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To help Kelpi you will need to gather information about the kelp forest. Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium and dive in the kelp forest to gather your first impressions. Begin a research journal to record your information in words and pictures. Print out several of these pages. Use the back button on your browser to get back to this page from the journal page. As you explore, the information you gather will generate new questions. Record your research and questions to discuss with your team After you have some beginning impressions about the kelp forest, focus your research on these questions: What is the environment and topography of the kelp forest? What is the ecosystem of the kelp forest and how do the members of this ecosystem interact with each other? How does energy flow within this ecosystem? How does the kelp forest support life? What are the responsibilities of humans toward this ecosystem? How do waters circulate in the ocean and how does this circulation change during an El Nino year? How will (or might) El Nino affect the weather and climate of the Monterey Bay area? What changes can be predicted for the kelp forest? After you have thoroughly researched the kelp forest environment, you are ready to tackle the specific problem Kelpi is facing: What animals will be drawn towards the kelp forest and how will their presence change the ecosystem? What animals will be forced from the kelp forest and how will their absence change the ecosystem? |