Youth For Arctic Nature
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    • Shore ecosystem walk
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Shore ecosystem walk

This protocol was created in collaboration with the Natural History Institute of Iceland

How long does it take?
About 90 minutes

Who is it for?
  • Youth groups and school groups
  • Up to 25 students
  • 12-14 years old

Materials:
  • Laminated sheet showing shore zonation
  • Measuring tape

Where and when?
  • Rocky Icelandic beach
  • Spring to early autumn
  • Low tide
Download the activity here (in english)                                   ->
seaweed_activity-12-14.pdf
File Size: 2020 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Sæktu virkina hér (á íslensku)                                  ->
seaweed_activity-12-14-is.pdf
File Size: 2030 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Protocol (with approximate times):
    1. Walking to the beach
    2. What are we doing today? Why? (10 minutes)
  • Explain that we are looking at different things, animals, and seaweed around the coast
  • Learning about the importance of large brown algae and kelp in littoral zones
  • Equivalent of Arctic and temperate forests: more than 50% of oxygen on Earth produced in littoral zones
  • Forming nurseries, habitats, and zones of reproduction for fish and other marine life
    3. Discovering layers of habitat (1 hour)
  • Splash zone: looking at tide pools and finding snails and barnacles
  • High and mid-tide: Looking at seaweed bladders, trying to find red, brown, and green algae
  • Low-tide zone: Measuring kelp
Shore zonation sheets
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Photo credits
"Seaweed" by nothing is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Splash zone

1. "Chanelled Wrack (Pelvetia canaliculata)" by swan-scot is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
2. "Hydropunctaria maura" by thomasschreiter is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
3. "Acorn Barnacles (Semibalanus balanoides)" by swan-scot is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
4. "Rough Periwinkles (Littorina saxatilis)" by S. Rae is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

High-tide and mid-tide zones
1. "Nucella lapillus" by BrentMWilson is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
2. "Fucus spiralis" by Hans Hillewaert is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
3. "File:Bladder Wrack (Fucus vesiculosus) - geograph.org.uk - 224125.jpg" by Anne Burgess is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
4. "Littorina obtusata" by Sergey Yeliseev is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 
5. "Ascophyllum nodosum" by bstarzomski is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
6. "Palmaria palmata" by jaro is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
7. "Chondrus crispus Helgoland" by Gabriele Kothe-Heinrich is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
8. "Fucus serratus. Breaksea Point, October 1982" by Mary Gillham Archive Project is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Low-tide and sub-tidal zones
1. "Oursin melon (Echinus esculentus)" by cquintin is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
2. "Laminaria digitata" by mainebirder is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
3. "Cancer irroratus" by BrentMWilson is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
4. "Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis" by lauracgoetz is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
5. "Saccharina latissima" by eagleloft is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
6. "Caranguejo-verde (Carcinus maenas)" by Emerging Birder is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
    "Lithodes maja" by viktorvg is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
7. "Hyas coarctatus Leach, 1815" by IMARES is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
    "Hyas araneus" by msciamanda is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
8. "Fal and Helford Maerl Beds" by naturalengland is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
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              The Icelandic Climate Fund (2020-2021)

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The Nordic Cooperation (2021-2023)           

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  • Home
  • Local Nature
    • Flora and Funga >
      • Flowering plants >
        • Arctic poppy
        • Cow parsley
        • Mountain avens
        • Nootka lupin
        • Purple saxifrage
      • Non-flowering vascular plants
      • Non-vascular plants
      • Algae
      • Fungi >
        • Reindeer lichen
    • Land mammals >
      • Carnivores >
        • American mink
        • Arctic fox
        • Red fox
      • Herbivores >
        • Reindeer
        • Muskox
      • Insectivores
    • Marine mammals >
      • Seals and Bears >
        • Harbor seal
        • Polar bear
        • Ringed seal
      • Whales and Dolphins >
        • Humpback whale
        • Minke whale
        • Orca
    • Birds >
      • Birds of prey >
        • Gyrfalcon
        • Snowy owl
        • White-tailed eagle
      • Land birds >
        • Rock ptarmigan
        • Rock pigeon
        • Eurasian three-toed woodpecker
      • Passerines >
        • Common raven
        • European starling
        • Snow bunting
      • Sea birds >
        • Atlantic puffin
        • Great cormorant
        • Northern fulmar
      • Seagulls >
        • Black-legged kittiwake
        • Arctic tern
        • Arctic skua
      • Waders >
        • Eurasian oystercatcher
        • Common ringed plover
        • Purple sandpiper
      • Water birds >
        • Red-throated diver
        • Barnacle goose
        • Common eider
  • Activities
    • Beach treasure hunts
    • Ice fishing
    • Crab traps
    • Seal monitoring
    • Shore ecosystem walk
  • App
  • News
  • Publications
  • Contact us