Unit 8: Interactions Within Ecosystems: Biodiversity in Ecosystems

Students will explore biodiversity in ecosystems and how biodiversity can be protected. They will design a solution to maintain the biodiversity in a coral reef system.

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. Define criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constrains of the problem. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

Claim, Evidence, Reasoning

Science Probes

Thinking Checks

STEM Module Project

McGraw Hill Pre-Post Assessments