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Provided by: The Pulitzer Center |Published on: November 20, 2025
Articles/Websites
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Synopsis
This article from The Pulitzer Center features images and a detailed account of the changes observed in coral reefs in the Florida Keys before and after periods of extreme heat.
Students will see the damage that excessive heat in the ocean can cause to the corals, affecting the ecosystem as a whole.
As stated in the article, this is an impactful reminder that climate change is happening now, not in the future.
The photographs and the author's personal story do an excellent job of harnessing the reader's emotions.
Prerequisites
Students should be familiar with climate change and the importance of coral reefs to marine ecosystems.
Differentiation & Implementation
This article may cause some students to feel hopeless. To help students process feelings and channel them into action, the class can organize their takeaways from the article into lists of things that bring hope and ways to take action. With the action items, students can brainstorm ways they can act as an individual and what actions might need to take place at a regional or national level.
After reading, students can explore this resource to see how some people channel their feelings about this issue into art and activism.
Teachers can use this article as a hook into a lesson about the impacts of climate change on the ocean.
This article can be used to show the connection between Sustainable Development Goal 13, Climate Action, and SDG 14, Life Below Water.
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