You will need an area of wall at least 2 metres wide by 1 metre high. If you are doing this activity at school, consider setting aside one wall of the classroom and have the whole class working on the same mural each adding an example of coral life. The background could be prepared by staff in advance.

Activity Steps

1. Cut a piece of yellow backing paper to make the seafloor. You can cut a pattern into the top to represent the shape of the reef.
2. Add a blue layer of paper for the sea, cutting a wave pattern into the top.
3. Add another layer of backing paper in a different shade of blue for the sky.
4. Choose at least two types of plants or algae and two corals from the coral life checklist (see What you'll need section), and the relevant pictures from the coral life templates.
5. To help colour or decorate these, search for images in the Coral life gallery.
6. Stick these examples around the bottom of your mural to form the reef habitat for the rest of your animals.
7. Select a range of other coral animals for your reef. Try to have a selection of different types of invertebrates, fish, and other vertebrates.
8. Use the coral life templates or search for images in the Coral life gallery.
9. Arrange the creatures around your reef mural. Different animals live on different parts of the reef, as you can find by browsing through the Coral life gallery.
10. You can place the coral life on the coral itself, on the seafloor, swimming or flying.

• Area of wall (at least 2m wide x 1m high)
• 2 sections of coloured backing paper (blue for the sky and a yellow or sandy colour for the bottom)
• Section of aluminium foil
• Glue (child-safe)
• Sticking tape
• Scissors (child-safe)
• Selection of the coloured pens, pencils or crayons
• Selection of colored pipe cleaners to add a more 3D feel to some of the animals, e.g. the brain coral, sea anemone and crown-of-thorns starfish

What is coral?

A coral reef is not a plant or a rock, although it can resemble both. A coral reef is a living structure made up of tiny animals called polyps. The coral polyp is an animal from the same group, or phylum, as jellyfish and sea anemones, called Cnidaria. The majority of coral polyps are sessile, which means that they are fixed in one place.

Like other animals, such as crabs, lobsters and shellfish, they grow their own structures from calcium carbonate dissolved in the ocean.

Corals reproduce both sexually and asexually. There is one day a year when corals release their eggs and sperm into the water, so that the fertilised eggs will develop into larvae and settle on a part of the reef to grow into a new coral.

Why are reefs important?

Coral is not just important because it is amazing in itself, but also because it is a habitat-forming animal. The beautiful structures created by the coral polyp support over 25% of life in the ocean.

Without the reef, thousands of species would be in jeopardy. Coastal fisheries would be badly affected and livelihoods would be lost. Polyps may only measure a few millimetres across, but they play a crucial role in the global ecosystem.