“Sanctuaries—Providing a Safe Harbor”

Your Mission

Understanding—and creating—the poetry of nature.

Marine sanctuaries play an important role in the conservation of oceans. Help other people develop an understanding of and concern for the different species of plants and animals that live in these sanctuaries through the use of poetry—yours!

Sanctuaries of the Deep

“Today, marine sanctuaries are . . . as elusive as a sea breeze, as tangible as a singing whale. They are beautiful, or priceless, or rare bargains, or long-term assets, or fun, or all of these and more. Above all, sanctuaries are now and with care will continue to be ‘special places.’ Each of us can have the pleasure of defining what that means.”—Sylvia Earle, oceanographer.

In her more than 40 years as an oceanographer, Dr. Earle has spent more than 6,000 hours in underwater research. She currently heads the Sustainable Seas Expeditions project, a systematic exploration of the 12 U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries. (One additional site, Lake Huron’s Thunder Bay, in Michigan, is currently proposed for designation.)

The project—the first of its kind—should yield information that will help people create responsible, effective policies for ocean conservation. Take a closer look at the sanctuaries at the National Marine Sanctuary Web site (http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/natprogram/
natprogram.html).

Poetry Prep

With a classmate, choose one of the sanctuaries—and two species that live in that sanctuary—to focus on. Then “dive deep” into research, because (gulp!) you’re going to write a poem about the role the sanctuary plays in the lives of your two species.

Get information on each of the 12 sites at the National Marine Sanctuary Web site (http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/oms/oms.html) or nationalgeographic.com’s Sustainable Seas site [http://nationalgeographic.com/seas]. Or click on “Web Links” to go directly to individual sanctuaries.

A Sense of Place

Find details that will help your poem convey a sense of place. Note things such as:

location (Pacific Ocean, 37° N, 122° W),

region (coastal waters off central California coast),

physical characteristics (bay, rocky shores, kelp forests, deep underwater canyon),

climate (Mediterranean),

flora (giant kelp), and

fauna (sea otter, gray whale, rockfish).

(By the way, which sanctuary was described above?)

Keys to a Species

Gather information on the species, such as:

preferred habitat,

what the species needs to thrive,

natural threats (being eaten by another animal, hurricanes), and

human threats (fishing, oil spills, getting trapped in fishnets, boat propellers).

Taking Pen in Hand

Don’t quite feel like Longfellow yet? Take an online workshop at the Scholastic site (http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetwit/index.htm.)

Then… Got pencil? Pen? Paper? Grab your writing partner and take the plunge.

First, decide what type of poem to write. (Hint: Free verse is the easiest kind to write!)

In a free verse poem, your lines can be as long as you want. They don’t have to rhyme, and they don’t have to follow any type of pattern.

Rhyme-and-meter poetry has rhyming lines and meter or rhythm. (A rhyme is when two words end with the same sound. You can rhyme the last word of each line, or of every other line. Meter usually means that every line, or every pair of lines, has the same rhythm, the same number of syllables, and the same pattern of emphasis.)

A poem can rhyme without meter.

Your poem should emphasize the role the sanctuary plays in the lives of the two species you chose. Details that appeal to the five senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, smell—will help give your reader the feeling that he or she is in the sanctuary.

Keep in Mind

As you’re writing:

Don’t worry if you don’t know exactly what your poem is going to be about when you start it. (You may find out halfway through, or near the end, of your writing.)

If you can’t find the right word or the perfect sentence, move on, and come back to the problem later.

Don’t worry about spelling or punctuation until you are through writing your poem.

Don’t criticize yourself or your poem. Instead, congratulate yourself!

Creating a Collage

Now that you’ve “immersed” yourselves in these sanctuaries, do you appreciate them more? Show others what you’ve discovered—that oceans need to be preserved.

Working with your partner, create a collage that includes

the poem you wrote about the sanctuary and two of its species;

pictures of all plant and animal species that can be found in “your” sanctuary; and

a map of your sanctuary’s location. (You can use an existing map or draw one yourself.) To draw a map, refer to one of the maps of the 12 sanctuaries at the U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries Web site (http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/oms/oms.htm). Your map should include a title, place names, a grid of latitude and longitude lines, a compass rose indicating the map orientation, a scale, a map key, and possibly a legend.

Take Action!

If you live near one of the National Marine Sanctuaries, visit its Web site to find out more information about the local programs offered for schools.

“Adopt” a coast. Get state-by-state information and an action kit at the Office of Coastal Resource Management Web site (http://www.nos.noaa.gov/ocrm/pcd/outreach.html).

For ten ways you can help save the oceans, and information about beach cleanup programs, check out “What Can I Do?” at the Center for Marine Conservation (http://www.cmc-ocean.org/3_pt/3_ptintro.php3).

Tell the world about the importance of marine conservation! Submit your poem to KidLit (http://mgfx.com/kidlit/kids/artlit/poetry/index.htm) or Kids’ Space (http://www.kids-space.org/). Students can submit artwork, stories, and poems online individually or as a class.

Quote from Sylvia Earle taken from “A Tour of the Sanctuaries,” printed through a cooperative agreement between the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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