Lesson overview

This lesson will look at the impacts of coral reef destruction, categorising those impacts. We discover the impacts to different stake holders in Timor-Leste through watching videos. Students will then write a letter to their local MP informing them of the threats the coral reefs are facing and why they need protection.

Learning outcomes

• Remember some of the threats to coral reefs
• Describe the impacts of coral reef destruction
• Explain the short term and long-term consequences of the loss of the coral reef
• Predict a strategy to mitigate the threats to coral reefs

Lesson steps

1. Introduction to the lesson (5 mins)
   Students to review the learning objectives.
2. Threats recap (5 mins)
   Students as a class make two lists of the local and global threats of the coral reef destruction.
3. Impacts of coral reef destruction (10 mins)
   Students to categorise the impacts of coral reefs found on the student sheet.
4. Impacts of coral reef destruction in Timor-Leste (20 mins)
   Students to watch the videos and make notes of the different impacts of coral reefs on Timor-Leste in a spider diagram.
5. Consolidation and evaluation of information (15 mins)
   Students to write a letter to their local MP. This task will get students to evaluate the impacts as they must be selective with what they will write to their MP.
6. Mitigation (5 mins)
   In pairs students to discuss the strategies they think are needed to mitigate the issues facing Timor-Leste and other coral reefs.

England

Key Stage 4 Geography

• People and environment: processes and interactions
OCR GCSE Geography A – 2.1.5. A case study which covers: the process of nutrient cycling that operates within coral reefs, the interdependence of climate, soil, water, plants, animals and humans their value to humans and to the planet and threats to biodiversity and attempts to mitigate these through sustainable use and management.
OCR GCSE Geography B – 8.1. Outline the factors leading to demand outstripping supply of food, energy and water.
Eduqas GCSE Geography B - 3.2.2. How hot semi-arid grasslands and one other ecosystem have been damaged by human activity. The effects of the damage at the local scale, to include the effect on biodiversity, and at the global scale.
Eduqas GCSE Geography A – 5.4.3. Sustainable environmental strategies to manage habitat and biodiversity in tropical rainforests and one contrasting ecosystem.

USA

NGS, Second edition

• Human Systems
  Standard 14. How human actions modify the physical environment.
• Environment and Society
  Standard 15. How physical systems affect human systems.
  Standard 16. The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.
• The Uses of Geography
  Standard 18. How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.