Why is the Coral Changing?

NGSS Phenomena: 5 images of an underwater reef from 1985 until 2014. In the first image, we see living coral and fish, but each image after that shows less and less of the ecosystem alive, until it looks like an underwater desert in 2014.

In the above image, we see the Carysfort reef (off the coast of Florida) changing over nearly 40 years. Scientists believe this ecosystem change is likely due to rising ocean temperatures.

References:

Liu G, Strong AE, Skirving W (15 April 2003). "Remote sensing of sea surface temperatures during 2002 Barrier Reef coral bleaching". Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union. 84 (15): 137–141.

1. If this ecosystem was changed by rising water temperature, that represents a change.

Drag the answers below into the grey placeholders above

biological

physical

chemical

2. Construct a written argument to support or refute the claim of one of your classmates. "The factors that caused the changes we see in this system were purely a physical change." Include evidence to support your response.

3. Which statement below provides evidence that the ability to reproduce caused a change in the populations in the image?

The health of coral populations is tied to the health of fish populations, but they do not directly impact each other.
We often see a rise in fish populations when there is a healthy coral reef available.
Fish populations are more likely to grow when they survive into adulthood near a healthy coral reef.
It's more difficult for fish to survive without a living coral reef, so they often move to different areas in search of resources.

4. One of your classmates makes the following statement:

"The factors that caused the changes we see in this system were purely physical."

Which of the following responses best evaluates this claim?

The first changes may have been physical, but those caused biological changes that caused additional biological changes.
The changes were purely biological, which we can see by fewer and fewer living coral and fish.
The system was definitely changed by biological changes first, which caused the physical change of the water temperatures rising.
There is no evidence given here to support their claim.

5. What piece of evidence would support the following claim:

"The change in fish populations is correlated with a change in the coral population, but did not cause the change."

6. Write a claim to answer the following question:

How do changes to an environment affect populations living there?

7. What evidence supports your claim that answers this question

How do changes to an environment affect populations living there?

8. What reasoning shows how your evidence supports your claim to answer this question:

How do changes to an environment affect populations living there?

9. What alternative explanations could there be for the changes in this ecosystem, aside from rising ocean temperatures?