The Importance of Exploring Ecology - Essay Example

Unit Plan: Exploring Ecology Information about room Area: science, Language Arts Grade Level(s 6-8 Unit Summary This project consists of students studying problems that emerge as human and wildlife habitats increasingly overlap in the expanding world. The students will become experts on a particular endangered animal or plant by adopting the role of wildlife conservationists. They will study the needs of the organism and understand how animals and plants are interdependent in the ecosystem in which they thrive. Utilizing the ‘Seeing Reason’ causal mapping tool, the students will model their growing understanding of the intricacies of an ecosystem that is balanced, and then proceed to map the human factors influencing that equilibrium. By using a Webquest research project, the students will learn how the survival of organisms is affected by human activity, and seek ways to minimize this human impact on local populations. They will prepare a presentation to the conservation board of the area they come from whereby they provide a description of the needs of the species that they have been researching and provide practical and economically viable solutions that can guarantee its survival. Establishing the Foundation Habits of Learning Taxonomy There are five habits of learning taxonomy. These are: analysis which requires connecting, comparing and appraising data; synthesis which involves proposing, planning and formulation; evaluation which concerns predicting, assessing, supporting and defending; problem solving; and finally, thinking flexibly. Standards Science Literacy Benchmarks – Benchmark 5 Level 6-8 and 9-12 There are numerous ways that two organisms can interact with one another: this could be parasite/host, predator/prey, or producer/consumer relationship. The organism can also decompose or scavenge another. There may be competitive or mutually beneficial relationships. Some species have adopted a symbiotic relationship, adapting to each other to the extent that neither can survive alone. Some ecosystems can be relatively stable over several thousands of years. There are environmental factors that hold in check the growth of any population of organisms. These include exhaustion of food or nesting sites or loss of numbers due to predation or diseases. In situation of disasters such as fire or floods, there is a high chance of the damaged ecosystem recovering in stages that finally lead to a system almost the same as the original ecosystem. Ecosystems seem to have recurring fluctuations around a state of rough equilibrium just like many other complex systems. Ultimately, the ecosystems change when there is change in climate or when more species are introduced as a result of migration or local evolution. Humans are part of the ecosystems on earth. Their activities have the potential of altering the balance in the ecosystem, either deliberately or accidentally. New Jersey Content Curriculum Standards Standard 5.5. - Generalize about the structure, characteristics, and basic needs of organisms and investigate the diversity of life. Standard 5.5.B. - Provide a description of the relationship between human beings and the environment. Learning Objectives Students will: Understand the significance of a balanced system. Differentiate between a food chain and a food web. Identify relationships and interactions between various organisms in the ecosystem. Evaluate the needs of an organism and propose practical and economically viable solutions to ensure survival. Recognize that different types of organisms live in different parts of the world. Recognize that particular kinds of organisms that once lived on earth have become extinct. Discuss how changing environmental conditions affect ecosystems. Curriculum Framing Questions Essential Question How can humans and animals get along? Unit Questions What factors influence species’ biological success? How can humans and animals co-exist? Content Questions What are the restrictive factors? An ecosystem is composed of what kinds of organisms and how are they dependent on one another? What factors lead to species being endangered? Student Assessment Summary of Assessment The students will be given manipulatives in order to help them understand the interdependence concept. Using questioning and discussion, their prior knowledge will be assessed built upon. Oh Deer! Activity will be used to evaluate their understanding of the limiting factors. Webquest will be used in order to help guide student learning, keep them on track and supply the resources needed for their research. The quality of their science journal entries will be evaluated. Additionally, the quality of the students’ explanations of causal relationships, sources, and their overall understanding of the ecological system will be evaluated in order to monitor progress and how well they have understood content. Questioning will be used throughout the unit to help the students establish their higher-order thinking skills and understand content. The students will be asked to utilize the scoring guide in order to help them assess self and peers’ work before they complete their reports and presentations. The same scoring guide will be used together with the details in the Webquest and the outline of the research paper in order to evaluate and grade the final project. Timeline for Assessment Prior to the beginning of the project work The following tools will be used before the project work begins: Analogy or manupulatives Questioning Webquest Science journals During project progress The following will be used: Questioning Science Journal Seeing Reason map detail Scoring guide Research paper outline Self- and peer-review After the project work ends The following tools will be used: Science journal Questioning Webquest Scoring guide Research paper outline Elements of Seeing Reason Seeing Reason Project Title Explorers of ecology: Overlapping Habitats Description of Project Research the relationships between people and animals in general in preparing for the study of endangered species and identify what takes place in the situation that animal and human habitats overlap. Research Question What occurs when there is an overlap in human and animal habitat? Practice Map Unit Details Approximate time required: Four weeks, 20 -50 minute class duration Prerequisite Skills Informational reading, basic presentation and research writing skills, basic knowledge of life interdependencies Procedures Before Instruction Prior to instruction, materials for introducing “balanced systems” research will be prepared. Students will be clustered into four with every set being given individual plastic bags including: 13 8-penny nails having flat heads and 1 wood block of approximately 10 centimeters by 4 centimeters, with one nail embedded in th center. Each student will be provided with a science journal for reflection and responding to activities and questions through the entire unit. The Ecology Webquest will be reviewed. Related websites will be checked for activity. In case there are websites that are not active, these will be replaced if necessary. Designing an alternative Webquest would be considered so that the animals being researched by the students are those that are within the local region rather than worldwide particularly if the students are to be involved in community action plans. Incorporating authentic audience for the presentations by the students will also be considered. Local or state governing officials, wildlife professionals, governing boards, members of the community, parent organizations, local organizations and clubs, among others will be contacted to set a date and time when the findings can be presented by the students. In the situation that this will not be possible, the students will be told to assume that the audience is the National Wildlife Conservation Board. Setting the context The Essential Question “How can we all get along?” will be posed. Students will be prompted to consider and think through this question associated with the world of science. Students will be given time to write down their own thoughts in the science journals. The thoughts and examples given by the students will shared among themselves in pairs. The discussion will be turned back to the entire group and the individuals asked to share what they have discussed. The responses by the students will be charted and saved. References will be made to this chart throughout the unit. In case some responses cover ecosystems or other associated topics, the students will be told that such topics will be investigated further as the unit progresses. The unit will be started with an activity focusing on the concept of balanced ecosystem. Student teams will be provided with sets of blocks and nails that have been prepared. They will then be challenged to create a balanced system by organizing the 12 loose nails so that they all balance on the head of a single stationary nail embedded in the block of wood. The loose nails cannot touch the ground or the wood. A lot of time will be allowed for exploration and students will be assured that at least there are one or more solutions. Once the students complete the challenge, a discussion will be initiated concerning the ways in which the nail-balancing activity offers a model for concepts governing all systems, whether manufactured or natural. The idea that parts of a given system interacts with parts of other systems will be reinforced. Thinking will be encouraged using questions such as: What constitutes parts of this system How does the nail system balance? What kind of forces and conditions seems to influence this system? Is there any form of dependence among members of this system? How? How many nails can be taken out before this system of nails fails and become unbalanced? Are there any other actions that can disturb the balance? A balanced ecosystem in the natural world is achieved through overlapping systems that work together. Physical, biological and chemical conditions influence this balance. Examples will be discussed and the following questions asked: Give examples of natural ecosystems? What are the common shared features of these natural ecosystems? Are there parts of the ecosystem that the nails might represent? What are the relationships and interactions between organisms in a given ecosystem? What are the causes of unbalance in natural ecosystems? The interdependence of life will be discussed and food chains and food webs reviewed. Students will be asked to draw food webs from different biomes such as temperate forest food web and desert food web in their journals. They will then identify the producers, consumers including primary, secondary and tertiary, and finally the decomposers. A discussion of symbiosis and symbiotic relationship will be conducted including parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism. Exploration of Limiting Factors Basic necessities of living things will be discussed. These include water, food, shelter and space in a fitting context. A discussion of how factors that limit the availability of these necessities influence plant and animal population will be carried out. A discussion of how additional limiting factors including predation, competition for resources, and disease affect populations will also be conducted. In order to have the students get a picture of how changes in limiting factors alter plant and animal populations, Oh Deer! Will be played. Teachers.net Gazette describes this simulation exercise. It is also available in other print forms such as in Project Wild. A discussion of how limiting factors affect food webs will also be later conducted in the form of a play. Students will be organized in pairs then given the population data gathered during the game. Students will enter these into a spreadsheet and then instructed to construct animal population graphs. Students will be asked to provide explanations of why population fluctuations occur using the data collected from the game. The teacher will then view the team sample of the limiting factors. Once the students have understood the concept of fluctuations in populations, the content question “What results in species being endangered?” will be asked. The students will be asked to share these ideas in smaller groups then with the entire class. They will also be asked to write down their ideas in the journals and consider possible answers to the unit question. Discussion of Plant Ecology The focus of students in Oh Deer! and the activities associated to limiting factors were animals. Time will now be taken to focus on plant ecology and the succession concept beginning from the initial colonizers to climax communities. Succession cycles will be mentioned owing to short and long term natural events. However, focus will be on how succession is influenced by human actions. Studying the interaction between humans and wildlife In order to explore and address the Unit Question of how humans and animals coexist, students will be assigned teams of four. The Ecology Webquest will be introduced. Each section of the Webquest will be explained together with their roles as wildlife conservationists. The scoring guide will be handed out to the students for them to self-monitor their progress as they are taken through the project. The overlap between human and wildlife habitats will be discussed together with how wildlife can be influenced by both rural and urban areas as well as human beings. The interaction between humans and wildlife in the teacher’s community will be discussed. This will encompass a discussion of how wild animals encroach on populated areas or the impact of fencing and roads on the migration patterns of animals. The students will use Seeing Reason to aid them in understanding what occurs when there is an overlap in human and animal habitat. Before students begin mapping, the following steps will be used to introduce Seeing Reason to the class. The groups of four students will be split into two teams. The student teams will then log into the Seeing Reason project, Ecology Explorers: Overlapping Habitats. They will then map their answers to the question, “What occurs when there is an overlap in human and animal habitat?” the students will conduct research using the Webquest links on this topic and give evidence for the causal relationships. The teacher will circulate around the room as students construct their maps. The maps will be checked and student discussions noted. The students will then be asked to provide a description of their map. In order to assist the students think through their maps, the following questions will be asked: What are the other factors associated with this one? What evidence have you provided for the relationship you have shown between these factors? Why is animal habitat important? How are plants important to animals living in the forest? How is the success of an animal affected by its interactions with human beings? What do you consider to be the long term impacts of these encounters on the behaviors of animals and social structures? Once the maps are complete, several maps will be shown using a projector from the workspace of the teacher. The teams will be asked to provide a description of their maps and the reasoning behind them. They will then be asked to refine these maps after the discussion in order to refine them using what they had learned from the other students. Students will be asked to write in their science journals about their findings and consider some possible answers to the Unit Question, How humans and animals coexist. Review of Research and Presentation Guidelines The required tasks will be reviewed by returning to the Webquest. A discussion of the study and the presentation assignment will be carried out with the class and the necessary research skills taught. This will include note taking and citation. The outline of research paper and scoring guide will be reviewed so as to clarify the expectations. It will be necessary to assist students to find specific statistics and other hidden content in long reports and understand how they can read tables and charts. The students will be encouraged to include interviews with individuals thy may have approached for information or opinions including mining companies, loggers, government officials, ranchers, environmental groups and animal rights groups. The audience that each group will be writing to or representing will be identified. Creating Research Papers and Causal Maps The students will be asked to use the outline of the research paper and Webquest in order to guide them through their research and in planning their individual reports. Their engagement in the processes of writing including drafting and publishing will be evaluated. The students must ensure that their research is applicable to and can assist them in answering the Essential, Unit and Content Questions. Creating Presentations Once students complete their reports, the teams will be asked to develop their oral presentations. They will be reminded that the various formats for presentations may include posters, a play, multimedia presentations or web pages. They will be reminded of the role of conservationists and that the aim of the presentation is to inform the audience about the species of the group and offer viable, study based solutions that will guarantee the continued survival of the species. Proposal Presentation Once the presentations are completed, the students will be required to finalize preparations for presenting their proposals to their authentic audience. Read More