Lesson 41

Card 5.6: Coral Restoration (2026 Mission Context)

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Format: Socratic seminar

Time: 30 min

Prerequisites: Card 0.1. Swap this card’s topic when the 2027 manual drops.

Core Question

Competition tasks simulate real coral restoration work: surveying reefs, placing fragments, monitoring recovery. In the real ocean, why do humans replant coral by hand, and does it work?

Resource (before seminar, ~10 min)

Read the provided excerpt on coral bleaching and restoration methods (fragment nurseries, outplanting, substrate work). Note what causes bleaching and one honest limitation of restoration.

Prep Notes (your artifact)

One claim: is restoration a solution, a stopgap, or a distraction? Reasoning required.
One specific way an ROV or diver-replacement robot changes the economics or safety of this work.
One honest question.

Clearing This Card

Prep notes plus participation, or the written alternative.

If You Miss This Class

Materials on the class page; prep notes plus written seminar response.

Why This Matters

Every mission task on our score sheet is a simulation of this work. Judges ask what the task represents; this card is that answer, and it retires honorably when next year’s theme replaces it.