Kayla McNeilly

Reflection Essay Coral reefs

In my biology senior seminar class, Science in Society, I gave one
of my biggest presentations this year. This was a scholar citizen course
at Radford University, and in this class is how I began my eportfolio.
My partner Cari McGregor and I had to facilitate a two-hour class
discussion, on a topic of our choosing. We decided to discuss coral
reefs, particularly the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. We
picked this topic because it is important to me, and one day I would
like to be a Marine Biologist.
The majority of society views coral reefs as a vacation hotspot
due to their immense beauty. However, the reefs are disappearing at
alarming rates. It was interesting to discuss this problem among my
scientific peers. Coral reefs are both an educational tool and a fun
activity to explore for any one. This project opened my eyes to how my
scientific education has changed my viewpoints. Compared to the
average person, my scientific education has helped me fully
comprehend the seriousness of the situation coral reefs are in.
My partner and I prepared for our discussion by assigning our
fellow classmates articles reflecting both scientific and public opinion
regarding coral reefs before coming to class. We also attached a
discussion question hand out so our classmates had time to reflect
about the questions before coming to class. The assignment contained

eight questions about five articles and one scientific paper. To see what
the student had to read please look at the links below, to see the
students discussion question please check out he links below. In
preparing to lead the discussion Cari and I put together a PowerPoint
that provided the basic background about the coral reefs, particularly
the Great Barrier Reef, for those who didnt know much about them. To
see the PowerPoint used for the dissection please click on the link
below. We also interviewed non-scientist students about the Great
Barrier Reef to gain a better picture of what society as a whole knows.
To see the responses of the non-scientists please look at the links
below.
During the class discussion, our classmates were surprised by
how little the non-scientists knew about reefs. We also discussed the
serious issues about how the coral reefs all around the world are
depleting, from coral bleaching due to increasing amounts of carbon
dioxide, pollution, global warming and coal mining. As a scientist I
understand the implications of these causes and because of that I am
being a responsible citizen and changing my life style reduce these
causes. As a citizen I understand societies need for coal and other
fossil fuels but by doing this research, I now understand the impact it
has on coral reefs. If nothing is done about it then the reefs will go
extinct in our lifetime.

Coral reefs are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the

planet. They contain over one million plants and animal species. The
Great Barrier Reef provides a large ecotourism attraction; it not only
educates society, and allows society to see beautiful wildlife, but also
brings in money to the local communities surrounding the reef. I saw
that our class had a great discussion about Coral reefs, and I enjoyed
showing my peers what I learned during my research of this topic. The
class as a whole discussed how science might be able to fix the
problems facing coral reefs by helping society understand the
importance these beautiful coral reefs are.