Handouts are at the end of this post under the resources section.

Video Transcript

Hello everyone, welcome to REAL Science Challenge, I’m Kent Lui, REAL Science teacher.

Today, we’re talking about manatees, and we breakdown

• One way manatees are adapting to humans and the science we can put into action, and what we can do to make our world a better place.

Download our free worksheet for this episode from realsciencechallenge.com to help you follow along.

Let’s get going, this is REAL Science Challenge.

Intro

The manatee is a large, plant eating, aquatic mammal. These animals can be found in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Amazon rainforest, and in Africa. Consider some of the largest colonies of manatees living off the coast of Florida in the following locations. What all these colonies have in common is that they’re close to thermoelectric power plants.

The thing that makes me go hmmm is why manatees live around power plants in Florida?

Illustrate your science

I want you to take a couple of minutes and come up with 2 explanations for this phenomenon:…. Link your explanations to some of the science you already know or discuss with a partner. But don’t do an internet search. Tell me what you’re thinking, not what Google is thinking.You can draw out and label your ideas under the Illustrate Your Science Section of our worksheet. Set your timers for 2 minutes. Pause the video. Then come back afterwards when time is up. Ready? Begin.

Welcome back! Now, the big reveal: …?

Answer

It comes down to warm water. Manatees don’t survive well below water temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius. This is a big problem especially in the winter months. However, thermoelectric power plants take in water to cool their machinery and then release the water back into the oceans. This flow of warm water creates a perfect spa for manatees to live. This is also a great example of how human development has disrupted animal behaviour and caused animals to adapt to humans. Without these power plants, manatees would traditionally migrate further south in the winter for warmer waters. Instead, these manatees have become dependent on these power plants, bringing them closer to humans where they could be harmed by boats or other man-made developments.

So, the next time you turn on the heater instead of just putting on an extra sweater to keep yourself warm, you are continuing to have manatees live this way by having the power plants produce more electricity, resulting in more warm waters being sent out into oceans which will continue to attract manatees to the plants.

I want you to make connections between what you just heard and your prior experiences. Consider…. Consider the following: what does it remind you of? What does it make you think about? Write out your ideas under “Connection Corner” of our worksheet and follow the prompts to get you started.

Science in Action

Here’s some science you can put into action to make you a better scientist and to help make your world a better place.

First, this episode is a good example of how we can practice creating CER – that is, claim evidence reasoning – statements in science. Our claim is that manatees have adapted to live close to power plants. Our evidence is a map showing the locations of some of the largest manatee colonies corresponding to power plant locations. And, our reasoning is that the warm waters flowing our of power plants create the ideal habitat temperatures for manatees to live. Check out our handouts at realsciencechallenge.com to get practice writing CER statements yourself.

Second, get involved and help the manatee. The organization savethemanatee.org has posted a number of current issues that are affecting Florida manatees from ocean plastics to algal blooms. Check it out, and help protect an animal that continues to be affected by human behaviour.

Thanks for watching REAL Science Challenge. We have more resources for the science classroom on our website. Also, please subscribe to our channel by clicking the red button below.

Until next time, stay safe and make science REAL.

Resources

Handout(s): Ep6 – Oh the Huge Manatee, REAL SC – CER Skill Builder

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