According to legend, Spanish explorers believed that a fountain of eternal youth existed somewhere in the place we know today as Florida. In a poetic way, they were right. Beneath Florida lies the world’s largest known system of springs. These springs shelter strange life forms and dot the land above it with outlets of water that once was as pure as any found on this planet. This film premiered May 13, 2000.

LESSON TITLE: Springs of Life

GRADE LEVEL: 5-8

TOPIC/SUBJECT MATTER: Life Science

TIME ALLOTMENT: Three to four 45-minute class periods

OVERVIEW:

In this video-enhanced lesson, students will explore Florida’s springs using video segments from the NATURE film “Springs Eternal: Florida’s Fountain of Youth” and related activities and discussions. Students will learn about how the springs are formed and will explore the Florida springs ecosystem, with particular focus on the manatees, fish, birds and alligators that live there. Students will also learn about red tide and its threat to the life in the springs. At the end of the lesson, students will conduct research and give a presentation about one species that lives in and/or around the springs.

MEDIA RESOURCES:

Video Clips

NATURE: “Springs Eternal: Florida’s Fountain of Youth

1. “Florida’s Springs”

2. “Life in Florida’s Springs”

3. “Red Tide”

4. “Life in the water supply”

Access the streaming and downloadable video segments for this lesson at the Video Segments Page.

Websites

Resources about Florida’s springs and the species living in and around them:

• Florida’s Springs: Protecting Nature’s Gems

This Web site contains information, photographs and educational resources about Florida’s springs. The following section is used in this lesson:

• Life in a Spring

This section includes information and photographs about the different plants and animals living in and around Florida’s springs.

• Web World Wonders/ Ecosystems: List of Organisms in the River and Springs Ecosystem

This site provides detailed information and photographs of species living in and around Florida’s rivers and springs.

• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Species

This site contains “Wildlife Fact Sheets,” which include information about a variety of species, including the American Alligator and the West Indian Manatee who live in the springs.

• University of Delaware College of Marine and Earth Studies

This site contains information about eelgrass, as well as information and bird sounds of species including the Great Blue Heron and Osprey, which could be helpful for student research during this lesson.

Standards:

National Science Education Standards, Grades 5-8

LIFE SCIENCE: Content Standard C

As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of

• Populations and Ecosystems

• A population consists of all individuals of a species that occur together at a given place and time. All populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact compose an ecosystem.
• Populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem. Plants and some microorganisms are producers-they make their own food. All animals, including humans, are consumers, which obtain food by eating other organisms. Decomposers, primarily bacteria and fungi, are consumers that use waste materials and dead organisms for food. Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem.
• For ecosystems, the major source of energy is sunlight. Energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis. That energy then passes from organism to organism in food webs.

SCIENCE IN PERSONAL AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES: Content Standard F

As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of

· Natural Hazards

o       Human activities also can induce hazards through resource acquisition, urban growth, land-use decisions, and waste disposal. Such activities can accelerate many natural changes.

· Risks and Benefits

o       Students should understand the risks associated with natural hazards (fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions), with chemical hazards (pollutants in air, water, soil, and food), with biological hazards (pollen, viruses, bacterial, and parasites), social hazards (occupational safety and transportation), and with personal hazards (smoking, dieting, and drinking).

MATERIALS:

For each student:

• “Life in Florida’s Springs Fact Sheet” (RTF) (PDF)

For each group of 3-5 students:

• 1 copy of the “Life in Florida’s Springs: Producer/Consumer Game.”(RTF) (PDF)
  (See the “Prep for Teachers” section for details.)

For the class:

• Producer/Consumer Pyramid (PDF)

• Books, reference materials and/or Internet access to conduct research about life in Florida’s springs.
• A large sheet of paper or board and something with which to write.
• One computer for the teacher with a digital projection system (to play video clips either downloaded or streaming from the Web).

OBJECTIVES:

Students will be able to:

• Explain what springs are and how they are formed;
• Describe at least 3 different species living in the Florida springs ecosystem, naming why they live in the springs, what they eat and how they get their food;
• Explain why the Florida springs ecosystem is an inverted food pyramid;
• Define “producer” and “consumer”;
• Accurately sort organisms into producers and primary, secondary and tertiary consumers;
• Name types of organisms that function as decomposers and explain the role that decomposers play in the ecosystem;
• Describe how organisms can survive in watery, underground caves without sunlight;
• Define “red tide,” how it is caused, and what danger it poses to manatees;
• Describe one species from the Florida springs ecosystem in detail, including what it eats, factors that pose a danger to its survival, and where it lives during different times of the year.

PREP FOR TEACHERS:

Prior to teaching this lesson, you will need to:

Preview all of the video segments and Web sites used in the lesson.

Download the video clips used in the lesson to your classroom computer, or prepare to watch them using your classroom’s Internet connection.

Bookmark the Web sites used in the lesson on each computer in your classroom. Using a social bookmarking tool such as del.icio.us or diigo (or an online bookmarking utility such as portaportal) will allow you to organize all the links in a central location.

Make one copy of the “Life in Florida’s Springs Fact Sheet” for each student.

Make 1 copy of the “Life in Florida’s Springs: Producer/ Consumer Game” for each group of 3-5 students, including the cards and the chart. Cut up the cards for each group, making sure that each group gets a complete set of 15 Cards. (Each card should feature the name of one species.) Each group should also have one Producer/ Consumer Game Chart (not cut up).

Load the “Producer/Consumer Pyramid” onto a screen that can be seen by the class, or recreate it on a classroom board.

Proceed to Lesson Activities.

These brief video segments can be used alone or in combination, to introduce a topic or to spark discussion among your students. The video segments can be adapted for any grade level. Stream the video segments from the playlist below, or scroll to the bottom of the page to find downloadable QuickTime versions of the videos. These videos are also used in the lesson plan Springs of Life (grades 5-8).

Excerpts from the NATURE episode, “Springs Eternal: Florida’s Fountain of Youth”

Downloadable QuickTime versions of the video segments:
(Note: To download a video, right click on the video title and click “Save Link As…’ or “Save Target As…”. On a Mac, press the CTRL key and simultaneously click the mouse, then save the link.)

Video Clips

1. Florida’s Springs:

An introduction to Florida’s springs and how they are formed.

2. Life in Florida’s Springs:

A close up look at life in the warm Florida springs and the various predators supported by the abundant life.

3. Red Tide:

An introduction to red tide and the danger it poses.

4. Life in the Water Supply:

A close look at life in a town’s water supply and it’s energy source.

Early explorers hacking their way across Florida’s bushy landscape sometimes returned with amazing stories of mermaids basking in sparkling waters — or hideous monsters patrolling the seas. As NATURE’s Springs Eternal reveals, however, these tall tales were inspired by one of the most remarkable inhabitants of Florida’s springs: the manatee, or sea cow.

Manatees are marine mammals, like dolphins and whales. But they don’t share a dolphin’s sleek shape. Instead, they are slow, bloated animals that look like a pig or hippopotamus set to sea. And like livestock, they graze on vegetation, such as sea grasses.

Around the world, there are four kinds of manatees, which are also known as dugongs or sirenians (after the “sirens,” or mermaids, of ancient lore). A fifth species, the Stellar’s sea cow, used to live off the coast of Alaska, but hunters drove it to extinction in 1768, less than 20 years after it was first described by shipwrecked Russian explorers.

The Stellar’s sea cow was easy to kill because it lived in shallow waters, and was slow and fearless — just like its modern-day Florida cousin. Indeed, people can often paddle right up to a manatee, especially when the creatures gather by the hundreds each winter in a few Florida springs, such as the Crystal River, featured on Springs Eternal. The manatees are drawn in from their ocean territories by the springs’ warm waters and bountiful crops of vegetation.

Unfortunately, the manatees, which like to swim just below the water’s surface, are vulnerable to fast-moving boaters, who often run over the animals without realizing what has happened. And the gentle creatures are also threatened by water pollution, which is causing Florida’s once transparent spring waters to become increasingly cloudy. Much of the pollution is in the form of excess nutrients, such as nitrogen fertilizer from lawns and farms, which can trigger unwanted blooms of algae and tiny toxic organisms. These blooms sometimes form a deadly event known as a “red tide.” In the winter of 1995, for instance, nearly 400 Florida manatees (about 20 percent of the population) died from exposure to red tide.

Luckily, people are taking steps to protect manatees. Florida is attempting to educate boaters to slow down in areas inhabited by manatees. And the federal government has established several manatee refuges, where the animals can winter without worry of disturbance. The refuges have also proved a boon to researchers. They have learned, for instance, that though manatees may look ungainly, they can sprint short distances at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour, though they usually paddle along at about 4 miles per hour. Scientists have also shown that manatees have well-developed eyes: in clear water, they can detect objects more than 50 feet away. And they have been able to collect data that suggests that manatees can live 60 or more years.

It’s too early to know if such information will help prevent the Florida manatee from following its Alaskan cousin into oblivion. For the moment, however, visitors to Florida’s remarkable springs can still see the gentle animals that gave rise to myths of monsters and mermaids.