As a high school Chemistry teacher, you can use this set of computer-based tools to help you in teaching the pH scale, acids and bases, acidification, and environmental chemistry
This lesson plan allows students to understand the pH scale and acidification by analyzing the effect of atmospheric carbon dioxide on ocean chemistry. The activity will also explore the potential effects of climate change on ocean acidification, and the possible impacts of ocean acidification on marine organisms
Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to integrate the teaching of a climate science topic with a core topic in Chemistry.
The tools in this lesson plan will enable students to:
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
Visualization (~45 min)
Note: This tool requires a Flash player, and therefore, may not play in some browsers. The visualization tool works well in Firefox and MS Edge
Video (~6 min)
Then play this short video (approx. 6 min), “Ocean Acidification”, to explain how carbon dioxide (CO2) affects the pH of the ocean and how an increase in ocean acidification might adversely impact marine animals.
Classroom/Laboratory activity (60 – 90 min)
Now, explore this topic in an engaging manner through a classroom/laboratory activity “Using the pH Scale and Carbonic Acid Formation to Understand the Effect of Ocean Acidification on Organisms with Calcium Carbonate Shells” provided by InTeGrate (SERC Carleton) to understand the effect of Ocean Acidification on organisms with calcium carbonate shells.
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Video | A short film, “Ocean acidification: Connecting science, industry, policy and public,” from Plymouth Marine
Laboratory
This can be accessed here . |
| 1 | Interactive Tool, “Our Acidifying Ocean” | Virtual Urchin |
| 2 | Video, “Ocean Acidification” | The National Science Foundation and NBC Learn |
| 3 | Classroom/Laboratory Activity, “Using the pH Scale and Carbonic Acid Formation to Understand the Effect of Ocean Acidification on Organisms with Calcium Carbonate Shells” | By InTeGrate, SERC Carleton |
| 4 | Additional Resources |
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
Visualization (~45 min)
It is available in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.
Note: This tool requires a Flash player, and therefore, may not play in some browsers. The
visualization tool works well in Firefox and MS Edge
Video (~6 min)
Then play this short video (approx. 6 min), “Ocean Acidification”, to explain how carbon dioxide (CO2)
affects the pH of the ocean and how an increase in ocean acidification might adversely impact marine
animals.
Classroom/Laboratory activity (60 – 90 min)
Now, explore this topic in an engaging manner through a classroom/laboratory activity, “Ocean
Acidification and Oysters Lab”, created by Hilary Palevsky, UW Oceanography:
This activity will help your students explore how a change in ocean chemistry can affect the growth of
marine organisms, specifically, oyster larvae. Students will use actual data from the Whiskey Creek
Hatchery in Oregon, USA, to plot graphs in MS Excel, and perform data analysis and interpretation.
Use the tools and the concepts learned so far to discuss and determine answers to the following questions:
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Reading | A reading, “What is ocean acidification?”, from the European Project on OCean Acidification (EPOCA): This can be accessed here. |
| 2 | Video | A short film, “Ocean acidification: Connecting science, industry, policy and public,” from Plymouth Marine This can be accessed here . |
| 3 | Laboratory Activity | A hands-on laboratory activity to understand and examine the effect of anthropogenic carbon dioxide on This can be accessed here. |
| 1 | Interactive Tool, “Our Acidifying Ocean” | Inquiry to Student Environmental Action (I2SEA) project |
| 2 | Video, “Ocean Acidification” | The National Science Foundation and NBC Learn |
| 3 | Classroom/Laboratory Activity, “Ocean Acidification and Oysters Lab” | Hilary Palevsky, UW Oceanography, University of Washington Program on Climate Change |
| 4 | Additional Resources | European Project on OCean Acidification (EPOCA); Richard Rueb (Clackamas Community College) based on an original activity by Sheila Alfsen (Linn Benton |
