Beyond the Dead Zone

• This unit explains how human actions impact the health of ecosystems in the Everglades of southern Florida, providing videos, worksheets, an experiment guide, a virtual field trip video to a wastewater treatment facility, and a rain barrel project.
  

Positives

• The videos are interesting and easy to understand.
• Students will learn about the ways that humans are damaging the Everglades and what can be done to fix the damage.

Additional Prerequisites

• There is a lot of information on this page. The best resources to start with are the two videos titled "Beyond the Dead Zone Part 1" and "Beyond the Dead Zone Part 2".
• Each video features an accompanying student worksheet under "Resources."
• The videos show definitions very quickly on the screen. Teachers may want to pause the videos when there is text on the screen so students can write down definitions on their worksheets.

Differentiation

• Science classes could research information about local agricultural practices to find out if there are any policies or recommendations regarding fertilizer use. 
• Students could discuss the questions from the worksheet in pairs or small groups.
• Other resources on this topic include this National Park Service video on how climate change affects the Everglades, this video on how to save coral reefs, and this Khan Academy video on the impacts of agricultural practices.