Related subject area: Science, Geography. 

Overall problem: Which activities (if any) should be restricted around the coral reefs of Kailua Bay to insure their lasting protection?

Relationship of problem in this lesson to overall problem: To understand which activities should be restricted around the coral reefs of Kailua Bay, students need to know why coral reefs are important. The goal of this lesson is for students to develop background knowledge about the importance of coral reefs.  They develop this background by participating in role-plays where they will explore different perspectives about the importance of coral reefs. Students are grouped into teams and are assigned to take one of the following perspectives: coastal development, ocean related tourism, pharmaceutical research, commercial fishing, biodiversity, the geological record, or the significance to native Hawaiian culture. By investigating these different perspectives, students can weigh the various problems that can be encountered against the various gains in order to prepare the recommendation called for in the Executive Order.

Estimated time required: 1 to 2 class periods

Student outcomes/objectives:

• Students will be able to describe the importance of coral reefs based on an economic perspective (coastal development, ocean related tourism, pharmaceutical research, commercial fishing).
• Students will be able to describe the importance of coral reefs based on an aesthetics perspective (biodiversity, geological record, significance to native Hawaiian culture).
• Students will be able to describe how different perspectives influence their view of the importance of coral reefs.

Prerequisite skills or knowledge:

• Basic internet skills.
• Working in teams.
• Basic understanding of problem solving.
• Basic reading skills.
• Basic presentation preparation and skills.

Teacher preparation:

• Bookmark appropriate websites for students.
• Print Student Journal /Activity sheets for these activities.

Student reflection and assessment: Student reflection activities | Assessment

Education standards supported by this lesson:

National Science Education Standards | Project 2061 Benchmarks

National Standards for School Mathematics | National Technology Standards | National Geography Standards

Cross-curricular connections to support National Education Standards for this lesson:

math | technology | geography

Frame the lesson

Ask what is the overall problem that we are addressing?

Ask why the recommendation from the Coral reefs Task Force led to intense debates?

Ask which groups have concerns about the coral reef reserve policy and what kinds of concerns they have?

Ask students why coral reefs are important to us.

Sample student responses:

• Which activities (if any) should be restricted around the coral reefs of Kailua Bay to insure their lasting protection?

• Because concerned groups have different opinions

• Commercial fisher, Coastal developer, Tourist in Hawaii. Coral reef ecologist, pharmaceutical researcher, geologist, and Native Hawaiian representative.
  
  

• Some concerned groups consider it overly restrictive and therefore detrimental to the fishing industry, the coastal development, and the tourism in Hawaii.
• Other groups worry that the review of the EO will result in weakening the Reserve.