BROWSE EDUCATOR RESOURCES

In everyday life, students can be unaware of the impact of their food choices on the environment. Therefore, it is essential that students are educated in their food choices. If students cannot link their food to where it comes from, they are unlikely to make sustainable choices in the future. “Go Fish” aims to encourage students to start thinking about fish in the ocean and how fish stocks can change for the better or for the worse. In the educational game, cards will be selected by chance, so some students ‘oceans’ may be more successful than others. Students will complete a fishing log to monitor events of the game and reflect on the events that cause a change. By playing this game, students can come aware of the negative and positive actions that can take place to encourage fish stocks or declining fish stocks.

Global populations have for decades migrated more and more to coastal regions. This colonization of the coast has resulted in large areas of what was formerly rocky shores, salt marshes, and mudflats becoming built environment for people. What’s more, as sea levels rise more, coastal defenses are being put in place to protect towns and cities from the oceans. These coastal defenses are also replacing natural habitats that play a vital role in the life cycle of fish, including spawning locations, nurseries, and sources of planktonic food. This, in turn, is affecting the fish stocks in the oceans. During this lesson, students will gain a basic understanding of the idea that specific habitats are essential in the lifecycle of some species. Students will work through the engineering design process to build a ‘bio-block’ solution to make sea walls a more nature-friendly solution for flood protection.

Approximately 600,000 sea birds die each year by getting caught on hooks used in line fishing. A device called the Hookpod, invented by a UK company in Devon, has a clever solution to this problem. The fish hook is covered by a case so birds cannot get hooked. At a certain depth (below the diving depth of indigenous birds) a mechanism is triggered to release the case which floats to the surface and is retrieved to be used again. These lesson ideas provide an interesting practical idea to use a particle model to explain density and pressure in a gas. Students will then take part in a STEM design challenge to make a device to respond to a pressure change at a particular depth of water.

Join us on our 2019 Expedition: What's the Catch? Journey with Philippe Cousteau and the EarthEcho International team to learn more about fisheries and what we can do to help.

Seafood serves as a primary source of food and protein for many people across the world, and the economies of many nations are heavily influenced by fish stocks and fisheries management. While efforts are in place to manage fisheries in many places around the world, there are still risks associated with fishing on a commercial scale. Many fishing vessels are equipped to target specific species of fish, for example, cod, but the large nets and trawls used for efficiency have a downside. This downside is called “bycatch”. Bycatch is defined as any non-targeted species that are brought in accidentally within the catch. In this lesson, students will use the engineering design process to create an alternative to modern fishing nets to try and reduce the amount of bycatch. They will also practice data collection and review.

Dr. Louise Firth is an ecological engineer. She designs habitats that help organisms thrive in man-made habitats, such as sea walls. Dr. Firth does not have a typical day, she can be found lecturing, during fieldwork, engineering habitats and more.

Dr. Abigail McQuatters-Gollop is an Associate professor of marine conservation at the University of Plymouth. She is also a plankton ecologist, she helps policymakers work with scientists in order to properly manage the ocean environment. Dr. McQuatters-Gollop combines her research with conservation and science communication to make a difference.

Loveday Trinick is a schools officer at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, England. Loveday educates the young people who visit the aquarium about our ocean planet. Learn more about the average day of a schools officer, including leading dissections and more.

Thomas Stamp is a marine biologist and Ph.D. student at the University of Plymouth. Tom studies how fish, specifically sea bass, move in and out of habitats during their life using acoustic telemetry. He uses this information to help fishermen and policymakers make educated choices on fishing.