Draft #2= Me-oh-my-oh Manatee. What ever will we do with thee?

Miami has 100s of acres of beautiful Natural Areas which lend themselves to research projects! (Quicktime movie~4 mb). On the same walk, I spotted my first garter snake of the spring! In another 1 mb quicktime movie, a pair of mallard ducks lands in Harkers Run in Bachelor Woods

This discussion topic submitted by Nikki Nagel ( nikkinagel@hotmail.com) at 7:25 PM on 4/21/02. Additions were last made on Thursday, January 2, 2003.

The topic of the Manatee is one that most people are familiar with and being from the Mid-West don't know very much about. I picked this topic because I had some interest in the mammal, and the other topics I wanted to write on had already been taken. When I started doing research I found that there is much more to the problem with the manatee then I ever expected. I plan to introduce you to the manatee and tell you a little about what is currently going on with the fight to save these endangered animals. There is a twist, as you will see, and it is that angle that I plan to use with my students. As the old saying goes, "There are two sides to every coin." I will use the manatee as a vessel to touch on ethics and the conservation of our natural resources (ecological systems, and what happens when this is not done.

I. Introduction and background
A. What is a manatee?
B. History and interesting facts
C. Why is it called the cow of the sea?

II. Am I looking at a manatee?
A. How you can tell...
B. A little lesson in the anatomy and the physiology of a manatee

III. From the first day to the last. (The life of a manatee.)
A. Birth...
B. A normal day
C. Reproduction
D. The end of the line....

IV. The manatee and its niche...
A. This is were they live.
B. The Powerplant debate.
C. Eating habits and what this does to the environment.

V. Living on the edge (humans are such a bother)
A. Why manatees are endangered...
B. Death causing agents for the manatees

VI. What we can do to help, and what is being done
A. Laws
B. Organizations

VII. The other side of the story. (Because we have to be fair to both sides.)

VIII. How I would plan to use this information in my classroom.
A. Ethics
B. Student presentations


Sources:

Flordia Marine Research Institute "Descriptions of Manatee Death Categories" http://www.floridamarine.org/features/view_article.asp?id=6780

Manatee Brain: "Evolution." http://manateebrain.org/07evolution/index.html

"Save the Manatee Club": http://www.savethemanatee.org/

The Silver Think Tank: "Manatee Destructin of Flordia's Native Aquatic Habitats", "Native Florida Endangered Bird Species: Good Birding & Audubon Society information", "Expansion of the Manatee." http://www.manateestudy.com/

"The Trouble with Manatees and the Florida Water Story." http://www.xtalwind.net/~cfa/


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