Kelp Forest Lab — Complete Student Walkthrough Michael · synthetic narration · edited live lab recordings 00:00:00.000 Get ready What if the otters disappeared? In this lab, you will change one part of a kelp forest and follow its effects. You need the lab website, your own composition journal, and a pencil. Keep this video and the lab in separate tabs. Work at your own pace. Pause whenever I ask you to write or investigate, and return when you finish. The video and your work together fit a suggested forty-five-minute lesson. All written work goes in your journal. You do not need a second online copy. If you share a device, take turns, but complete your own report. 00:00:41.925 Explore before explanations Begin with a fresh journal page. Write Kelp Forest Lab, today's date, and your class period. Click each organism's label to open a real photograph. Look closely, then choose Close to return. You are observing first, not explaining yet. Record three things you notice, two things you find interesting, and one question. Leave six blank lines for your reflection, purpose, and prediction. Pause here and do your own exploration. When your three, two, one is finished, use the green button to continue. PAUSE: Inspect all 3 organisms. Write your own 3–2–1. 00:01:24.075 Use visible evidence An observation is something you can point to. An explanation tells why you think it happens. In section one, add a sentence using: I noticed blank; I can point to blank in the image. Describe a visible detail, not an untested explanation. Keep your opening question. You will return to it at the end. Pause to write your evidence reflection, then continue. PAUSE: Write one evidence-based observation in Section 1. 00:01:55.850 Fab 5: ecosystem and producer Section two is vocabulary. Read all five cards using Next word. Write a short meaning for each term in your own words. An ecosystem includes living things and their physical surroundings interacting. Here, organisms interact with water, sunlight, and rocks. A producer makes its own food. Kelp is large algae, not a land plant. It uses sunlight to make food. 00:02:25.750 Fab 5: consumer, predator, prey A consumer gets energy by eating organisms. A predator hunts and eats animals. Prey is the animal being eaten. In this simplified food chain, sea urchins eat kelp, and sea otters eat sea urchins. Both animals are consumers. Pause now. Finish all five meanings, then write one original sentence connecting two vocabulary words. Use an organism from this lab in your sentence. PAUSE: Finish 5 meanings and 1 original connecting sentence. 00:03:00.650 Purpose and prediction Return to the space in section one. Your purpose is to investigate how removing otters may affect sea urchins and kelp. Choose a prediction on the website, then write: If otters disappear, I predict blank, because blank. A prediction is an idea to test. You do not need to be right. Keep your original prediction so you can check it later. Pause, write your purpose and prediction, then continue. PAUSE: Write the purpose and your prediction with a reason. 00:03:35.000 Set up your observation record Section three is procedure and observations. Make three rows: Otters removed; Time passes; and Otters return. Beside each row, leave space for two things: what I did, and what I observed. Short, complete statements are enough. This website is a model, not a live ocean. Its pictures show possible trends, not measured population counts or an exact amount of time. Pause to set up the three rows. Practice opening and closing an organism card. You are ready to investigate. PAUSE: Set up all 3 observation rows before changing the forest. 00:04:17.300 Change one thing Choose Remove the otters. Watch the otter leave the scene. You changed whether otters are present. Immediately afterward, the kelp and urchins have not changed. In your first row, record the action and what stayed the same. Now choose Let time pass in your own lab. Pause before continuing this video. Look for changes on the seafloor and answer the website's observation question. PAUSE: Record Row 1. Let time pass and inspect the seafloor. 00:04:51.075 Follow the changes Check what you saw. The model shows more urchins after the otters are gone. Without those predators eating them, more urchins can survive. After answering, choose Watch what happens to kelp. The kelp becomes thinner as more urchins graze on it. Graze means eat parts of it. In row two, describe both changes using visible evidence. Say more or less; do not turn the drawings into real population measurements. If you choose an incorrect response, read the hint, look again, and try another answer. Pause and complete your observations before moving on. PAUSE: Complete Row 2 with both changes and visible evidence. 00:05:37.550 Return the otters Choose Bring the otters back. They return, but the forest does not recover instantly. Choose Let time pass. In this model, fewer grazing urchins allow more kelp to grow. Otters help kelp indirectly by eating an animal that eats kelp. Complete row three with what you changed, what happened immediately, and what happened later. Use may or could when describing recovery. Real forests do not always recover like this. Pause to finish row three and the website's explanation question. PAUSE: Complete Row 3: immediately versus later. 00:06:19.050 Draw two forests For section four, divide your journal space into two boxes. Title them With otters and Without otters. Use the matching buttons below the scene to switch views. Draw what you observe in each forest. Simple recognizable outlines are enough; this is evidence, not an art contest. Label kelp, sea urchins, and sea otters. In the second box, label otters absent. Show the differences in urchins and kelp. Add each role beside its label: kelp makes food; urchins eat kelp; otters eat urchins. Pause and finish both labeled drawings. PAUSE: Draw and label both forests, including each organism's role. 00:07:04.825 Show where food energy goes Below your drawings, add the food-energy chain: kelp, arrow, sea urchin, arrow, sea otter. Each arrow points from the food to the organism that eats it. It shows energy transfer, not which animal is chasing another. Pause and check both arrows. Keep the chain with your labeled drawings. PAUSE: Add kelp → sea urchin → sea otter. Check arrow direction. 00:07:30.900 Analyze with evidence Section five contains three analysis answers. Write in your journal before clicking Check my reasoning. Question one asks why removing otters can reduce kelp even though otters do not eat kelp. Write two or three sentences connecting all three organisms. Use two changes you actually observed as evidence, and use because to connect the ideas. Pause, write your own answer, then open the website's self-check and revise if needed. PAUSE: Answer Question 1 first. Then use Check my reasoning. 00:08:08.500 Separate cause from outcomes Question two asks what one factor you changed first, and what two outcomes you observed later. Your action and its effects are not the same thing. Name the factor you controlled in one sentence. Name the two later outcomes in another. Pause and write your answer from section three. Use the self-check afterward, not as something to copy. PAUSE: Answer Question 2, then check your reasoning. 00:08:38.425 Know what the model cannot prove Question three asks whether every real forest must recover exactly like the model when otters return. A model leaves out parts of reality. This one does not test warming water, disease, or every other connection in a food web. For example, water conditions can become unsuitable for kelp even when otters are present. One simulated outcome is not a guarantee. Pause. Write one or two sentences answering the question. Name one missing factor and explain how it makes the result uncertain. Then use the self-check. PAUSE: Answer Question 3 with one model limitation and a reason. 00:09:23.275 Write your conclusion In section six, write a three- or four-sentence conclusion in your own words. Explain the feeding connections and the changes you observed. Say whether your evidence supported your original prediction. Return to the question you asked during exploration. Answer it with evidence if you can. If not, explain what you would still need to find out. Pause and finish your conclusion. Then check all six journal sections on the website, checking a box only when that work is actually complete. PAUSE: Write 3–4 sentences. Check all 6 completed journal sections. 00:10:04.150 What finished work looks like Your finished report has six sections: exploration and prediction; vocabulary; procedure and observations; labeled drawings; analysis; and conclusion. The completion screen is a self-check, not an automatic submission or grade. Keep your journal ready for your teacher to review, and follow any collection directions your school provides. If you are stuck, reread the current step, use Go back, or replay the matching part of this video. Do not use Start over unless you intend to clear this lab's progress. If the website will not load, tell the adult supervising the class. Never invent observations. You are finished when your own journal report is complete. Sources https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life/aquatic-food-webs https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/nature/kelp-forest.htm https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/SEA%20OTTER%20REINTRO%20REPORT%202022%20508%20compliant%20-%20FINAL%2007082022%20with%20cover.pdf https://huggingface.co/hexgrad/Kokoro-82M Images: AiM original AI-created model illustrations; NPS close-up photos; sea otter photo NPS/Jim Pfeiffenberger. Voice: Kokoro-82M am_michael, Apache 2.0.