What does it take to bring an underwater meadow back to life?
Step into the role of marine scientist Nada Abdelkader and discover what it takes to restore a struggling seagrass meadow.
In Seagrass Stories, your mission is to clear rubbish from the ocean, place restoration mats and help bring the meadow back to life. The mats support seagrass shoots as they take root and grow.
Inspired by Nada's work, Seagrass Stories turns ocean restoration into a hands-on challenge. Explore how science, resourcefulness and human intervention can work with natural processes to help a damaged habitat recover.
Learning intention
Explore how seagrass restoration works and use what you discover to help someone else understand it.
Restore a seagrass meadow through choices like clearing debris, placing mats and tracking what changes, then design an experience that shows someone else how one action leads to the next.
Recognise seagrass restoration as a system, where small actions build on each other until the meadow's ability to hold carbon, shelter fish and protect the coast returns.
Begin to develop a sense of agency and patient curiosity seeing how small, careful interventions can add up to recovery, even for a damaged habitat.
THE EXPERIENCE
Explore. Investigate. Reflect. Create.
01 · Explore Enter the meadow15 mins
Enter the meadow and get curious.
Divide the three videos among your group. As you watch, notice:
- What relationships can you see between plants, animals and the habitat?
- What surprises or confuses you?
Once you've watched, come back together and discuss:
- What do you notice?
- What do you want to know more about?
02 · Investigate Look behind the game15 mins
Play through the lens of a scientist.
Step into Nada's role in Seagrass Stories. Clear rubbish, position restoration mats and help rebuild the meadow. As the meadow changes, investigate:
- What changes quickly?
- What might take longer in the ocean?
- What evidence would tell you the meadow is recovering?
03 · Reflect What did you discover?15 mins
Pause and make sense of what you've experienced.
Take a few minutes to reflect on your own, then share and compare your thinking with others.
- What did you see, hear or experience that changed how you think about ocean restoration?
- What are you now curious to understand more about?
04 · Create Bring ideas to life15 mins
Put your understanding to work.
In groups of 2–3, design an experience that helps someone else understand something you've discovered about ocean restoration.
Use 6–10 Post-its to bring your idea to life. Your experience could be a game, video, comic, installation or something completely different.
Your idea should show:
- a real choice or action
- what happens because of it
- how the habitat responds
- how things change over time
- what you want someone to understand
Connect your Post-its. What happens because of what?
Further reading
Explore the science.