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Coral Bleaching

Topic

  • Cell Biology
  • Cellular Energetics
  • Microbiology
  • Archaea & Eukaryotes
  • Environmental Science
  • Climate Change

Resource Type

  • Videos
  • Animations

Level

High School — GeneralHigh School — AP/IBCollege

Duration

00:03:48
Favorited By
48 Users
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View in Spanish

Description

This animation zooms into a coral reef to explore the tiny animals that build reefs, the photosynthetic algae inside their cells, and the damaging process of coral bleaching.

Corals get much of their energy from symbiotic algae that live inside their cells. When ocean temperatures rise beyond a certain threshold, the algae’s photosynthetic machinery may be damaged and produce harmful reactive oxygen molecules. This animation shows how corals subsequently eject their algae in a process called coral bleaching, which causes the corals to turn white and often eventually die.

Depending on students’ backgrounds, it may be helpful to pause the animation at various points to discuss specific parts of the corals or algae, as well as different steps in the coral bleaching process.

Key Terms

algae, chloroplast, dinoflagellate, global warming, marine biology, oceanography, photosynthesis, polyp, symbiosis, zooxanthellae

Terms of Use

Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.

Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)

Spanish files meet criteria. Video files meet criteria.

Version History

Date Published 11.11.14
Date Updated 06.02.20

NGSS (2013)

HS-LS1.C, HS-LS2.B

AP Biology (2019)

ENE-1, ENE-4, SYI-1

IB Biology (2016)

2.9, 8.3, C.1

AP Environmental Science (2020)

Topic(s): 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 9.6

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)

2.1

Vision and Change (2009)

CC2, CC5

Materials

HD (M4V) 150 MB
HD (WMV) 118 MB
SD (M4V) 32 MB
SD (WMV) 30 MB
Transcript (PDF) 16 KB
Spanish Dub - Español (MP4) 60 MB
Transcript - Español (PDF) 183 KB

Educator Tips

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Coral Bleaching

Scott Sowell describes how he uses the coral bleaching animation and activity to teach his ecology students about the effects of global warming, while also integrating math and graphing skills into his lesson.
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