The Santa Monica Bay Game Santa Monica Bay watershed map used with permission from Heal the BayThe Santa Monica Bay Game Presented by COSEE-West a Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence Supported by National Science Foundation awards OCE-0215497 (USC) and OCE-0215506 (UCLA) Based on an adaptation by Scott Sperber, Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies, of the “Boundary Bay”/”Bountiful Bay” game, FOR SEA Institute of Marine Science, Indianola, WA. (www.forsea.org/) Santa Monica Bay Watershed map, courtesy of “Heal the Bay” (www.healthebay.org/) 4-6 player version developed by John Adams Middle School 2005-2006 QuikSCience Challenge Team Revised by Brigitte Steinmetz (John Adams Middle School, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District) and Peggy Hamner (COSEE-West, UCLA)SANTA MONICA BAY GAME TABLE OF CONTENTS (Each section in table of contents is linked to its page) INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................................1 KEY CONCEPTS........................................................................................................................................................1 CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CONTENT STANDARDS MET...................................................................................1 OCEAN LITERACY PRINCIPLES MET................................................................................................................1 PLAYING THE GAME..............................................................................................................................................2 MATERIALS...............................................................................................................................................................3 SETUP..........................................................................................................................................................................4 LESSON PROCEDURE.............................................................................................................................................6 SANTA MONICA BAY GAME: MATERIALS / PLAYING RULES...................................................................8 THE SANTA MONICA BAY GAME STUDENT HANDOUT ..............................................................................9 ROLE PLAYING CARDS........................................................................................................................................11 SECCHI DISK TEMPLATE....................................................................................................................................22 SANTA MONICA BAY GAME VOCABULARY BANK.....................................................................................23 ENLARGED SANTA MONICA BAY MAP...........................................................................................................241 INTRODUCTION The Santa Monica Bay Game employs an interactive format that has been used successfully to call attention to water quality issues of watersheds around Santa Monica Bay. Although Santa Monica Bay is saltwater, the problems experienced in freshwater drainages in this game demonstrate the connection between land and sea and freshwater bodies and saltwater bodies and put watershed issues into a larger perspective. People’s actions often affect more than their local neighborhood. Impacts flow downstream and accumulate, ultimately reaching the bays and coastal marine habitats. In the Santa Monica Bay Game, students participate in a simulation in which they assume roles of individuals who, like us all, use and have an impact on our watershed. The students take actions appropriate to their roles, which alter the water quality in various local waterbodies, such as creeks and rivers or the bay itself. The smaller waterbodies are represented by water-filled cups placed in the appropriate locations on a large map of southern California and a 10-gallon aquarium filled with water represents Santa Monica Bay. Over the course of the game, the water quality will inevitably change, clearly illustrating the impact each of us has on our water resources. KEY CONCEPTS 1. Each person constantly makes decisions that affect the condition of our watershed. 2. Sometimes our decisions have consequences that we can’t foresee when we make them. Often an innocent person and the environment suffers the consequences. 3. Our economy frequently rewards actions that bring short-term gain instead of rewarding behaviors that are in everyone’s best interest over the long-term. CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CONTENT STANDARDS MET Grade 3:, 1 a,b; 3a,b,c,d; I&E 5a,d,e Grade 4: 2a,b,c; 3a,b; 5a,c; I&E 6 a,c,f Grade 5: 3a,d,e; I& E 6 b,c,d Grade 6: 6a,b; 7a,d,e,g,h; 5a,b,c; 2d, 2a,b; I&E 7a,d,e,h High School Biological Sciences: 6a,b,c,d,e,g; 7a,b,c,d; 8a,b,e; I&E 1 c,d,f,g OCEAN LITERACY PRINCIPLES MET 4. The ocean makes Earth habitable. 5. The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems. 6. The ocean and humans are inextricably linked.2 PLAYING THE GAME During the course of the game, “contaminants” will be introduced into “Santa Monica Bay” and its tributaries. Contaminants will include food coloring, dirt (siltation), confetti (trash), a solution of ammonia and water (an invisible contaminant that changes the water’s pH), and Tootsie Rolls (fecal waste). At several points in the game students must test the water quality in Santa Monica Bay. Three different water quality tests will be used in the game: • Compare a water sample to a pre-mixed color standard. When the water sample is darker than the standard, the sample is considered to be contaminated. • Lower a Secchi disk from the surface and record the depth at which it is no longer visible. (A Secchi disk is a standard piece of water quality equipment used for measuring the turbidity or cloudiness of the water. Directions on how to make a Secchi disk will be given later.) • Test the pH of the water with litmus paper. As the ammonia solution is added, the pH will rise in Santa Monica Bay. For the purposes of the game it is not necessary that students understand the meaning of pH. This test is used strictly as a convenient way to sample an invisible contaminant. Some students will have the opportunity to try catching fish. They will find that, as Santa