#4563. Teaching Symbiosis with Blue Planet: Coral Seas

Science, level: Senior
Posted Fri Feb 17 12:16:09 PST 2012 by James Dauray (James Dauray).
Blue Planet - Coral Seas Worksheet
College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL, USA
Materials Required: Blue Planet: Coral Seas DVD
Activity Time: 45 minutes
Concepts Taught: symbiosis, mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, competition, predation

The seas surrounding coral reefs have the most diversity of any of the aquatic ecosystems. With such a wide abundance of life, a wide variety of complex relationships can be seen between the different animals and plants within the ecosystem. This episode of Blue Planet illustrates examples of parasitism, mutualism, commensalism, competition, and predation.

Show the video to the class. Turn on closed captioning if possible so students do not miss any of the exact species named. Have students classify each of the relationships shown.

For a more formal worksheet, see the URL below.