If you look at a map of the eastern shoreline of the
United States, you can see that the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
are lined by a series of thin, elongated islands. These
islands are known as barrier islands because
they provide barriers to winds and ocean waves. These
islands protect the mainland by absorbing the energy
produced in hurricanes and normal winter storms. But barrier
islands are not just important geological features. They
also are unique ecosystems. A barrier island usually
consists of a wide sandy beach facing the ocean, an area of
one or more sand dunes with anchoring beach grasses and
shrubs, and a wetland area that may consist of a bay, a
lagoon, or a marsh that lies between the island and the
mainland. These ecosystems provide feeding, mating, and
nesting areas for shorebirds, commercial fish species, and
shellfish such as clams, oysters, and crabs. These beaches,
dunes, and wetlands also provide important recreational
activities for people. The different uses of barrier islands
result in disagreements about how they are to be managed.
Should barrier islands be protected and left undeveloped?
Should people be allowed to build homes and hotels on
barrier islands?
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Your job in this WebQuest is to develop an educated
opinion as to whether or not people should build permanent
structures on barrier islands. You will need to learn about
the geological and physical nature of barrier islands, and
how barrier islands change over time. You will look at
development of barrier islands and find out how the beaches
on these islands are maintained. You will find out how
different states handle the protection or development of
their barrier islands. You will also find out what happens
to permanent structures that are built on barrier islands.
Finally, you will form an opinion as to whether permanent
structures should be built on barrier islands.
Once you have done your research, you will prepare an
open letter to the editor of a newspaper in which you
outline what you have learned about barrier islands and
state your opinion on whether permanent structures should be
built there. Your letter should include information about
the geology and ecology of barrier islands as well as the
changes they are subject to. Your goal is to convince
readers of the newspaper that your conclusion is correct,
and to encourage them to write to the appropriate agencies
in support of your position.
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Look at the web sites given here to find the
information that will enable you to form your opinion about
permanent structures built on barrier islands.
What are barrier islands and how do they form?
Florida
Oceanographic Society: Barrier Islands. This site
has background information on the formation of barrier
islands.
The
Atlantic Coastline: The Nature of Barrier Islands.
Visit this web site to learn how the barrier islands of
North Carolina's Outer Banks formed.
Barrier
Islands Formation. Here you can read about several
different theories on the formation of barrier
islands.
Barrier
Island and Barrier Beaches. At this site you can
find out more about how the barrier islands of Georgia
formed.
How do barrier islands change over time?
Barrier
Islands: Always Changing. Go to this site to find
out how barrier islands change over time.
Eastern
Barrier Islands: Terra Un-Firma.
At this National Science Foundation site you can
discover how storms affect barrier islands.
Mississippi
Gulf Coast Barrier Islands. Here you can learn
about the ecology of the barrier islands of
Mississippi.
Dynamics
of Beaches and Barrier Islands. Visit this site to
learn about barrier islands that have disappeared off the
coast of New York State.
Louisiana's
Barrier Islands: A Vanishing Resource. At this
site you can learn about the changes in the barrier
islands of Louisiana's Gulf Coast.
How do various states handle development of barrier
islands?
What kinds of development occur on barrier
islands?
What happens to permanent structures built on barrier
islands?
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2 class periods; 40 minutes for research, 40 minutes to
write letter to the editor.
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Now that you have completed your research on the
Internet, decide what you think should be done with barrier
islands. Should these islands be developed? What types of
development should be allowed? Should any kind of
development be prohibited? Write a letter to the editor of
your local newspaper in which you develop your answers to
these questions. Be sure to support your opinion with
information from your Internet research. Would you build a
house on a barrier island? Explain why or why not.
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In the process of completing this WebQuest, you've become
informed about the importance of barrier islands and how
development of those islands impacts both economic and
environmental factors. You have developed critical thinking
skills as you have explored the many different factors
involved in this issue. You have read information to answer
key questions and formed an educated opinion. Finally, you
have communicated with others the results of your
investigation. Have you changed anybody's mind about the
importance of barrier islands?
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