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Beach Development: Building up for a letdown?By Reneé Rades | NIE Educational Consultant Many people will tell you that all you need for a great beach vacation are warm weather, cool water and good friends. While that may be true, if you plan to stay longer than an afternoon, you will probably need a place to stay. Of course, some beaches offer camping right on the sand, but more popular than that option are the creature comforts offered by many beachside hotels and resorts. Florida's beach attractions offer something for everyone – from quaint beach houses, to budget-conscious rooms for the quick getaway, to full-service resorts and spas.
More and more people are discovering just how great a beach vacation can be! Already, Florida's 1,197 miles of shoreline are pretty crowded with houses, hotels and motels, and high-rise resorts. And the buildings are getting taller and taller! Beach development has changed the way we see our coastline, according to an article published recently in The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Our high-volume presence at the beach impacts the skyline, the quality of the land, and the ecosystems that the beach plays into. It takes a lot of people power to build a high-rise on the beach, especially since the soft sand is not well suited for holding up such a big and heavy structure. Lots of work must be done to a beach site to make it safe to build on, and putting up a building can take months. Why would anyone want to build tall buildings so near the water? Well, much of the beachfront property available today consists of only small parcels of land, and since developers don't have the room to build "out" they build "up" instead. Building up is also cheaper than building out. Since many places lacked building codes for these builders to follow, some places, including Daytona Beach, have shadows on the beach itself in the shape of the buildings standing there.
Overdevelopment of our beaches also harms natural sand dunes that add to the sea wall and act as a home to beach creatures. When sand dunes begin to break down, there is a higher risk of beach erosion. Erosion happens when sand from the beach is taken away, whether by people or by nature, resulting in a narrower beach. Think about it this way, months or years of erosion may take a beach that is about as wide as the distance between you and your across-the street-neighbor and narrow it to only the width of the street itself. When erosion has occurred at the beach, homes and businesses are at greater risk, especially during hurricane season when ocean swells can flood them. The increase in human activity due to beach development also impacts animals that make their homes there. For example, sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach during mating season. As soon at the eggs hatch, baby turtles must find their way to the ocean. Scientists have only recently learned that the babies use moonlight to help direct them toward the sea. If there is light coming in from the streets and buildings, the baby turtles will follow that light instead, and many die as a result. Thanks to the help of turtle supporters, there are now laws that regulate how much light can be near the beach, and the communities nearby are much more sensitive to their needs. Should we stop beach development altogether? Maybe not. People have been living on and near oceans since walking upright was all the rage. Societies that were successful in doing this became so by respecting the lands and oceans by not overtaxing them. We can do the same today if we keep that kind of mentality (reasoning). Beach development must be balanced with a watchful eye over how we affect the various ecosystems, or habitats, we encounter. Buildings should be put up so that they stand the test of time by being sturdy, intruding little on the land, and being attractive enough to be kept around for decades to come. That way, the beach your grandparents take you to can someday be the beach you take your own grandkids to. Learn more about beach development and ocean health by trying these activities using The Daytona Beach News-Journal:1. Look through The News-Journal and find beach-related activities that you are interested in, then create a calendar of events for people your age and submit it to your school newspaper for possible publication. LA.B.1.3, LA.B.1.3
2. Study the shadows made by large buildings. To do this, you'll need to look in The News-Journal for photos that have shadows and also do some online research on how shadows change according to the sun's position in the sky. Using the photos for reference, make scaled-down cutouts of buildings and glue them to a cardboard base. You may want to "study" a block's worth of beach and make the scale so that an inch equals a foot, or whatever you're comfortable with- you may even want to use Lego blocks to do this because they have standard sizes and lock onto a base. Use a flashlight to simulate the sun's position at different times of the day, and measure how long the shadows are at these different times. Do these shadows reach the water? What if your buildings were not on the beach, but across the street? How far back would you have to move the buildings before their shadows no longer cover the beach? Does the shape of a building affect the kind of shadow it casts? SS.B.2.3.1,2,3,6,9, MA.A.4.3.1, MA.B.1.3.2,3,4, MA.B.3.3, MA.B.4.3.1, MA.C.1.3.1, MA.D.1.3.2, MA.E.3.3 3. Use The News-Journal to look up different dangers you may encounter on the beach. Research how to avoid them and incorporate what you learned into a song. Share your song with family members or with your class in a beach-safety jam session. SC.D.2.3, SC.G.2.3.3,4, MU.B.1.3 4. Search The News-Journal to learn what marine biologists do to help our coastlines and oceans. Then write interview questions you would like to ask a marine biologist about his or her job. Your parent or teacher may be able to put you into contact with a marine biologist so that you may ask him or her questions. Afterwards, share what you learned. Were you surprised by anything? Did this exercise make you more or less interested in becoming one? SS.B.2.3, LA.C.1.3, LA.C.3.3, LA.D.2.3 5. Have you ever wanted to have your own aquarium? Use The News-Journal to find photos or illustrations of animals you might encounter during a trip to the beach. On a large, blank sheet of paper, draw the outlines for an aquarium, then glue or paste your clippings onto the paper. Search The News-Journal for pictures of plants and other items you might put in your aquarium. Hang your creation on a wall or refrigerator. SC.D.2.3, SC.G.2.3.3,4 Check out these links for more information!Learn about the history of beach tourism in Miami with a trip to http://pbskids.org/wayback/summer/features_miami.html Planning a family getaway? Check out the cleanest beaches in America at http://www.cleanbeaches.org/mediacenter/index2.cfm Starting your own aquarium can be rewarding and fun! For a beginner's guide to making a great fish tank, take a look at http://www.kidspoint.org/columns2.asp?column_id=983&column_type=kpfun Learn more about sea turtles with this great site from Sea World: http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/SeaTurtle/ Published August 10, 2004 |
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