Innovative Solutions for Restoring Coral Reefs | Changing Planet: Coral Special

In this issue/solutions gallery, students learn about coral bleaching before exploring several successful solutions for restoring healthier, heat-tolerant reefs.

Engagement questions and activities present students with sensemaking opportunities to consider the complexities facing coral conservation efforts, the collaborative and multidisciplinary natures of science and engineering, the roles of creative thinking and technology in solutions design, and the challenges of pursuing and scaling positive solutions for global environmental crises.

A GIS activity guides students to discover, through actual data, the link between ocean temperature and coral bleaching events. A media-making activity lets students practice positive messaging skills in the communication of science. A gap-analysis activity asks students to propose bridges between scientific teams and other groups who might help scale up the conservation efforts. And a deeper research and proposal activity asks teams to think more about the logistics and financing of solutions pursuits, and then apply that to one of the coral solutions presented in these clips.