BRAINSTORM AND DEFINITION
Students to brainstorm all the experiences they have
had with Tasmanian marine life. For example, fishing,
rock pools, skeletons washed up on beaches,
cuttlefish, takeaway fish and chips, Woodbridge
Marine Discovery Centre. Compile and display a class
list of Tasmanian marine life experiences.
Students form their own definition of a fish or discuss
the following definition. “Fish are aquatic vertebrates,
which as adults breathe using gills. If they have limbs,
they are in the shape of fins.”
Search magazines, websites, brochures, tourist guides, etc. for pictures of ‘living’ marine
life. Temperate water examples could be collected by students and displayed in a
scrapbook or on a poster.
1.2 SUPERMARKET VISIT
Visit a supermarket or corner store and list at least five products that have something
to do with the sea. How many of these products have links to the Tasmanian marine
environment? Your home pantry or advertising catalogues will suffice if a supermarket
visit is not possible.
Compile a class list and display near the marine profile (see Marine Habitats Unit),
students can add to the list throughout the unit.
1.3 MINI INVESTIGATION
Students choose a marine animal from the Fishes of Tasmania poster set or the
Recreational Sea Fishing Guide (in the Marine Links Resource Kit) and then research the
following information about their choice:
Habitat
Appearance - size, shape, colour
Diet
Adaptations
Origin of the name
Other information of interest
The information could be presented on a large paper or cardboard cut out of the
animal so they can hang from the classroom ceiling. Students may also produce a small
paper cut out of the animal and place it on the habitat profile in the appropriate place
Purchase a whole fish,
preferably one that has not
been scaled or gutted.
Equipment
Cutting board or
newspaper
Scalpel with a new
sterile blade
Dissecting scissors
Tweezers / forceps
Gloves
Goggles (optional)
Whole fish
2.1 FISH DISSECTION
Discuss the ethical/moral issues with dissections. Is it appropriate to kill animals purely
for dissection? Are there any animals that should never be killed? What can be gained
from carrying out dissections? List other ways research and investigations can be
carried out without the need for dissection, for example, x-rays.
Invite a Fishcare Volunteer who is trained in fish dissection and experienced in handling
and cleaning fish to the classroom to undertake this activity.
Ask students to consider safety issues. Mention: washing hands and using gloves, using
sterile blades in case you accidentally cut yourself, disposing of the fish in a way that
will not interfere with others in the school, wearing goggles if you think something
might squirt out and being careful of the fish spines.
Place the fish on newspaper or a cutting board. Discuss the external features: scales,
gills, spines, backbone, shape of the tail and head. Students should consider the type of
habitat the fish lives in, why it is the shape it is, the function of the spines.
Remove two or three scales and place them under a microscope or on an overhead
projector. Students can examine and discuss the projected image.
When carrying out the dissection, teachers can follow the dissection instructions and
pictures on the Australian Museum Fish site. The dissection is of a blue mackerel and
can be viewed at:
www.australianmuseum.net.au/Dissection-of-a-Blue-Mackerel-Scomber-australasicus
www.australianmuseum.net.au/image/Dissection-of-a-Bluespotted-Flathead-Internaldissection-completed/
If it is inappropriate for a dissection to occur in the classroom, then a fish dissection
can be viewed on the Australian Museum Fish site. A class debate on an issue
surrounding animal dissections or animal welfare could follow. A possible question
could be ‘do fish have rights, whether they are alive or dead?’
Consider inviting a Fishcare Volunteer to contribute to a debate on animal welfare
issues in relation to fishing.
2.3 PROCEDURAL WRITING
Tell students that to successfully achieve some tasks we need to follow a set of written
step-by-step instructions. Ask them to work with a partner to note down ideas for a
piece of procedural writing explaining how to dissect a fish. They can list their ideas
under the headings: equipment needed and steps to follow. The procedural writing
can be based on the dissection carried out in the classroom or the one viewed on the
Australian Museum Fish site.
Share with students examples of procedural writing from the English Learning Area
website.
www.education.tas.gov.au/curriculum/standards/english/english/teachers/writing/text#procedural
Discuss with students the structures and features of procedural texts. Some points to
cover:
Purpose: to provide ordered steps for achieving an outcome.
Style: simple language, short sentences and second person point of view, for example,
‘you’.
Layout: a heading, an explanation of the goal to be achieved, a list of equipment, a list
of numbered instructions and diagrams or photographs (use a digital camera if
possible).
Two ‘fact boxes’ could accompany the procedural text. The fact boxes should each be
five or six sentences in length and should describe the appearance and function of two
features or internal organs of the fish.
Students work with a partner to complete the procedural writing. The text could be
presented as a poster, booklet or PowerPoint display, using digital photos if possible.
Marine plants trap the sun’s energy and convert it into food, which can be used by other marine
organisms. Marine plants include macro and microalgae such as kelp beds and seagrasses.
Microalgae (phytoplankton) are the primary producers of the sea, the basis of the food web in the
ocean and the source of most of the oxygen in our atmosphere.
Marine plants are imperative to the food chains of the sea, provide a range of habitats for marine
animals and other plants to live and stabilise the sediments in which they grow.
Three main groups of seaweed can usually be seen on Tasmania’s coast at low tide.
1. Green seaweeds are found in the shallowest water closest to the brightest light. The green
colour is the chlorophyll pigment that the plant uses to convert the sun’s energy to chemical
energy.
2. Brown seaweeds are usually found slightly deeper than the green seaweeds. Brown seaweeds
are very common on all sheltered rock platforms at the lower tide level where they provide good
shelter for many other animals.
3. Red seaweeds are found in deeper or shaded waters. They often wash up on beaches where
the sun bleaches them white.
Seagrass
Seagrass provides a very important marine habitat because it slows the water currents and
provides shelter for juvenile fish and molluscs in addition to helping the sediment to settle.
Seagrass is threatened or dying out in many places due to increases in silt and nutrients.
Kelp Forests
Large forests of string kelp grow offshore
in the cool waters of Tasmania. The size
and number of kelp beds around Tasmania
have decreased over the past 100 years.
Scientists are trying to determine whether
warmer seas, pollution or over-fishing
may have changed the balance in the
ecosystem to reduce the extent of the
kelp forests.
String Kelp (Macrocyctis pyrifera)
This kelp forms the kelp forests and is
found in southern Tasmania (a similar but
smaller species, Macrocyctisangustifolia,
grows along the northern coast). It has
long, rope-like stems and air bladders at
the base of the fronds that help float them
up to the surface nearer the light. They
are one of the fastest growing plants in
the world,growing up to 50 centimetres a
day (in ideal conditions), to a height of a
least 30 metres from the seafloor.
Encourage students to close their eyes and think about a time they were on the water
or foreshore and came into contact with some marine plants. Remind students of the
types of marine plants that are in Tasmanian waters. Ask students to construct a list
of adjectives to describe the marine plants they saw, smelt, or felt. If students are
having difficulties visualising marine plants, the following resources may be of assistance
(available in the Marine Links Resource Kit).
Australian Marine Life by Graham Edgar
The Hidden Forest by Jeannie Baker
Wilderness Under The Waves – CD
Kelp Watch website
www.geol.utas.edu.au/kelpwatch//
Discuss the differences between a plant and
animal.
3.2 CINQUAIN POEM
Each student can construct a cinquain poem using the adjectives in their lists. A
cinquain poem has five lines and 22 syllables. An outline and example, from the
English Learning Area website is set out below:
www.education.tas.gov.au/curriculum/standards/english/english/teachers/ideas/forms#cinquains
Line 1 - two syllables
Line 2 - four syllables
Line 3 - six syllables
Line 4 - eight syllables
Line 5 - two syllables
Listen
With faint dry sound
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost crisped, break from the trees
and fall.
Adelaide Crapsey (who invented the cinquain)
The poem could be accompanied by colour drawings of the marine plant that is described in
the poem. If possible, use the Australian Marine Life book to find the scientific name of the
marine plant.
3.3 MARINE SAYINGS
Discuss why people use colloquial expressions as a form of communication. Distribute
Exercise Sheet for 3.3 - Marine Expressions and discuss the meaning of the
expressions. Students have the opportunity to design their own expressions with a
Tasmanian marine theme.
Students to brainstorm all the experiences they have
had with Tasmanian marine life. For example, fishing,
rock pools, skeletons washed up on beaches,
cuttlefish, takeaway fish and chips, Woodbridge
Marine Discovery Centre. Compile and display a class
list of Tasmanian marine life experiences.
Students form their own definition of a fish or discuss
the following definition. “Fish are aquatic vertebrates,
which as adults breathe using gills. If they have limbs,
they are in the shape of fins.”
Search magazines, websites, brochures, tourist guides, etc. for pictures of ‘living’ marine
life. Temperate water examples could be collected by students and displayed in a
scrapbook or on a poster.
1.2 SUPERMARKET VISIT
Visit a supermarket or corner store and list at least five products that have something
to do with the sea. How many of these products have links to the Tasmanian marine
environment? Your home pantry or advertising catalogues will suffice if a supermarket
visit is not possible.
Compile a class list and display near the marine profile (see Marine Habitats Unit),
students can add to the list throughout the unit.
1.3 MINI INVESTIGATION
Students choose a marine animal from the Fishes of Tasmania poster set or the
Recreational Sea Fishing Guide (in the Marine Links Resource Kit) and then research the
following information about their choice:
Habitat
Appearance - size, shape, colour
Diet
Adaptations
Origin of the name
Other information of interest
The information could be presented on a large paper or cardboard cut out of the
animal so they can hang from the classroom ceiling. Students may also produce a small
paper cut out of the animal and place it on the habitat profile in the appropriate place
Purchase a whole fish,
preferably one that has not
been scaled or gutted.
Equipment
Cutting board or
newspaper
Scalpel with a new
sterile blade
Dissecting scissors
Tweezers / forceps
Gloves
Goggles (optional)
Whole fish
2.1 FISH DISSECTION
Discuss the ethical/moral issues with dissections. Is it appropriate to kill animals purely
for dissection? Are there any animals that should never be killed? What can be gained
from carrying out dissections? List other ways research and investigations can be
carried out without the need for dissection, for example, x-rays.
Invite a Fishcare Volunteer who is trained in fish dissection and experienced in handling
and cleaning fish to the classroom to undertake this activity.
Ask students to consider safety issues. Mention: washing hands and using gloves, using
sterile blades in case you accidentally cut yourself, disposing of the fish in a way that
will not interfere with others in the school, wearing goggles if you think something
might squirt out and being careful of the fish spines.
Place the fish on newspaper or a cutting board. Discuss the external features: scales,
gills, spines, backbone, shape of the tail and head. Students should consider the type of
habitat the fish lives in, why it is the shape it is, the function of the spines.
Remove two or three scales and place them under a microscope or on an overhead
projector. Students can examine and discuss the projected image.
When carrying out the dissection, teachers can follow the dissection instructions and
pictures on the Australian Museum Fish site. The dissection is of a blue mackerel and
can be viewed at:
www.australianmuseum.net.au/Dissection-of-a-Blue-Mackerel-Scomber-australasicus
www.australianmuseum.net.au/image/Dissection-of-a-Bluespotted-Flathead-Internaldissection-completed/
If it is inappropriate for a dissection to occur in the classroom, then a fish dissection
can be viewed on the Australian Museum Fish site. A class debate on an issue
surrounding animal dissections or animal welfare could follow. A possible question
could be ‘do fish have rights, whether they are alive or dead?’
Consider inviting a Fishcare Volunteer to contribute to a debate on animal welfare
issues in relation to fishing.
2.3 PROCEDURAL WRITING
Tell students that to successfully achieve some tasks we need to follow a set of written
step-by-step instructions. Ask them to work with a partner to note down ideas for a
piece of procedural writing explaining how to dissect a fish. They can list their ideas
under the headings: equipment needed and steps to follow. The procedural writing
can be based on the dissection carried out in the classroom or the one viewed on the
Australian Museum Fish site.
Share with students examples of procedural writing from the English Learning Area
website.
www.education.tas.gov.au/curriculum/standards/english/english/teachers/writing/text#procedural
Discuss with students the structures and features of procedural texts. Some points to
cover:
Purpose: to provide ordered steps for achieving an outcome.
Style: simple language, short sentences and second person point of view, for example,
‘you’.
Layout: a heading, an explanation of the goal to be achieved, a list of equipment, a list
of numbered instructions and diagrams or photographs (use a digital camera if
possible).
Two ‘fact boxes’ could accompany the procedural text. The fact boxes should each be
five or six sentences in length and should describe the appearance and function of two
features or internal organs of the fish.
Students work with a partner to complete the procedural writing. The text could be
presented as a poster, booklet or PowerPoint display, using digital photos if possible.
Marine plants trap the sun’s energy and convert it into food, which can be used by other marine
organisms. Marine plants include macro and microalgae such as kelp beds and seagrasses.
Microalgae (phytoplankton) are the primary producers of the sea, the basis of the food web in the
ocean and the source of most of the oxygen in our atmosphere.
Marine plants are imperative to the food chains of the sea, provide a range of habitats for marine
animals and other plants to live and stabilise the sediments in which they grow.
Three main groups of seaweed can usually be seen on Tasmania’s coast at low tide.
1. Green seaweeds are found in the shallowest water closest to the brightest light. The green
colour is the chlorophyll pigment that the plant uses to convert the sun’s energy to chemical
energy.
2. Brown seaweeds are usually found slightly deeper than the green seaweeds. Brown seaweeds
are very common on all sheltered rock platforms at the lower tide level where they provide good
shelter for many other animals.
3. Red seaweeds are found in deeper or shaded waters. They often wash up on beaches where
the sun bleaches them white.
Seagrass
Seagrass provides a very important marine habitat because it slows the water currents and
provides shelter for juvenile fish and molluscs in addition to helping the sediment to settle.
Seagrass is threatened or dying out in many places due to increases in silt and nutrients.
Kelp Forests
Large forests of string kelp grow offshore
in the cool waters of Tasmania. The size
and number of kelp beds around Tasmania
have decreased over the past 100 years.
Scientists are trying to determine whether
warmer seas, pollution or over-fishing
may have changed the balance in the
ecosystem to reduce the extent of the
kelp forests.
String Kelp (Macrocyctis pyrifera)
This kelp forms the kelp forests and is
found in southern Tasmania (a similar but
smaller species, Macrocyctisangustifolia,
grows along the northern coast). It has
long, rope-like stems and air bladders at
the base of the fronds that help float them
up to the surface nearer the light. They
are one of the fastest growing plants in
the world,growing up to 50 centimetres a
day (in ideal conditions), to a height of a
least 30 metres from the seafloor.
Encourage students to close their eyes and think about a time they were on the water
or foreshore and came into contact with some marine plants. Remind students of the
types of marine plants that are in Tasmanian waters. Ask students to construct a list
of adjectives to describe the marine plants they saw, smelt, or felt. If students are
having difficulties visualising marine plants, the following resources may be of assistance
(available in the Marine Links Resource Kit).
Australian Marine Life by Graham Edgar
The Hidden Forest by Jeannie Baker
Wilderness Under The Waves – CD
Kelp Watch website
www.geol.utas.edu.au/kelpwatch//
Discuss the differences between a plant and
animal.
3.2 CINQUAIN POEM
Each student can construct a cinquain poem using the adjectives in their lists. A
cinquain poem has five lines and 22 syllables. An outline and example, from the
English Learning Area website is set out below:
www.education.tas.gov.au/curriculum/standards/english/english/teachers/ideas/forms#cinquains
Line 1 - two syllables
Line 2 - four syllables
Line 3 - six syllables
Line 4 - eight syllables
Line 5 - two syllables
Listen
With faint dry sound
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost crisped, break from the trees
and fall.
Adelaide Crapsey (who invented the cinquain)
The poem could be accompanied by colour drawings of the marine plant that is described in
the poem. If possible, use the Australian Marine Life book to find the scientific name of the
marine plant.
3.3 MARINE SAYINGS
Discuss why people use colloquial expressions as a form of communication. Distribute
Exercise Sheet for 3.3 - Marine Expressions and discuss the meaning of the
expressions. Students have the opportunity to design their own expressions with a
Tasmanian marine theme.
An adaptation is something that helps an animal or plant survive. Organisms that are poorly
adapted may die before they can reproduce – known as the survival of the fittest. Adaptations may
be structural, functional or behavioural. Adaptations help organisms to avoid predators, obtain food,
reproduce successfully and withstand different environmental conditions.
Structural adaptations are changes to body characteristics that help the organism survive. For
example, commercial scallops and blacklip abalone have outer shells to protect their soft bodies
from predators. Most animals that have armour to protect their bodies are slow moving and hence
need to have another form of protection. Sea urchins are one of the many organisms that have
developed spines for protection.
Pressure increases with depth, so whales that dive to great depths have to adapt to this. Their lungs
collapse in deep water, so they have a special network of blood vessels that carries oxygen around
their bodies.
Animals like sharks that need to move quickly through the water have to be streamlined, just like
racing cars need to be streamlined. These animals have muscular bodies, a cylindrical shape and
use fins to give them added thrust through the water.
Some other animals use camouflage to escape detection. They are camouflaged to blend in with
their habitat. For example, greenback flounder camouflage with the colour of the sediment in the
estuaries and bays in which they live and flathead blend with the sandy bottom they inhabit.
5.1 BRAINSTORM BY DRAWING
Have students ‘brainstorm by drawing’ how people adapt to situations and their
surroundings. For example, what do fire brigade officers, Antarctic expeditioners,
deep-sea divers wear and use to adapt to situations they work in.
With this in mind, brainstorm how fish adapt to their habitats.
5.2 ADAPTATIONS FLYER
The following website has information about the adaptations of fish species. Visit the
site and use three fish species that inhabit Tasmanian waters when examining the traits
of the fish.
www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/ed/life/apalachicola/files/fish_adaptations_boat.pdf
Working in pairs, select a Tasmanian fish and research its structural, physiological and
behavioural adaptations. This information could be presented on a small pamphlet
produced in Word, Publisher or other programs.
5.3 CAMOUFLAGE
Select a page from The Hidden Forest and have students design a marine creature that
will be camouflaged.
Alternatively, design a marine scene using paint, crayon, and pencils or pictures from
magazines. When the scene is complete, design a marine animal that would be
camouflaged in that environment. Share the scene with the class and play ‘spot the
marine animal.’
Governments in Australia have listed plants and animals that biologists consider are at risk of
extinction – threatened species. Those most at risk are listed as endangered. The list
includes species of fish, reptiles, birds, amphibians, mammals and plants. In addition, there are
many more species that are listed as vulnerable and some classified as rare.
There are two main threats to the survival of species in Australia, and these threats have
already caused extinctions. They are:
loss of habitat – this may result from climate change, human activities or natural events;
introduced species that prey on and compete with native species for food and habitat.
Why Should We Be Concerned About Threatened Species?
We need to be aware of threatened plants and animals because a certain level of biological
diversity is necessary to keep the worlds ecosystems healthy. In an ecosystem, species
interact and rely on each other. One species may be a source of food for another, or may
help keep another's population in check.
People correctly argue that extinction is a part of life and has always occurred. The main
concern for us today is that the rate of extinctions has greatly accelerated. As a result, some
ecosystems have become unstable and plants and animals that could prove useful for food
and medication have been lost. There are also aesthetic, ethical and conservation concerns.
Tasmanians - Can We Make a Difference?
If people are aware and concerned about the issues surrounding endangered plants and
animals, there is a good chance that we will slow the rate at which organisms are becoming
extinct. People can take heart from some of the success stories; for example, the humpback
whale population is beginning to grow since it has been protected from exploitation.
Tasmanian Example
The spotted handfish (Brachionichthys
hirsutus), found in south eastern Tasmania,
uses its fins to walk along the bottom of
the sea, rather than swim. The handfish
was commonly seen in the deeper bays of
southeastern Tasmania, but the population
seems to have virtually disappeared during
recent years and is considered endangered.
The spotted handfish lays its eggs on a
marine animal (stalked ascidian) that is
being eaten by introduced sea stars, hence
leaving the fish fewer places to lay eggs and
reproduce.
Definitions
Endangered – refers to species that are likely to become extinct unless the various threats
and pressures affecting them cease.
Vulnerable – sometimes used synonymously with endangered, but also used to refer to
species believed likely to move into the endangered category within the next 25 years if no
action is taken.
Rare – used to describe species with small populations or a very restricted distribution.
Rarity may be a natural characteristic of some species, but it can also come about because of
various pressures, and thus be a worrying sign about the future viability of a species. A rare
species is more likely to become endangered or extinct, and needs to be considered
carefully in management plans.
6.1 CONTINUUM
Brainstorm a list of all the terms and words that mean an animal or plants is
disappearing; for example, threatened, endangered, extinct, rare, and vulnerable. Use a
dictionary to define the meaning of these terms and then place them on a threatened
species continuum.
6.2 THREATENED TASMANIAN MARINE ANIMALS
Visit the natural environment website below to view the Threatened Tasmanian
Animal Species List. In small groups, select a fish, mammal or bird and design a flyer,
poster, interview or drama activity that communicates to an audience information
about the animals’ habitat, diet, distribution, why it is threatened, what it needs to
survive and the strategies that are in place to protect the species. Note, most of the
fish are fresh water fish.
List of Threatened species
www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au > Native Plants & Animals > Threatened Species > List of
Threatened Species
Go to: Spotted Handfish
Southern Right Whale
New Zealand Fur Seal
Seastar
Shy Albatross
Students could interview a variety of people and ask about their involvement with or
awareness of any threatened species (plant or animal) in Tasmania. These interviews
could form part of display for Threatened Species Month (September). Alternatively,
students could communicate the information in the form of a banner, song, or a
documentary script; or
Have students design a board game where bonus squares address the issues facing
threatened species and penalty squares are for increasing problems; or
Organise a class display or exhibition in the entrance foyer of the school on Tasmanian
threatened mammals, birds and fish. Include a list of the threatened species, students’
feelings about the situation and information on what people can do to help; or
Hold a threatened species forum – invite guest speakers from the Parks and Wildlife
Service Threatened Species Unit, local Coastcare groups; or
Contact the Education and Interpretation section of the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife
Service and borrow the Threatened Species Kit that is available to schools.
Threatened Species Kit: www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=461
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