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= ABOUT THE TEAM = **Charleston Middle School Core D** toc Welcome to our wiki. We are members of the 8th Grade Gold Team Core D science class at Charleston Middle School in Charleston, IL. Our school enrollment is approximately 420 students divided into four teams - two 7th grade teams and two 8th grade teams. Charleston is located about 200 miles south of Chicago in the rural heartland of Central Illinois. The community is proud of its Lincoln heritage, being the 1840's home of Thomas and Sarah Bush Lincoln, father and stepmother of our 16th president and also the location of one of the famous Lincoln - Douglas debates. Charleston is a campus community - home to Eastern Illinois University. Our teacher is Mr. Tim McCollum.

=** STEPS IN THE PROCESS OF SCIENCE **= = ﻿Step 1 - Preliminary Question = Photo Credit - israelwaterblog.org


 * Preliminary Question - How does water temperature affect the appearance of coral reefs near Madagascar and the Great Barrier Reef, and are these changes visible from space?**

=** Step 2 - Initial Observations **=


 * Image ID || Latitude || Longitude || Name of Feature || Country || Date Acquired || Focal Length || Observations ||
 * [|STS046-77-35] || -14.6 || 143 || The Great Barrier Reef || Australia || 19920808 || 250mm || The reef around little islands ||
 * [|ISS016-E-12346] || -13.4 || 142 || The Great Barrier Reef || Australia || 20071122 || 50 mm || Finger-looking reefs off coast ||
 * [|STS046-77-31] || -14 || 144 || The Great Barrier Reef || Australia || 19920808 || 250mm || Looks like fish and mermaids ||
 * [|ISS006-E-5938] || -18 || 148.5 || Flinders Reef || Australia || 20021208 || 400mm || Coral reef in the shape of an L ||
 * [|ISS002-E-6913] || -11.5 || 47.5 || Ilus Glorieuses || Madagascar || 20010617 || 800mm || Coral reef with shallow water around it ||
 * [|STS111-716-47] || -21 || 151 || The Great Barrier Reef || Australia || 20020621 || 50mm || Scattered coral reefs ||
 * [|STS029-90-9] || 24 || 78 || Tongue of the Ocean || Bahamas || 19890313 || 50mm || Turquoise water surrounding a coral reef ||
 * [|ISS016-E-24646] || -17 || 144.4 || Great barier reef || Australia || 20051122 || 180mm || 4 Large plots of coral poking out of the water ||

=** Step 3 - Background Research **=

Coral Reefs and Their Importance We are working with NASA through the Expedition Earth and Beyond program. One of our goals is to request a new picture of our planet taken from space, and we would get to select the feature. The topic we eventually decided upon was coral reefs. Our preliminary question was how  “Does water temperature affect the appearance of coral reefs over time, and are these changes visible from space?” Some of these facts are important and very much needed, such as that there are four types of reefs: strikes, barrier, fringing, and atolls. An atoll beings 50 ft below the water, a barrier is at water level, fringing just above water level, and strike rises 50 ft or more into the air. Coral reefs have been evolving for 500 million years. Coral reefs don't have brains. Even as I write this, we are still searching. One person wrote that coral reefs are animals related to jellyfish and anemones. One important fact is that they live in ocean water temperatures between 18 degrees C - 29 degrees C. Knowing this would be crucial so we know were to look for reefs. Another interesting fact that one student discovered is that climate changes kill coral on a widespread base. We also learned that the phylum that they belong to is Cnidaria. The last fact that I find crucial to this search is that coral reefs are the second most susceptible animal to virus and disease.
 * Name of Website || Internet Address || Brief Summary ||
 * Coral Reef Fun Facts || [] || fun-facts, pictures, where they're found, and importance ||
 * Coral Reefs in Crisis || [] || Lots of information about coral ||
 * Coral Reef info || [] || lots of great links ||
 * Wikipedia Coral || [] || a picture of the anatomy of a coral polyp ||
 * Solcomhouse || [] || good charts and information ||
 * Coral Reef Adventures || [|http://www.coralfilm.com] || Movie and good informaton ||
 * Coris || [] || Sites and information ||
 * The Wilderness Classroom || [|http://www.wildernessclassroom.com] || Info on all of the different types of coral ||
 * Coral Reef Life || [] || Tells about what marien life is in reefs ||
 * Coral and Coral Reefs || [] || Everything you need to know about coral reefs ||
 * Coral Studies || [] || Discusses studies on temperature impact on coral reefs ||
 * Coral Reefs and Ocean Temps || [] || Controversy over true impact of increasing temps on coral ||
 * Water Temp Loggers and Coral Reef Study || [] || Use of data loggers for coral study ||
 * Madagascar Reefs offer key to Coral Bleaching and Recovery || [] || Nat Geo story on recovery of coral reefs ||
 * CoRIS || [] || NOAA Coral Mapping site ||

=** Step 4 - Experiment Design **=


 * Refined question - How does water temperature affect the appearance of coral reefs near Madagascar and the Great Barrier Reef, and are these changes visible from space?**
 * Our main source of image data with be from the [|Gateway to Astronaut Photography] web site.
 * We will use Google to locate other websites for useful data such as satellite measurements of ocean water temperatures.
 * We decided to limit of study of coral reefs to the regions of and around Madagascar, the Great Barrier Reef, and the western coast of Africa.
 * We plan to observe a minimum of 20 astronaut images of each barrier region.


 * Hypothesis - The impact of ocean surface temperature changes on coral reefs cannot be determined from astronaut photographs.**

=** Step 5 - Collect and Compile Data **=


 * Great Barrier Reef**
 * Image I.D. || Date || Lat. || Long. || Country/Region || Focal Length || Type of Reef || Color || General Observations ||
 * [|ISS005-E-15255] || 20020921 || -21 || 154.9 || Australia || 400mm || Barrier || Green || Very large, green ||
 * [|STS046-77-35] || 19920808 || -14.6 || 143 || Australia || 250mm || Barrier || Teal || Reef cluster looks like whales and dolphins ||
 * [|ISS016-E-29646] || 20051122 || -17 || 144.8 || Australia || 180mm || Barrier || Teal || Several small clumps and one larger clump ||
 * [|STS038-74-86] || 19901108 || -20 || 166 || Australia || 250mm || Atoll || Teal || Lagoon ||
 * [|STS093-709-12] || 19900725 || -18.5 || 147 || Australia || 250mm || Barrier || White, blue, and light blue || Several little circles of coral with all different colors ||
 * [|STS069-728-86] || 199950912 || -21.1 || 152.3 || Australia || 250mm || Barrier || Blue || Islands in open water, white cloud cover ||
 * [|ISS015-E-19844] || 20070727 || -10 || 142 || Australia || 180mm || Barrier || Greenish || Looks like puzzle pieces ||
 * [|ISS006-E-5937] || 20021208 || -17.7 || 145.7 || Austraila || 400mm || Barrier || Blues/ Green || Shallow waters in a U formation ||
 * [|ISS015-E-31299] || 20070929 || -20.2 || 150.4 || Australia || 800mm || Barrier || Teal, green and brown || Mushroom shaped ||
 * [|ISS5732006-E-] || 20021202 || 34.5 || 1.57 || Australia || 800mm || Barrier || brown blue || Large reef beaches a few lagoons ||
 * [|ISS006-E-5928] || 20021208 || -20.5 || 145.7 || Australia || 230mm || Barrier || Blue || Islands underwater ||


 * Madagascar**
 * Image I.D. || Date || Lat. || Long. || Country/Region || Focal Length || Type of Reef || Color || General Observations ||
 * [|STS033-71-95] || 19891124 || -21 || 43.5 || Madagascar || 250mm ||  || Bluish || Clusters of coral ||
 * [|ISS006-E-20507] || 20030125 || -22 || 40.8 || Madagascar || 400mm || Atoll || Blue || Reef surrounded by land ||
 * [|ISS004-E-12477] || 20020529 || -14.5 || 47.5 || Madagascar || 180mm || Barrier || Bright blue || Little island in top left ||
 * [|ISS014-E-5900] || 20061017 || -14.5 || 47.5 || Madagascar || 180mm || Barrier || Greenish || Coral and island mainland ||
 * [|STS068-204-104] || 19941010 || -14.5 || 47.5 || Madagascar || 250mm || Barrier || Bright blue || Spots of coral ||
 * [|STS048-110-88] || 19910916 || -14.5 || 47.5 || Madagascar || 250mm || Barrier || Bright blue || Scattered coral ||
 * [|ISS020-E-40073] || 20100403 || -15.6 || 47.0 || Madagascar || 250mm || Barrier || Greenish blue || Spots of coral ||

=** Step 6 - Display Data **=

The majority of the images do not detect any changes in the coral, most of the changes are in the water color. Two of the images that were from the same area were the only ones we could detect visible changes. The images in the data table show a wide range of time: dating as far back as 1989 and goes all the way to 2010. Therefore we could not see any changes because of the clarity of the photos and because the lack of the number of photos. Image Credit - Google Earth
 * Madagascar Reef Chronological Astronaut Image Table**
 * Image I.D. || Date || Visible Changes Detected: Yes, No, Unsure || Specific Changes Observed ||
 * [|STS033-71-95] || 19891124 || N/A || Scattered coral, light blue, barrier reef ||
 * [|STS048-110-88] || 19910916 || Unsure || farther south, bright blue, outer edge of C shaped island ||
 * [|STS068-204-104] || 19941010 || Yes || whiter in color, covered larger area, maybe bleaching ||
 * [|ISS004-E-12477] || 20020529 || Yes || different color, water was brighter, harder to see the coral ||
 * [|ISS006-E-20507] || 20030125 || Unsure || greenish color, little island of coral ||
 * [|ISS014-E-5900] || 20061017 || Unsure || Darker picture, can't tell where coral is ||
 * [|ISS020-E-40073] || 20100403 || No || not a good picture ||

STS048-110-882 STS068-204-1043 ISS004-E-124774 ISS014-E-5900

These four images are located at 14.5S and 47.5E

The images we have are from scattered areas in the Great Barrier Reef. Therefore it was hard to make any conclusions. Some of the issues included cloud cover, clarity, and the focal length. The range of time for these photos was 1990 to 2007. The images are very stunning and we hope you enjoy them. Image Credit - Google Earth
 * Great Barrier Reef Chronological Astronaut Image Table**
 * Image I.D. || Date || Visible Changes Detected: Yes, No, Unsure || Specific Changes Observed ||
 * [|STS093-709-12] || 19900725 || N/A || broken clouds, scattered reefs ||
 * [|STS038-74-86] || 19901108 || Unsure || blue colored, not close to land ||
 * [|STS046-77-35] || 19920808 || Unsure || brighter, closely packed reefs, long sections ||
 * [|STS069-728-86] || 19950912 || Unsure || too dark to see ||
 * [|ISS005-E-15255] || 20020921 || Unsure || closer picture, bright blue, ||
 * [|ISS006-E-5928] || 20021208 || No || light colored, scattered coral, atoll reef ||
 * [|ISS006-]E-[|5732] || 20021208 || Unsure || around and island, different area than the rest ||
 * [|ISS016-E-29646] || 20051122 || No || bad picture, not much coral ||
 * [|ISS015-E-19844] || 20070727 || Unsure || light blue, might be land on the top ||
 * [|ISS015-E-31299] || 20070929 || Unsure || very cloudy, on 1 side of island, blue atoll ||

Source - http://mclean.ch/climate/global_warming.htm Source - http://mclean.ch/climate/global_warming.htm Source - Great Barrier Reef Fact Sheet [|csa_gbr-factsheet_may10.pdf]

=** Step 7 - Analyze and Interpret Data **=

1) Specific observations we made in the previous section that directly relate to our question
 * Found more images for Great Barrier Reef than Madagascar
 * More temperature data for great barrier reef
 * Ocean surface temperatures aren’t the only thing that affect coral reefs
 * Many of the changes that have taken place aren’t really visible from space

2) Our interpretation of what those observations mean
 * There is much more information in general on the Great Barrier Reef than on Madagascar

3) Supporting evidence that directly supports our interpretation
 * We found three charts on temperatures for GBR but none on Madagascar

=** Step 8 - Draw Conclusions **=

Question-**How does water temperature affect the appearance of coral reefs near Madagascar and the Great Barrier Reef, and are these changes visible from space?** Hypothesis-**The impact of ocean surface temperature changes on coral reefs cannot be determined from astronaut photographs.**

Our hypothesis that we stated has been, according to our data, correct. We found this out by reviewing astronaut photography over periods of time. We examined the areas of Madagascar and Great Barrier Reef. Now we know that major changes visible from space will take a much longer time span to appear than we are allowed.

=** Step 9 - Share Research **=

[|Core D EEAB Presentation.pptx]

** GLOSSARY **
Abaxil - away from, or distant from the axis.

Algae - unicellular solitary or colonial organisms that contain chlorophyl

Anemone - a cnidarian of class Anthozoa, that possesses a flexible cylindrical body and a central mouth surrounded by tentacles

Atoll - a horseshoe or circular array of reef islets, capping a coral reef system that encloses a lagoon and perched around an oceanic volcano sea mount

Back Reef - the shoreward side of a reef

Bank Reef- large reef growths, generally having irregular shape, normally in deep water

Barrier Reef - a long narrow coral reef parallel to the shore separated by a lagoon

Cnidarian - a multicellular animal phylum with a tissue grade of construction that contains the stony corals, anemones, sea fans, sea pens, hydroids, and jellyfish

Coelenterate - a group of primitive aquatic animals

Crucial - involving an extremely important decision or result

Fringing Reef - a shelf reef that grows close to shore

Hydroid - a form of hydrozoan that grows into branching colonies by budding.

Hydrozoan - any freshwater or marine coelenterate.

Islet - a very small island.

Jellyfish - any of numerous free-swimming animals, that have a jelly like, saucer shaped, a nearly transparent body, and tentacles.

Limestone - a rock that is formed mainly from animal remains.

Phylum - the primary subdivision of taxonomic kingdoms

Polyp - an individual of a solitary cnidarian or one member of a cnidarian colony

Tentacles- two or more elongated flexible organ

Zooplankton - animal component of the plankton community

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