Bring your students on an underwater adventure into the coral reef ecosystem! Whether you're exploring the vast beauty of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia or diving into the rich, biodiverse waters of Indonesia, coral reefs are some of the most vibrant and important ecosystems on Earth. 

✨ Perfect for Grades 3–8, here’s what you need to bring ecosystems to life:

• Iconic BBC Videos: Share the clips on this page to introduce the location, plants, animals, and climate of the coral reefs. (Don't miss the tusk fish an octopuses!) Brought to you by world-class BBC programs like Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Animal Babies, and Life. 
• Free Printable: Use the Coral Reef Brochure Template to help students pull it all together in an ecosystem report with facts they’ve learned (and a little extra research).

It’s everything you need to make ecosystems easy to teach and truly memorable for your students.

• Location of the ecosystem on a world map
• Adjectives that describe the ecosystem
• Three animals that live in the ecosystem
• Three plants that grow in the ecosystem
• The climate of the ecosystem
• What makes the ecosystem important
• Their favorite fun facts

Your students will summarize the most important details in their own words while keeping it clear and easy to understand. As they choose what to include, they’ll sharpen their ability to evaluate and combine information from different sources. Best of all, they’ll show off their creativity and communication skills by designing a brochure that’s as fun to read as it is informative!

In Giant Creatures of the Great Barrier Reef, narrator Sir David Attenborough explores how certain animals work together to find food. Teamwork makes the dream work for these largest animals in Australia's Great Barrier Reef! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Blue Planet II, a natural history series that explores the world's oceans, the animals that live in them, and the threats they face, using modern filming techniques and equipment to capture previously unseen areas of the ocean.

In The Coral Reef, an Underwater Masterpiece, narrator Sir David Attenborough marvels at the variety of life found in Earth’s coral reefs. Learn how polyps and algae both benefit from living in close relationship with one another. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.

In The Go Jetters and the Shipwreck Reef, the Go Jetters crew discovers the rusty submarine wreck isn’t leaking oil — it’s become a reef itself! Ubercorn shares funky facts about natural and artificial reefs, and how objects, like shipwrecks, can help the reef by becoming underwater habitats. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Go Jetters, a series that follows the adventures of four international heroes as they travel the globe visiting landmarks and solving environmental problems with Ubercorn, a disco-dancing unicorn.

In The Go Jetters Clean Up Oil on the Reef, the Go Jetters crew discovers a submarine leaking oil onto a reef. They head to the location to clean up the spill and protect the vital underwater ecosystem. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Go Jetters, a series that follows the adventures of four international heroes as they travel the globe visiting landmarks and solving environmental problems with Ubercorn, a disco-dancing unicorn.

In The Go Jetters Explore the Great Barrier Reef, the Go Jetters crew visits the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. This amazing underwater garden is so big you can see it from space! The reef is full of colorful coral gardens made up of tiny creatures, and it is home to many fish and sea animals. People love to visit it because it’s a beautiful place to explore underwater! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Go Jetters, a series that follows the adventures of four plucky international heroes as they travel the globe visiting the world’s most famous landmarks with their friend and mentor, Ubercorn, a disco-dancing unicorn.

In Green Turtle Hatchlings Off to Sea, narrator Gordon Buchanan describes some of the challenges faced by Australian green turtles as they travel through the water near the Great Barrier Reef areas. As the young hatchlings move through the water, they must combat predators as well as the possibility of strong and treacherous currents. This video is excerpted from BBC's Animal Babies, a heartwarming show that follows the first breaths, first steps and first feeds of some adorable baby animals, revealing the challenges they face to survive in some of the toughest but most beautiful places on the planet.

In The Green Turtle Race to the Shore, narrator Gordon Buchanan describes how hatchlings emerge from under the sand on Raine Island off the Great Barrier Reef. A lone hatchling is easy prey, but soon many others join it. As they race to the shore, herons prey upon them. One lucky turtle is able to fight back and escape the jaws of the heron. This video is excerpted from BBC's Animal Babies, a heartwarming show that follows the first breaths, first steps, and first feeds of some adorable baby animals, revealing the challenges they face to survive in some of the toughest but most beautiful places on the planet.

In Coral Bleaching, witness the effects of global warming on coral ecosystems. The world’s oceans are warming due to climate change, which negatively affects coral reefs, home to about a quarter of all ocean life. Coral is highly sensitive to temperature changes, and as ocean temperatures rise, coral bleaching becomes more extreme. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Climate Change — The Facts, a documentary that delves into the science of climate change and its far-reaching consequences.

Play Three Truths and a Lie about oceans and answer questions about human impact on whales, tusk fish, and the Great Barrier Reef. Plus, complete an infographic activity on how to reduce human impact on our oceans.

These printable activity sheets are used with lessons in the BBC Learning Hub Oceans Collection. 

Three Truths and a Lie: Play this quick game with students to activate their prior knowledge about the ocean biome. What do they know?

Activity Sheets: The activity sheets are intended to be shared after students watch the three related video clips about whales, tusk fish, and the Great Barrier Reef.