This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is prepared so that you, our dear learners, can continue your studies and learn while at home. Activities, questions, directions, exercises, and discussions are carefully stated for you to understand each lesson.
Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you step-by-step as you discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.
Pre-tests are provided to measure your prior knowledge on lessons in each SLM. This will tell you if you need to proceed on completing this module or if you need to ask your facilitator or your teacher’s assistance for better understanding of the lesson. At the end of each module, you need to answer the post-test to self-check your learning. Answer keys are provided for each activity and test. We trust that you will be honest in using these.
Please use this module with care. Do not put unnecessary marks on any part of this SLM. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises and tests. And read the instructions carefully before performing each task.
Seventy–five percent of the Earth’s surface is composed of aquatic ecosystems. They help in maintaining the ecological balance and home to many organisms that can be a source of food and raw materials for humans. The aquatic ecosystems are our estuaries and intertidal zones. Specifically, it comprises all our coral reefs, salt marshes, mudflats, rocky shores, and mangrove forests. Since we get so much from these ecosystems, which are abundant in marine life and other resources, their destruction would largely affect the community that depends on them. Some of our estuaries and intertidal zones have already been destroyed due to industrialization, and most of the remaining are already under threat. So, one should learn the value of these ecosystems and how we can conserve and protect them.
In this module, you will be able to:
1. explain the need to protect and conserve estuaries and intertidal zones; and
2. enumerate ways of conserving and protecting our estuaries and intertidal zones.