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Education Newsletter: New Coral Reef Ecology Curriculum Units – Food Webs

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We are excited to announce that we have two new Coral Reef Ecology Curriculum units – Unit 16: Food Webs and Unit 22: Conservation. These two units can be a great resource to include in your science classes.

In the food webs unit, start off your class with an engaging short video about the coral reef food web and make sure to use the accompanying Watch It! worksheet. For students who are hearing impaired or need further assistance, you’ll notice that all our Watch It! worksheets now include video scripts.

Using the background information provided, teach your students about how matter is recycled and energy is transferred in the living parts of a coral reef ecosystem. Remember that there are images, graphics, and vocabulary in in the background information to help your students learn about these concepts.

To aid in solidifying food web concepts, conduct a hands-on activity called Lesson 1: Stringing it Together. Your students can explore the feeding relationships between organisms in a coral reef ecosystem and model how matter is cycled and energy flows through it. At the end of the lesson, students will also learn about disruptions that threaten the stability of the coral reef food web. Students will form a food web out string and determine what happens when the web is out of balance.

Incorporate English Language Arts into your science classes by using our custom Read It! worksheets that accompany our field blogs. Students will read and analyze a blog written by a scientist on one of our research expeditions. In Watch It! Sharks, Dr. Will Robbins discusses the predatory role of sharks in a coral reef food web and what recent studies have revealed in Australia. At the opposite end of the food chain, learn about producers by completing Watch It! Faces & Functions of Algae. Researcher Samantha Clements describes the role of algae or “seaweed” in the coral reef food web and how it can become detrimental to the ecosystem.

Finally, assess your students’ knowledge about food webs using our online quiz. After logging in, create a class and send the code to your students so that they can track your students’ quiz scores.

Stay tuned for more information about the Conservation unit.

Amy Heemsoth
Director of Education

The Bouknadel Statement

The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is a proud member of the Foundation’s Dialogue, and signed on to the Bouknadel Statement to encourage a greater investment in marine science from the philanthropic community.  The Foundations Dialogue of the UN …

The Bouknadel Statement

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The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation was one of 17 philanthropic foundations that have signed on to The Bouknadel Statement. This joint statement was launched on the occasion of the 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, to raise awareness for the need to increase investment in ocean science to support sustainable development.

The Foundations Dialogue of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development — an informal, global network of community, corporate, and private foundations that have chosen to work together to support the vision of the Ocean Decade — today launched The Bouknadel Statement affirming their commitment to investing in transformative ocean science. The Statement was launched during an event celebrating the Ocean Decade during the 2022 UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon.

Meet Yeonjae, Our 2022 Art Contest 1st Place Winner (Ages 15-19)

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Yeonjae is a 16-year-old student at Seoul Foreign School in the Republic of Korea. For the past two years, she has been taking lessons at a private art studio to advance her art skills, so that one day she can become a graphic designer.

After talking to Yeonjae, I found out that she didn’t know much about the ocean prior to participating in the contest. In school, she learned generally about threats to the ocean, but she explains that she didn’t really understand that ocean ecosystems, like coral reefs, are significantly threated. She expressed that conducting research really opened her eyes to ocean conservation, especially using a “Ridge to Reef” approach. Living in Korea, Yeonjae frequently visits the beach. She continued to explain, “The next time I visit to the beach, I’m going to look at a bush, plant, or tree differently. I’m going to wonder, what is the purpose of that plant? Will it help reduce runoff or sedimentation? I never would have thought of the land and sea being interconnected before participating in this contest.”

Learn more from my interview with Yeonjae about what inspired her to create her artwork, what she hopes we gain from her piece, and why she wants to conserve the ocean, and so much more.

Meet Amy, Our 2022 Art Contest 1st Place Winner (Ages 11-14)

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Each year, I can’t wait to receive the semi-finalists artwork from our Science Without Borders® Challenge, which is even more incredible in person than it is online. Our judges have the difficult job of evaluating all this incredible artwork, which is no easy task. Once the artwork is judged, I can breathe a sigh of relief. That is when one of my favorite tasks begins – contacting the winners.

This year, I had the pleasure of meeting Amy Hyobin Pyo, the first-place winner in the category for students 11-14 years old. Amy is a 12-year-old student at Tenafly Middle School in New Jersey. What I learned about Amy is that she already had a passion for the ocean before participating in this contest. Despite her passion for the ocean, she prefers art to science classes. Amy is artistically minded but shared with me that she has a new appreciation for science after participating in the art contest, stating, “I really thought science was more about studying motion and conducting labs. Now I know that studying animals in the ocean is another part of science that I really enjoy learning about.”

Ocean Decade unveils new set of endorsed Actions on all continents

By IOC-UNESCO World Oceans Day: June 8, 2022 UNESCO has announced the endorsement of 63 new endorsed Actions in the context of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (the ‘Ocean Decade’). The announcement adds to …

Announcing the winners of the 2022 Science Without Borders® Challenge!

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The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is thrilled to announce the winners of our annual student art competition, the Science Without Borders® Challenge. Now in its tenth year, this international contest engages students in ocean conservation through art, encouraging them to create artwork that inspires people to preserve, protect, and restore the world’s oceans. This year, students were asked to illustrate a ‘Ridge to Reef’ approach to coral reef conservation—and they delivered!

Over 500 primary and secondary school students from nearly 50 countries submitted artwork to the 2022 Science Without Borders® Challenge, sending in beautiful artwork illustrating what people can do to help coral reefs on land and at sea. Artwork in the competition was judged in two categories based on age. The winning entries in each category are beautiful pieces of artwork as well as excellent illustrations of how this ridge-to-reef approach to conservation can be used to preserve, protect, and restore coral reefs.

Riyadh Blue Talk: Tune-in Tomorrow @ 7am ET

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The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is delighted to be participating in the Riyadh Blue Talk tomorrow morning, May 24, 2022.

The “Riyadh Blue Talk” is organized by the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator, the Embassy of Portugal, and the Embassy of Kenya in Riyadh. The event begins at 7am ET and will be live-streamed to allow for virtual participation.

The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation has been invited to share our knowledge of marine science and conservation, and to present our work to provide science-based solutions to protect and restore ocean health.

Our Chief Scientist, Sam Purkis, will be discussing what measures can be implemented so we can have accessible, affordable, shared data to better support the decision-making process towards ocean sustainability. He will also be participating in a panel discussion on increasing scientific knowledge and developing research capacity to advance ocean conservation initiatives.

Tune in to watch his presentation LIVE @ 8:20 am ET!