1. Scientific Investigation Coral Bleaching and Ocean Acidification
Week 2
Scientific Investigation
Coral Bleaching and Ocean Acidification

2. Objectives for the lab
After completing this lab topic, you should be able to: 1. Identify and characterize questions that can be answered through scientific investigation. 2. Define hypothesis and explain what characterizes a good scientific hypothesis. 3. Identify and describe the components of a scientific experiment. 4. Be able to relate the interconnection between global warming, coral bleaching and ocean acidification 5. Investigate whether increased amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere are making our oceans more basic or more acidic 6. Learn how a change in oceanic pH is impacting coral reefs

3. Once begun, though, it doesn’t necessarily continue linearly through the five steps until it is concluded (Figure 1-5 The scientific method: five basic steps and one flexible process).
Sometimes observations made in the first step can lead to more than one hypothesis and several testable predictions and experiments.
And the conclusions drawn from experiments often suggest new observations, refinements to hypotheses, and ultimately more and more precise conclusions. 3

4. Is this a good experiment?

5. Carbon Dioxide and Global Warming

6. Coral Bleaching
bleaching

7. Why do corals bleach?

8. Coral bleaching destroys the coral reef ecosystem

9. Ave sea surface temperature change between 1901 and 2015.

12. Global Osteoporosis 12
of 10

13. Change in seawater pH

14. Three Lab Activities Scientific Method Worksheet
Design an experiment to test effect of CO2 acidification in coral skeletons
Coral Bleaching Worksheet
Construct graph and answer questions
Ocean Acidification activity and worksheet
Class will design an experiment to test the effect of CO2 acidification to coral skeletons.
Use pH strips or color of phenol red indicator to test change in pH
Use total hardiness strip to test for Ca content

15. Testing pH and Ca2+ content