Unit 7: ECOLOGY

7.1: I can construct a food web model to show the transfer of energy and matter through an ecosystem. 

7.2: I can use data to construct a biomass pyramid to explain the distribution of matter in an ecosystem. 

7.3: I can use a model to explain the interconnections between different species in an ecosystem and the tropic cascade that occurs when the system is changed.

STUDENTS WILL:

EXPLORE THE FOLLOWING SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES:

- Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
- Developing and Using Models


HAVE DISCOURSE ON THE FOLLOWING DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS:

LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
Plants or algae form the lowest level of the food web. At each link upward in a food web, only a small fraction of the matter consumed at the lower level is transferred upward, to produce growth and release energy in cellular respiration at the higher level. Given this inefficiency, there are generally fewer organisms at higher levels of a food web. Some matter reacts to release energy for life functions, some matter is stored in newly made structures, and much is discarded. The chemical elements that make up the molecules of organisms pass through food webs and into and out of the atmosphere and soil, and they are combined and recombined in different ways. At each link in an ecosystem, matter and energy are conserved.


OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING CROSS CUTTING CONCEPTS:

- PATTERNS
- CAUSE AND EFFECT

GS 3a, b, c, d:  MODELING - Students can construct and use models to represent and analyze phenomena and systems.

GS 4a, b, c, d, e:  DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION - Students can analyze and interpret scientific data and solve problems using a range of tools, technology, and mathematical techniques.