Season 3 issue 29 5 facts about beaches

Teaching overview

Learning points

The color of beach sand depends on the material it’s made of—for example, volcanic rock or coral.
In some parts of the world, white beach sand is coral that’s been ground up and pooped out by parrotfish!
Around the world, the effects of climate change—such as rising sea levels and stronger storms—are threatening beaches and the communities that live near them.

Curriculum keywords

Oceans
Geology
Habitats

5 things you didn't know

Colorful beaches

1. Beaches come in different colors. Iceland has beaches of black sand, which comes from volcanic rock, while some white, tropical beaches are formed from pieces of dead coral.

Parrotfish poop

2. The white beaches of Hawaii are made up of something you might find surprising—parrotfish take bites of coral then poop out the ground-up remains as white sand!

Sea turtles

3. Baby turtles hatch from eggs buried in the sand and make their way toward the sea, guided by the slope of the beach and the light of the Moon. When they grow up, female sea turtles return to the same beach they hatched on to lay their own eggs.

Message in a bottle

4. The oldest message in a bottle ever found was thrown overboard in 1886 from a German ship called Paula and discovered on a beach in Australia 132 years later in 2018! The bottle was thrown into the sea as part of a project to research ocean currents.

Beaches under threat

5. As climate change leads to rising sea levels and stronger, more frequent storms, coastal areas and communities are becoming more and more affected by erosion—the wearing away of coastlines by wind and water.

Spark a discussion

Beaches are home to many different plants and animals. Can you think of any examples?
What problems might erosion cause for a community living on the coast?
Imagine you’re sending a message in a bottle. How would you design the bottle to make sure that the message didn’t get wet and the bottle didn’t sink?

What Do You Know About Beaches?