Activity 1

Examining Sea Level Rise Scenarios Through Mock Marsh Transects (click to access the lesson) - Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia

Student Objectives:

Students will:

• • Comprehend the difference between tidal elevation, storm surge, and sea level rise due to global climate change

  • Understand the impact of sea level rise on wetland and/or salt marsh communities

  • Construct a marsh transect following instructions

  • Make inferences about global climate change from the constructed display and the instructions provided

Time: 120 minutes prep and 90 minutes for students

Grade Level(s): 7th+

Vocabulary:

• • Elevation - Height on the earth's surface above sea level

  • Emergent - plants, that stand straight up, are rooted underwater that grow above (emerge from) the surface of the water (e.g., cattails)

  • Inundation - Water covering normally dry land is a condition known as inundation

  • Global Climate Change - A significant change in the Earth’s climate. The Earth is currently getting warmer because people are adding heat-trapping greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The term “global warming” refers to warmer temperatures, while “climate change” refers to the broader set of changes that go along with warmer temperatures, including changes in weather patterns, the oceans, ice and snow, and ecosystems around the world.

  • Global sea level rise - Caused by a change in the volume of the world's oceans due to temperature increase, deglaciation (uncovering of glaciated land because of melting of the glacier), and ice melt

• Salt Marsh - are coastal wetlands that are flooded and drained by salt water brought in by the tides

  • Storm surge - Water that is pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds swirling around the storm. This advancing surge combines with the normal tides to create the hurricane storm tide, which can increase the mean water level 15 feet or more.

  • Transect - a defined area in which sample population counts of plants and animals can be taken

  • Vegetation - plants considered collectively, especially those found in a particular area or habitat

  • Wetlands - are lands where saturation with water is the dominant factor determining the nature of soil development and the types of plant and animal communities living in the soil and on its surface

Description: Students will work in groups to survey a mock, locally relevant, marsh habitat that includes dominant plant community types. Students will use elevation data to construct and interpret a profile of the mock landscape. Students will understand local vegetative species found in each marsh zone, and how sea level rise may impact the marsh habitat. Students will be able to interpret elevation and elevation changes in a real world, hands-on example.

Adapted for local use:

• GTM NERR, Northeast Florida

  • Rookery Bay (stay tuned; Hurricane Donna [3.96m])

  • Mission-Aransas (stay tuned; Hurricane Ike [6.09m])

  • Jacques Cousteau (stay tuned; Hurricane Sandy [3.96m])