Abiotic
Characteristics at Race Rocks
Focus
By the end of this activity you will be able to:
- Understand how tides and geology affect
the flow of water over Race Rocks
- Graph the changes in salinity and temperature
at Race Rocks since 1932 annually and monthly
- Discuss reasons for fluctuations in
salinity, temperature and tides.
First of all, come and meet the virtual crew
you will be working with at Race Rocks.
They crew are Lester B. Pearson Students who will be staying with
you at the Marine Science
Centre.
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Find and Filter/Work with Information
Over the next while you will be asked to read over
and answer the questions on the Tidal, Temperature
and Salinity Research Pages.
After you have completed your information gathering,
you will get together with the rest of your group answer the following
questions. Then you will present your information to the rest of the
class.
- Discuss how the tides, temperature and salinity differs at Race
Rocks over the course of a year.
- Looking at the average annual surface temperature chart, can you
theorize why the surface water temperature would increase slightly
every four or five years?
- Why would the average surface temperature increase throughout the
summer months?
- What factors do you think would cause the salinity to vary throughout
the year?
- How do you think that these changes in temperature, salinity and
tides affect the birds, seals and sea lions and other creatures that
congregate at Race Rocks throughout the year?
Communicate
Your group will put together a presentation on your findings. You
will need the following information on your presentation.
- Title
- Graphs
of tides, temperature and salinity
- Answers
to the questions above.
- Any
other information you consider interesting or important to the
rest of the class.
Reflection
When El Nino occurs, the temperature of the water
at also Race Rocks increases. Discuss what you think this increase in
temperature would have on the organisms at Race Rocks.
Assessment
Go to the assessment
page where your teacher will lead you through
a discussion about expectations for this assignment.
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