8th+Ecosystems


 * Established Goals: **

(11) Organisms and environments. The student knows that interdependence occurs among living systems and the environment and that human activities can affect these systems. The student is expected to: (A) describe producer/consumer, predator/prey, and parasite/host relationships as they occur in food webs within marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems; (B) investigate how organisms and populations in an ecosystem depend on and may compete for biotic and abiotic factors such as quantity of light, water, range of temperatures, or soil composition; (C) explore how short- and long-term environmental changes affect organisms and traits in subsequent populations; and (D) recognize human dependence on ocean systems and explain how human activities such as runoff, artificial reefs, or use of resources have modified these systems.

**Enduring Understandings: ** **//S// ****//tudents will understand that…// **

 ¨ environmental changes can cause changes in species ¨ an organism’s adaptations help it to survive short- and long-term environmental changes ¨ human activity can have negative and positive affects on living systems. ¨ Limited abiotic and biotic resources contribute to competition amongst organisms

Essential Questions (framed in appropriate “kid language”):

 ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Why do organisms compete for resources? ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">How does the ability to adapt affect an organisms’ survival? ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">How do species interact with the environment? ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Why might an organism become extinct? ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What impact do humans have on other species? ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What impact does nature have on species?

//<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Students will know… //

<span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.3in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .3in; text-indent: -0.3in;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.3in; tabstops: list .3in; text-indent: -0.3in;"> ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">that humans and natural events can change the environment ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">how to describe adaptations ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">that adaptations are necessary for survival of a species ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">that species interact with the environment and other species ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">that the environment can change a species ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">species compete for resources ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">how humans depend on ocean systems and how human activities affect them

//<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Students will be able to… //

<span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.3in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .3in; text-indent: -0.3in;"> ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">identify adaptations that have enabled species to survive ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">categorize interactions among species in an environment ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">explain natural selection and its role in change over time ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">identify ways that humans interfere with the survival of a species ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">predict how an organism will adapt in a changing environment ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">name factors that affect the process of natural selection ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">identify competition in environment

** <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Vocabulary: ** <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">species adaptation evolution natural selection <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">variation extinction ecosystem gradualism <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">punctuated equilibrium environment run-off population <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">predator prey competition producer <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">consumer tertiary consumer energy pyramid food chain <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">food web biotic abiotic mutualism <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">symbiotic relationship commensalism parasitism parasite <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">host