Hawaii Sea Grant's work featured in U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

Using modeling techniques, students discover how coastal dunes form and how they can protect coastal areas from erosion and flooding during storms and harsh weather events. Students will make predictions and observations, then come to their own conclusions about the importance of dunes and how they can make coastal areas more resilient against storms.

In this activity students will build a model of a salt marsh and the land surrounding it out of clay. Students will use this model to see what happens to salt marshes when the sea level rises and how the slope of the land and the location affect the marshes survival.

Students study the essential parts of the Cape American Beach Grass Ammophila breviligulata and discover the basic necessities for plant survival.