STAGING

How can we protect Earth's environments?

Lesson narration:

English Spanish

Scroll for prep

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DISCUSS:
What do you think could be causing the smelly green muck in all these bodies of water?

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DISCUSS:

Why do you think a little algae is good for fish, but a lot of algae is bad for fish?

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DISCUSS:
What might cause algae to grow more now than it did before?

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DISCUSS:
How could fertilizer move from a lawn on land all the way to a lake?

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DISCUSS:

Imagine you live in a lakeside town that’s having problems with harmful algae blooms.

How could the town fix this problem?

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Step
01/16

Today you will work in a team of three. Your team will work together
against the algae. Decide who will be Player 1, Player 2, and Player 3.

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Step
02/16

Get your supplies.

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Step
03a/16

Add 6 patches of algae to each of your 3 lakes.
1 square = 1 patch of algae.

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Your team wins if you get all 3 lakes to a healthy amount of algae (only
the gray squares on the map). Your team loses if any 1 lake fills up
fully with algae.

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04a/16

Cut all four Prevent It! projects along the dotted lines.
Fold them along the solid line.

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04b/16

All Players: Read the Prevent It! projects.

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05/16

Place the 4 Prevent It! projects above your map.

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Step
06a/16

Quick Fix cards let you remove some algae right away—but they also
have consequences.

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06b/16

Cut along the dotted line on your Consequences sheet.
Put your Consequences sheet and dice to the side for now.

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If you need a natural stopping point!

Teachers: If you are short on time, this is a good stopping point.

Now that the game pieces are all set up, you can come back and play Bloom Busters next time.

If you’re continuing right now, advance to the next slide.

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07/16

Place the Progress Deck facedown on the Progress Deck space.

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Step
08/16

Player 3: Put your name on the End-of-Round Algae Growth
Tracker. Attach a paper clip pointing to “Add 3 algae to each lake”
on the tracker.

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09/16

All players: Take 2 cards from the deck.
Place them face up in front of you. These are your starting cards.

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Example round: Player 1 takes a card from the deck, talks with their
teammates about what to do, and plays 1 card. Player 2 and Player 3
do the same on their turns. The round is now over.

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Now you try!
Starting with Player 1, everyone in your team take one turn.
Pause after Player 3 takes their turn.

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Player 3: Look at your Algae Tracker and see where the paper clip is
pointing. Add that amount of algae to EACH of the 3 lakes.

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Example Turn: When you complete a Prevent It! project, follow
instructions for rewards. Then flip your Prevent It! project over and
stack used Progress cards on the back.

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14/16

Play the rest of the game with your team.
Need help? Check the Rules page.
When you've finished playing the game, click the arrow to discuss.

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15/16

Discuss:

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Discuss:

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DISCUSS:
Did you try any Prevent It! projects during the game?
What were the pros and cons?

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Anchor Connection

DISCUSS:

Look at the "Wonder" column of your class See-Think-Wonder chart. Have any questions been answered by this lesson?

In the next slides you will revise your "My Biosphere" ecosystem.

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oxygen

1 of 8

a type of gas that animals use to breathe and that plants release

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nutrient

2 of 8

a substance that living things need to grow and stay healthy

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fertilizer

3 of 8

a material that contains nutrients to help plants grow

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runoff

4 of 8

water that moves across a surface, often carrying materials with it

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algae

5 of 8

tiny living things in water that produce their own food, like plants do

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algae bloom

6 of 8

a quick increase in the amount of algae growing in an area

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environment

7 of 8

all the living and nonliving things in a particular place

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disadvantage

8 of 8

something that is bad or reduces the chances of success

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Lesson narration:

English Spanish

Activity Prep

Print Prep

In this lesson, students discover what happens in unbalanced ecosystems and how that can lead to an overabundance of algae and harmful algal blooms. In the activity, Bloom Busters, students play a game in which they obtain and combine science ideas in order to help a community respond to and prevent harmful algal blooms.

Preview activity

Number of students:

I have a Mystery Pack

Bloom Busters Rules printout	1 per 3 students
Consequences printout	1 per 3 students
Map of Laketown printout	1 per 3 students
Prevent It! Projects printout	1 per 3 students
Progress Cards & Deck Mat printout Needs to be prepped prior to lesson.	1 per 3 students
Scissors	1 pair per student
1 Cup (8 oz) Container Any cup, bowl, or small container will work.	Details 1 cup per 3 students
Paper Clips	1 paper clip per 3 students
Bingo Chips You can use any color, but we prefer green to represent the green algae. Any type of counters can be used.	Details 60 chips per 3 students
Dice, 6-sided	1 per 3 students

Prep Instructions

We suggest students play the game in groups of three.

Prepare Cups with Bingo Chips

Place 60 bingo chips into each cup. Each team of 3 students needs a cup with bingo chips.

Prepare Decks of Cards

Print out the four pages of Progress Cards and cut along all the dotted lines. If you have a paper cutter, this will make this task easy. Each group of three students needs a deck of cards, so you can place each deck into an envelope or secure together with a binder clip for easy distribution.

Organize Group Materials

Once all the cards are prepared, each group of three students will need a Map of Laketown (2 pages), Prevent It projects (2 pages), Consequences, Bloom Busters Rules, the Deck Mat, and the deck of Progress Cards (52 cards total).

Laminate (Optional)

Once all paper game pieces are cut out and prepared, you can optionally laminate them for future use!

Teacher Background

This lesson focuses on green algal blooms, but algae come in a variety of colors. So depending on where you live, you may be more familiar with different types of harmful algae blooms, such as “red tide”.

Exploration

20 mins

Hands-On Activity

35 mins

Credits

How can we protect Earth's environments?