Submission deadline: 27 March 2025

(1) Write down your class and name in a new box.

(2) Upload ONE photo that you find most insightful or meaningful from the biology field trip.

(3) Choose ONE of the following thinking routines to share your thoughts about the field trip to Sandy Shore.

[See, Think, Wonder] OR

[Connect, Extend, Challenge] OR

[I Used to Think... Now I Think...]

Think: Based on your lab work and field observations, what do you think is happening in the ecosystem shown in the photo?

Wonder: What questions do you have about the organisms or processes shown in the photo that you would like to explore further?

How does what you see in the photo connect to something you learned during the field trip or lab work?

Extend:

What new idea or insight does the photo give you about the sandy shore ecosystem that you didn’t realize before?

Challenge:

What is still puzzling or challenging for you to understand about the sandy shore ecosystem based on the photo and your experience?

Looking at the photo, what did you used to think about sandy shore ecosystems before the field trip and lab work?

Now I Think...

How has your understanding of sandy shore ecosystems changed after the field trip and lab work, based on what you see in the photo?

Think: The snails on the left only feed on algae while the snails on the right feed on oysters. The snail on the right is also called an oyster drill. They attach onto oysters and secrete some acid to drill a hole into the oyster. The snails on the left are escaping from the snails on the right as it is afraid it would feed on it.

Wonder: Would the oyster drills really feed on the snails that feed on algae?

How are the oysters able to detect the other oysters?

How does an oyster move? 

Think: The corals compete with each other through intraspecific competition for space and resources like light and nutrients, using sweeper tentacles to fend off neighbouring corals and fight for a more beneficial and better area to grow in.

Wonder: How do different factors, such as temperature, pollution or ocean acidification influence intraspecific competition among corals?

How do different species of corals adapt their growth forms to compete for limited space?

Extend: Seeing white corals reminded me the guide’s explanation of coral bleaching, which is caused by acidification and the increase in temperature of seawater. This made me realize the importance of reducing marine pollution and limiting climate change in order to save corals.

Challenge: How do corals survive human threats? Is it possible for corals to recover from bleaching?

Now I think that sandy shores contain various kinds of living things like corals, clams and fish, also showing the food chain of the ecosystem- like how clams and snails feed on algae, and birds feed on them. I also found out that corals could undergo sexual and asexual reproduction, which may take from months to years. What’s more is that I witnessed how corals and algae share a mutualistic relationship where they provide food and home to each other.

Think: Those corals are the healthy ones. This reminds me of other corals the guide told us previously that some corals are not as fortunate as the ones in Hoi Ha Wan. Some corals that are in other places may become white and eventually dead due to global warming. The increased temperature in seawater made the microorganisms to leave the corals causing whitening of corals.

Wonder: Is the whitening of corals reversible with the help of advanced technology nowadays?

Think : The sea corals in Hoi Ha Wan are mostly healthy and the coral community is building up. Although not shown in the picture, there are a few corals with quadrats surrounding it, after asking the guide, they told us that they grow corals in universities and transfer it to Hoi Ha Wan. Also, after seeking help from teachers and the guide, I learned that corals can reproduce asexually and sexually by external fertilization

Wonder : I wonder how can we speed up the development of corals in Hong Kong so that the ecosystem can be well preserved

Think: Observing the different corals in the same area made me think about how they compete with one another for space and resources to grow. It also reminded me of the challenges they face due to pollution and climate change.

Wonder: This made me wonder how and in what ways pollution and climate change may affect competition among coral species and what specific actions we can take to protect the coral communities more effectively.

See:

In the photo, the fish seems to be dead, with visible signs of decay or damage, such as discolored scales and a hollow eye. The fish also smells bad. The sandy shore and shallow water in the background resemble the organisms observed during the field trip.

Think:

The fish might indicate external harm caused in the ecosystem, such as water pollution. It could also hint at natural occurrences like predation or disease affecting marine organisms.

Wonder:

What caused the fish's death, was it due to natural factors, pollution, or human activity?

How can the health of the sandy shore ecosystem be monitored to prevent further impacts on marine life?

The above is a dead body of a fish, it is taken near the costal area (beach) when we are investigating the living organisms. It connected to the decomposition process, which is a process of “recycling” the energy back to the nature. The fish will be completely decomposed by decomposers (bacteria), they will break down the organic matter (fish body, meat) to inorganic nutrients.

Extend:

The fish’s head is gone, there are also visible wound on its body. It might be eaten by other predators, other than simply decomposition. I realised that the same organism might acts more than one role in the ecosystem at the same time.

Challenge:

Will the decomposition process cause any environmental impact to the sandy shore ecosystem? How did the fish got “moved” to that near the costal area?