 to 12

Time required: 120 minutes

Level of teacher scaffolding: Low – This lesson should be completed in students’ own time

• Device capable of creating maps and satellite images using Google Maps
• Devices capable of presenting YouTube, interactive Google Maps, enlarged ecosystem flow charts, food webs and photographs to the class
• Student Worksheets – one copy per student
• About Mangrove and Salt Marsh Ecosystems

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

• Communication
• Community engagement
• Creativity
• Critical thinking
• Cultural understanding
• Empathy

The lessons in this unit have been developed in partnership with Earthwatch and MangroveWatch. Earthwatch is a global not-for-profit organisation that uses citizen science to empower people to save the natural world, and works with all sectors to create a society that lives in balance with nature. MangroveWatch is a not-for-profit organisation that focuses on the research, education and conservation of mangrove and tidal wetland environments globally.