This site includes simulations of more than 40 phenomena: sea ice and CO2, climate change (230-year period), clouds and precipitation, coral reef evolution (starting 21,000 years ago), universal fire shape, fire twirl and burst behavior, tornadoes, thunderstorms, typhoons, El Niño events, greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosols, polar vortex breakdown, CO2 and temperature, CFCs in the ocean, cloud evolution (7-day period), daily weather in the U.S., and more.

In this lesson students discover the factors that are indicative of chemotrophic nutritional strategies. This NOAA lesson plan is designed to teach students about the factors that are indicative of chemotrophic nutritional strategies. Students will be able to describe at least three chemotrophic symbioses known from deep-sea habitats. They will identify and explain three indicators of chemotropic nutrition. This hands-on activity uses online data resources and includes: focus questions, background information, evaluations and extensions, as well as resources and student handouts.

Coral reefs are dying a death of a thousand cuts and their disappearance threatens not only the incredibly diverse ecosystem that depends on them, but also human health and welfare. In this episode of MicrobeWorld Video marine scientists Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Ph.D., chair of marine studies at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and Kiho Kim, Ph.D., director of the environmental studies program at American University, explain the important relationship between microbes and corals, and how this delicate symbiosis that sustains life on and around reefs is facing numerous threats from human interactions to global climate change. In addition, Tundi Agardy, Ph.D., founder and executive director of Sound Seas, discusses the need for public policy and community-based conservation efforts that may help stave off the degradation of these vital ocean ecosystems. According to a 2004 report issued by the World Wildlife Fund, 24% of the world's reefs are under imminent risk of collapse through human pressures; and a further 26% are under a longer term threat of collapse. If nothing is done to protect these resources, many scientists estimate that reefs around the West Indies in the Caribbean will be gone by 2020, while the Great Barrier Reef may only last for another three decades. Please visit the following sites for more information about coral reefs:www.climateshifts.org, www.reefrelief.org, www.coralreef.noaa.gov

Educators can use the resources in this Collection to teach their students about the science and beauty of corals. They can use these organisms and ecosystems to teach many scientific concepts including symbiotic relationships, reproduction strategies, food webs, chemistry, biotic and abiotic interactions, human impacts, etc. Additionally, educators can use corals to teach about conservation and stewardship of the environment. Even if you don't live near a reef, students can learn that they can help protect coral reefs in the U.S. and around the world. There are many actions, small and large, that you and your students can take to help conserve coral reefs.

Dive in and explore what makes this beautiful world so fragile. In this Evolution Web feature, discover how coevolution has shaped the ecological relationships among reef creatures.

One year, 900 locations, thousands of coral reefs. Thats the tally of NASAs Landsat 7 satellite as it continues to deliver cutting edge images and information about the Earth.

In this hands-on OLogy activity, kids learn about coral reefs by building a diorama that has models of different types of coral and other sea creatures. The activity opens with Amy O'Donnell, an educator at the AMNH, introducing kids to coral polyps and reefs. The illustrated, step-by-step directions show kids how to construct a diorama that contains models of a brain coral, a sea fan, a sponge, and sea anemones. It also includes Cool Coral Facts, a look at museum dioramas, and tips for "Taking Your Diorama to the Next Level."

This OLogy activity, a hide-and-seek game, introduces kids to the many different ecosystems in the ocean. The activity opens by telling kids that the ocean is made up of many different communities called ecosystems, and that all living things in an ecosystem depend on each other. Then, in the Think and Link game, kids are challenged to connect all the featured organisms in three ecosystems.

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, describes the energy flow in a coral reef, including its food web.

This site features 25 online modules that put students in problem-based learning scenarios. In one module, students predict the impact of increased carbon dioxide on the wheat yield in Kansas. In another, they predict weather 48 hours in advance. Topics include coral reefs, climate change, the Everglades, mountain gorillas, rainforests, volcanoes, water quality, and ozone depletion.

Species extinction is happening at an alarming rate according to scientists. In this lesson, students are asked to consider why extinction is a problem that we should concern us. They are taught that destruction of habitat is the main reason many species are threatened. The lesson explores ways that engineers can help save endangered species.

This BioBulletin Web site takes an in-depth look at coral reefs and how they are affected by human activities -- everything from agricultural pollution and ship grounding to snorkeling and overfishing. With Florida's fragile reefs as the backdrop, the site includes text, videos, photographs, and interviews with key scientists.

This biodiversity Web site for kids, part of the museum's Kids in Our Halls program, was produced by high school interns at the Museum. In includes these sections: What Do You Think About Extinction?, an interview with kids visiting the Hall of Biodiversity; Did You Know?, a collection of fun facts that includes challenges to be solved; a five-question interactive biodiversity quiz; a Q&A interview with the head of the museum's Ichthyology Department; brief articles about the origins of chocolate and the ecological importance of coral reefs; a downloadable poster to color.

The different shades in these images highlight various features specific to each coral colony. Patches of bright red show places where coral reefs are actively populated with living organisms.

Near infrared data makes some areas on the reef jump out in bright red relief. The near infrared band best gathers the electromagnetic signature of a thriving ecosystem.

Coral forms off shore from volcanic islands in tropical latitudes, developing a barrier reef thats separated by a growing lagoon. But over time, while the surrounding ocean wears away the main body of the island, the coral ring remains.

Detailed images of reefs from nearly 900 locations around the world have been collected in the first year of the Landsat 7 mission.

Located in tropical latitudes, the hard structures we know as coral are really the incremental build-ups of calcium carbonate deposited from the skeletal remains of these tiny colonial animals.

This Web site, created to complement the Hall of Ocean Life, looks at the cradle of life for our planet, along with its key to our future. It includes the following sections: Dioramas is an in-depth look at the Hall of Ocean Life's dioramas. They are: Andros Coral Reef, Diving Birds, Diving for Pearls, Polar Bear, Sargasso Sea, Walrus, West Indian Manatee, Northern Elephant Seal, Northern Sea Lion, Harbor Seal, Dolphin and Tuna, Sea Otter, Tiger Shark, and Sperm Whale and Giant Squid. Ecosystems is an exploration of the ocean's diverse communities. They are: Coral Reefs, Sea Floor, Kelp Forests, Mangrove Forests, Polar Seas, Estuaries, Continental Shelf, and Deep Sea. Ocean Life examines some of the ways in which life in water is different from life on land. Its subsections are Life in Water: Invertebrates; Life in Water: Vertebrates; Tree of Life: Major Marine Phyla; Tree of Life: Vertebrates; Open Ocean; Whales; and Ancient Oceans.