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South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (Grades 7-8)

Master Teacher

Susan Yelton

Overview

Many people think of barrier islands as being protective barriers for the main shorelines, which they are. Few people ponder the fact that barrier islands are weathered and battered by those forces they protect against, thus changing the islands for good. South Carolina has been threatened by numerous hurricanes over the last 10 years and will likely be hit by one again in the future. If we are going to help prepare South Carolinians for such an emergency, it is imperative that we understand the effects that hurricanes have on the barrier islands.

This lesson can be used as an introduction to a unit on meteorology, land management, or environmental science. Additionally, this unit can be used to integrate math, science, English, South Carolina history, and the use of technology.

SC Science/Reading/Language Arts Standards

Science Achievement Standards:

Grade 7, Life Science, Section II, A-1

Grade 8, Earth Science, Section III, 4-I and 4-J

Reading/Language Arts Achievement Standards:

Grade 8, section 4, B
Grade 8, section 4, part I

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

• identify the effects of wave erosion
• identify the effects of a hurricane on a barrier island
• evaluate current hurricane protection strategies
• identify the economical and ecological benefits of a barrier island

Materials

• chart paper
• stream table, water and sand
• SC Maps aerial photographs of North Inlet— 1983 and 1989
• computer access

For the teacher:

• computer, TV, and averkey to link them
• small fan

ITV Series

NatureScene (SC): Lesson 51, "Bulls Island"; Lesson 52, "Bulls Island After Hurricane Hugo"; and Lesson 53, "Bulls Island Revisited" (This last lesson is listed in the ITV Resources Catalog as "Bulls Island After 1995.")

Internet

NatureScene (interactive)
Click on "Lay of the Land," then "land forms." Read the page and write a paragraph explaining how barrier islands may have formed.

Previewing Activity

Divide the class into groups of four. Introduce the lesson by having each group observe and compare the aerial photographs of North Inlet in 1983 (before hurricane Hugo) and in 1989 (just after hurricane Hugo.) Students should list the differences they note on these cartographic products and explain what may have caused these changes. Lead the students into a discussion about hurricanes: what they are, when they happen, why they happen, and what damage they may cause. At this point, use the computer/TV combination to show the class the Web page for Bulls Island that defines a hurricane.

First have the students read about Hurricane Hugo; then read further and discuss as a group the impact Africa's coastal waters in determining South Carolina's severe weather.

Next, shred a piece of paper into little pieces and lay them in a neat pile on a desk. Hold

the fan towards the paper and turn it on. The paper should fly across the table.) Ask students to hypothesize ways you could have the fan on without the paper blowing away.

Lead the discussion towards the idea of a barrier to stop the airflow from reaching the paper. Try out reasonable suggestions.

Introduce the concept of a barrier island. Use the TV/computer combination to show the NatureScene Web page. Ask the students, "What is the job of a barrier island?" Discuss their answers.

Focus for Viewing

To give students a specific responsibility while viewing the video, ask them to take notes to use when their group writes their "T" chart comparing observations of Bulls Island before and after Hugo, and to use when they write their essay, "Why are South Carolina barrier islands so important?"

Viewing Activities

Part I: Barrier Islands

Start the video "Bulls Island" at the beginning, where it is focused on Rudy Mancke as he explains what a barrier island is. When the video shows the piles of sand and you hear "flexible, moving, changing; stabilized by

plants," stop the video. Fast forward to the section where Rudy Mancke is walking to the barrier beach, past the alligator and the woodstorks gliding. Pause the video and tell students to note the wave action on the beach as they view this segment.

Start the video where Rudy Mancke explains that barrier islands protect inland areas from acts of the ocean. The camera shows wave movement and how the forest is "sculpted by the wind." After the video shows the "evidence of the early seashore," pause the video.

Assign each group of four students to make a list of the reasons barrier islands are important, especially to South Carolina. Then lead a class discussion on the importance of barrier islands, making sure each group has a chance to be heard.

Part II: Bulls Island After Hugo

Begin the video "Bulls Island Revisited" and show the very beginning, which contains information about Hurricane Hugo hitting the island. Stop the video when Rudy Mancke describes, "how nature rebounds." At this point, lead the students in a discussion of hurricanes and damage that they can cause.

Explain to the students that they will be focusing on the changes that Bulls Island has gone through since the earlier video was made. Start the video just after the blue flower and the phrase "to see that renewal." The video at this point shows the changes on the land from 1989 to 1990. After the film presents the changes that have taken place, stop the video.

Assign each group of students to make a "T-chart" comparing the pre- and post-Hugo observations of Bulls Island. (How is it different? How is it the same?) Then, using their chart, have each group draw a before and after picture of the island.

Post-Viewing Activities

1. Instruct the students to work in pairs at the computers, viewing the Bulls Island - NatureScene Web site. They will hear ocean waves and read an introduction about Bulls Island and its importance as a productive environment. Using their original lists about the importance of barrier islands, they are to add to this list the benefits of the barrier island's wetlands and coast as a productive habitat for plants and animals.

2. Next, students are to click on the "Lay of the Land," then "Land forms" Website. This site will explain how barrier islands form, as sand is moved from place to place. Ask students to write an essay explaining the formation of a barrier island.

3. Now, have the students click onto the "climate" site. Tell them to read about the effects of storm surges and hurricanes on barrier islands.

4. Hands-on Activity: Assign student groups to make a clay model of the side view of Bulls Island. The model should include the tidal creek, low and high marsh, border, transition community, and maritime forest. (Students should note how each part of the barrier island is interdependent on the other sections.)

Next, set up the stream tables and have each student group place sand in the stream table to demonstrate a beach coast and a barrier island just beyond it. Students should slowly add water so as not to disturb the coast and island. Now, using a ruler to make waves, students should experiment with different velocities of waves and note the effects they have on the "coast" and the "barrier island."

Students are to make a "cause and effect" chart showing the effect of wave action onthe "island" and the "coast."
As a teacher demonstration, set up a large stream table to show a "coast" and a "barrier island." Using a fan, aim the
wind direction at the barrier island and simulate wind action on water. Students should make verbal observations about the effects of wind on barrier islands.

Finally, assign students to "Take the Tour" of Bulls Island at the Web site. As they
tour the island, they are to keep a journal of their observations and inferences.

Action Plan

1 . Students will visit Bulls Island to see the changes between 1990 and today. They will record the changes on a chart and create a "before and after" diorama.

2. Students will write a plan for hurricane safety on a barrier island and comparethis to the plans used by persons living on South Carolina's barrier islands. If the students find they have suggestions that would be helpful for the barrier islands in South Carolina, they should contact the city councils for these areas and share their suggestions.

3. The class will go online and locate other barrier island sites. They will keep ajournal of the different sites and evaluate them as to their usefulness in learning about barrier island habitats.

4. Have a specialist from the Department of Natural Resources visit the class to talk about the importance of barrier islands to the economy and ecology of South Carolina.

5. Read the students a story about "Drunken Jack Island," which was a barrier island off the coast of South Carolina that disappeared during a storm in the 1800s. The families living on the island also perished in the storm. The class can visit Huntington Beach and locate the sandbar that is left from Drunken Jack Island. Following this activity, have students make up short stories or "por quoi" tales about the changes that can happen to a barrier island. Keep these in a class anthology book.

Extensions

Social Studies: Students can research the historical influence that barrier islands have had on South Carolina's history and economy.

Study the effects of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) on South Carolina (i.e., building roads, impoundments, dikes, parks, etc.)

Life Science: Make a chart comparing the salt water and fresh water marsh environments.

Describe the forest canopy before and after Hurricane Hugo.

Literature: Read stories about South Carolina's coastal regions that have "local flavor" or have a storyteller come visit the class.

Music: Check out the compact disc "Been in the Storm So Long" from the public library. This recording has music, stories, and interviews by the people from John's Island near Charleston, South Carolina.