coral reef education

[coral]

If you are interested in knowing about recently released coral reef=20 
educational materials, please read the rest of this message. Thank you. 
Marcy Roth 
Campaign Manager 
--=20 
Coral Forest 
400 Montgomery Street, Suite 400 
San Francisco, CA 94104 USA 
(415) 788-REEF (7333) 
Fax (415) 331-4064 
E-mail: coral at igc.apc.org 
Web site: http://www.blacktop.com/coralforest 

CORAL FOREST TEACHER'S GUIDE 

Much of CORAL FOREST's mission to preserve coral reef ecosystems is 
accomplished through education.  As a part of our organizational 
strategy and in response to numerous requests from teachers around the 
world, CORAL FOREST has developed an interdisciplinary, hands-on 
Teacher's Guide for grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12.  With more than 160 
pages, it is currently the most extensive and comprehensive coral reef 
teacher's guide available in the United States. 

CORAL FOREST's Executive Director Wendy Weir recruited master teachers 
experienced in curriculum development to help produce this spirally 
integrated guide.  It was first written and tested in the classroom by 
our team of teachers, then edited and field-tested by other teachers, 
educators from major aquariums and scientific institutions, scientific 
advisors, and CORAL FOREST staff.  The guide is contained in a 
three-ring binder making it easy to add information and lesson plan 
updates.  A full-color interpretive poster - The Coral Forest: 
Diversity of Life on the Coral Reef, a scripted slide presentation, 
and several books are also available as supplementary references, 
along with our web site located at 
http://www.blacktop.com/coralforest 

The objective of the Teacher's Guide is to present students and 
teachers with highly informative yet interesting educational material 
that will encourage them to think about the complexity of coral reefs 
and their surrounding environment, the threats reefs are facing, and 
the possible solutions to these threats.  The guide also presents 
students with different ways to take action to save  reefs, thereby 
instilling in them the understanding and confidence that they can 
improve the world in which they live. 

Organization of the Materials 

The Teacher's Guide is divided into three sections: 
        =80       Background Information 
        =80       Lesson Plans: K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 
        =80       Resources 

All information contained in these sections may be reproduced for 
classroom use only. 

Background Information - The Background Information provides teachers 
of all grades with extensive information about coral reefs, so that 
they can effectively instruct their students and use the lesson plans. 
It addresses three major areas. 

        =80       What and Where are the Coral Reefs? describes the 
anatomy,reproduction and feeding behaviors of coral polyps, as well 
as their geographic location and formation. 

        =80       Life on the Coral Reef explains the biodiversity of 
the coral reef ecosystem and describes the protection and predation 
techniques of the myriad of marine life that makes up the coral reef 
food chain.  This section also introduces four native coastal peoples 
and shows how they are taking action to protect their marine 
environment. 

        =80       Benefits, Threats, and Solutions emphasizes the 
economic and ecological importance of coral reefs to both humans and 
ecosystems. 
It demonstrates the anthropogenic threats reefs are facing and 
possible solutions to these problems. 

Lesson Plans: K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 - The lesson plans, with activities, 
masters, and assessment instruments, correlate with the three major 
areas discussed in the Background Information.  Each lesson provides 
the teacher with clear educational objectives and an interdisciplinary 
index to relate the curriculum to pertinent subject areas, such as 
science, math, geography, art and language arts.  It also provides 
guidelines for presentation of the material, and suggestions for 
follow-up and extension of the lessons. 

The lesson plans are formatted as follows: objective, 
interdisciplinary index, vocabulary, materials, presentation, and 
follow-up/extension.  Where relevant, they also contain review 
information. 

Resources - At the end of the Teacher's Guide is a resource section 
containing a glossary, bibliography, references for students, list of 
coral reef-related organizations, educational merchandise, and action 
programs.  This material supports and enhances the teacher's ability 
to present information about coral reefs in an efficient and thorough 
manner, and to expand the students' study and involvement with reefs 
if desired. 

CORAL FOREST is currently having the Teacher's Guide adapted and 
translated into Spanish and Hindi, and is working with the Smithsonian 
Tropical Research Institute to develop educational programs based upon 
this material for use in Central and South American countries. 

                     CORAL FOREST EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTS 


BARU BAY: AUSTRALIA 
Children's book and audio cassette tape 
with narration. By Bob Weir and Wendy 
Weir. 40 pages, 9" x 12" hardcover. 
#302 $20 
      =20 
Also available: PANTHER DREAM 
#303 $20 

THE CORAL FOREST Diversity of Life on the Coral Reef. Full color poster 
with key to the illustration and information.  25" x 36" 
#904 $10 


Teacher's Guide 
Coral reef teacher's guide with detailed 
background information, interdisciplinary 
lesson plans for K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 and 
resources. 158 pages in white 3-ring binder. 
#800 $22 

Slide Presentation 
Scripted slide presentation which corresponds to Background 
Information in Teacher's Guide. 40 full color coral reef slides. 
#801 $27.50