This resource is also available in Spanish.

Preparation

Materials You Provide: compasses, markers

Required Technology: 1 computer per classroom, printer

Physical Space: classroom

Grouping: large-group instruction; small-group instruction

Overview

A Marine Protected Area, or MPA, is "any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by federal, state, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein" (Presidential Executive Order 13158). The ocean has many habitats and resources that many countries, international, and national organizations are working to protect. Marine parks, marine protected areas, and marine sanctuaries are created to protect numerous areas of Earth’s ocean.

Objectives

Students will:

• compare and visualize percentages of protected land and ocean on a global scale
• consider the importance of Marine Protected Areas

Teaching Approach: Learning-for-use

Teaching Methods: Brainstorming, cooperative learning, discovery learning, discussions

Skills Summary

This activity targets the following skills:

• Critical Thinking Skills: analyzing, applying
• Geographic Skills: Analyzing Geographic Information

Directions

1. Brainstorm with students their understanding of protected habitats.

Ask students: What protected places have you visited? Prompt students with answers that include nearby state parks and nature preserves, well-known national parks, or city parks. Ask: What are some of the rules for people who visit these areas? Answers may include not littering, not removing any natural items, staying on the path, etc.

2. Define Marine Protected Areas, or MPAs.

Explain to students that parks and their rules exist in order to preserve habitats, organisms, and resources. Tell students that the need to protect habitats, organisms, and resources is not limited to land. The ocean needs to be protected, too. Areas in the ocean are being set aside as sanctuaries for the same reasons that parks were created on land: to protect habitats, organisms, and resources. These ocean sanctuaries are often called Marine Protected Areas, or MPAs. MPAs can have different rules of use. This means that people can use them in different ways, depending on an MPA's assigned level of protection. The strictest type of MPA is called a "no-take" reserve, which means that fishing of all types is not allowed. In many ways, the rules on "no-take" reserves are very similar to the rules for terrestrial parks.

3. Students compare the percentages of protected land and ocean.

Write down the numbers for the total land area of Earth, 148,647,000 square kilometers (57,392,928 square miles), and the total ocean area of Earth, 331,441,932 square kilometers (127,970,445 square miles). Ask: Is there more land or water on Earth? Explain that the ocean covers 71 percent of Earth's surface, whereas land only covers 29 percent.

Have students estimate the percentage of each surface type that is protected and record their predictions. Ask: What percentage of Earth's land do you think is protected? What percentage of the ocean do you think is protected? Write student guesses on the board and then provide them with the actual percentages. About 13 percent of land, globally, is protected. However, less than 2 percent of the ocean is protected as a "no-take" reserve.

4. Students visualize the amount of protected area using National Geographic MapMaker.

Open and project National Geographic MapMaker 4.0 to visualize land surface as compared to ocean surface. Next, open the Pristine Seas map in MapMaker. (In bottom navigation bar, select Open Map and search for Pristine Seas.) Then select Map Layers to learn more about what you are observing. The small circles, rectangles, and other shapes in the ocean are defined Marine Protected Areas. Invite students to turn off other layers using the Toggle Visibility button to isolate the Marine Protected Areas. (To find the Toggle Visibility button, search for a graphic that looks like an eye.) Turn back on the layer called Priority for Protection to see how much of the ocean is highlighted in green as a high priority for protection that is not yet included in Marine Protected Areas. To learn why certain areas are given higher priority, click on the Description, which may be found in the “circle-i” link.

5. Discuss the importance of protecting the world's ocean.

Ask: How do our predictions about the amount of protected ocean compare to what you see? Point out that even though the ocean is larger than the land, far less of it is protected. Ask: Are you surprised by this? Why or why not? Discuss why protecting the ocean matters. Remind students of the importance of protecting organisms, habitats, and resources, as well as positive and negative impacts that humans can have on the ocean.

Extending the Learning

Have a class brainstorm session of ways that different groups might be affected by the creation of a "no-take" MPA. Record all student responses on the board. Have students consider fishermen, tourism business owners and tourists, environmental groups, community members, politicians, and organisms. Ask: Which groups would be in support of the idea? Why? Circle these stakeholders in green. Ask: Which groups would be against? Why? Circle these stakeholders in red. Some groups may be coded both red and green. Tell students that the creation of an MPA is typically a complex process because of all of these competing interests.

Connections to National Standards, Principles, and Practices

National Geography Standards

• Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to understand and communicate information
• Standard 3: How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface

Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts

• Principle 1a: The ocean is the dominant physical feature on our planet Earth—covering approximately 70% of the planet’s surface. There is one ocean with many ocean basins, such as the North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Indian and Arctic.
• Principle 1h: Although the ocean is large, it is finite and resources are limited.
• Principle 6e: Humans affect the ocean in a variety of ways. Laws, regulations and resource management affect what is taken out and put into the ocean. Human development and activity leads to pollution (such as point source, non-point source, and noise pollution) and physical modifications (such as changes to beaches, shores and rivers). In addition, humans have removed most of the large vertebrates from the ocean.
• Principle 6g: Everyone is responsible for caring for the ocean. The ocean sustains life on Earth and humans must live in ways that sustain the ocean. Individual and collective actions are needed to effectively manage ocean resources for all.