nicholaswhite.weebly.com · Web viewBiodiversity is crucial to the planet’s health because every organism no matter how large or small plays a critical role in the functioning of

Title of Lesson: What is Biodiversity and why do we care?

Authors’ Names: James McDaniel, Shivee Gupta, Nick White

Teaching Date and Time: March 22nd, 23rd (10am, 12:50pm, 1:50pm)

Length of Lesson: Approximately 2 hours.

Grade / Topic: 9th grade Pre-IB Biology

Source of the Lesson: Dr. Linda Jones University of Florida, Classroom Interactions Fall 2011. W University Ave 32601 Gainesville, Fl

Video - http :// www . floridastandards . org / Resources / PublicPreviewResource 796. aspx ? RadUrid =66 ad 4285- d 0 b 2-47 a 7-9468-8 c 37232 ab 34 e

ConceptsAll adults, including teachers should know that humans have an impact on the environment as a

result of explosive population growth in addition to the ability to change and shape the future rather than just respond to it like most animals. Matter and energy flow through living systems and thus the sun provides the initial energy for most living organisms on Earth. The amount of life that can exist is limited by available resources. Agriculture has allowed humans to move beyond food production as a primary occupation or concern. With it, however, come environmental consequences as humans mold the natural world to yield more food. For most of human history, humans have relied on natural products. In the modern era however, since the 1960s, humans have increasing relied on synthetically produced products like plastics that can be made by mixing things together to make products that are normally not naturally occurring.

From this comes the idea of biodiversity, which means variety of life. Biodiversity is crucial to the planet’s health because every organism no matter how large or small plays a critical role in the functioning of an ecosystem. The problem occurs when we lose biodiversity and the consequences all other organisms, species, and ecosystems face, due to catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species. So when one species is lost (loss in biodiversity) it affects all the other organisms around it.

Source: Science for All Americans, http :// www . project 2061. org / publications / sfaa / online / sfaatoc . htm

Performance ObjectivesStudents will be able to:

● Analyze issues in biodiversity and interdependence including catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species.

● Predict and identify future and current consequences that occur as a result of a loss of biodiversity due to various issues in biodiversity and interdependence.

● Synthesize strategies for solving societal problems such as the consequences of the loss of biodiversity.

Florida State Standards:

● SC.912.L.17.8 Interdependence Recognize the consequences of the losses of biodiversity due to catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species. High cognitive complexity.

● SC.912.N.4.2 Weigh the merits of alternative strategies for solving a specific societal problem by comparing a number of different costs and benefits, such as human, economic, and environmental. High cognitive complexity.

Materials List and Student Handouts

● Set of Fact or Fiction cards (3rd - 18, 5th – 20)● Large bag of M&Ms● 1.5 Straws per person (In case some get dropped/broken dirty, etc.) 3rd - 18, 5 th – 20● 7 Styrofoam bowls.● Spoons (1 per 4-5 students)● Fishing log worksheet● 6 Great Andromous Fish boards● 6 sets of hazard cards● 6 dice● Score sheet● Player marker (Like a monopoly piece or candy)● 1 calculator per group● 7 packs of sticky notes● 7 large poster boards● 7 packs of markers● 7 sets of directions for each activity (andromous fish game, overfishing game)

Advance Preparations Arrange desks and chairs to make groups of 3-4 students Pass out nametags (optional) and pre-assessments as students walk in Set up game boards for exploration on day 1 Set up bowls with M&M candies for exploration on day 2

Safety Be mindful of others around you while engaging in activities Peanut and other allergies can be alleviated with ‘skittles’ or other candy in place of m&ms. No other significant concerns

Day 1:

Key Question: What issues are relevant in biodiversity and interdependence?

ENGAGEMENT Time: 5 Minutes

What the Teacher Will Do

Probing/Eliciting QuestionsStudent Responses and

Misconceptions

Before the engagement begins, and while students are entering the room, the pre-assessments will be handed to each student along with their nametags. State directions to clusters of students as they come in, and announce it to the class once they are all seated.

All of you are receiving slips please fill them out to the best of your abilities, these questions have no wrong answers so don’t be afraid to write what you think! You have around 2 minutes to complete them before class begins.

Your desks have been rearranged; please sit in your assigned seats but in the groups we have made. And place your nametag you have received in a visible spot on your table.

Play short film “Silent Invaders” about invasive species.

http :// www . floridastandards . org / Resources / PublicPreviewResource 796. aspx ? RadUrid =66 ad 4285- d 0 b 2-47 a 7-9468- 8 c 37232 ab 34 e

Introduce key question about the consequences of the loss of biodiversity.

What if your house and all of the land around it were destroyed?

What if all your food was eaten by others?

What if plants that were important to your ecosystem were crowded out?

What are some other issues raised by the film?

[You would have to move.]

[potentially move for food.]

[Cascading effects.]

Evaluation/Decision Point Assessment Student Outcomes

Collect sheets to look over at a later time. What do you expect the students to accomplish in this section?

EXPLORATION Time: 25 Minutes

What the Teacher Will Do Probing/Eliciting QuestionsStudent Responses and

Misconceptions

Teacher will be conducting the “Alien Invaders” game.

(See attached handout/student worksheet)

Before beginning game, ask students series of probing questions to help them get thinking.

How many birds do you think will survive?

Will all of the birds survive? None?

What sort of dangers do you predict the birds will encounter as a result of invasive species?

[All, some, or none.]

[Maybe]

[Predators such as hawks.]

Give short introduction/background story before game begins.

You are a bird trying to complete your life cycle. Each phase indicated on the game board represents a life stage. The object of the game is to get to the end of the board and have your bird reproduce and complete its life cycle.

Provide directions for students on how to play the game. (Pass out a copy of the directions to each group)

You are a native bird and your goal is to raise a family and be alive at the end of the year. There are three Phases to the game: Find a Nest, Raise a Family, and Survive the Winter. You must complete each Phase before you can move on to the next Phase. Whoever finishes the three Phases first, wins! However, there are lots of alien invaders (invasive species) that you must contend with to finish!

How to play

1. Open the board. Shuffle the three sets of Phase Cards and place them in the appropriate places on the board. Set the Bonus Food Cards aside.

2. Each player chooses a colored marker and places it on the Start Phase 1 space.

3. Roll the die. Whoever has the highest roll goes first.

4. Each player rolls the die when it is their turn and moves their marker the number of spaces shown on the die. Follow the directions of the space on which you land.

What were some of the

dangers your group encountered?

How did you feel when your bird had to “skip a turn” as a result of an invasive species?


Use student worksheets to assess student understanding. Students showing an understanding of invasive species through the game activity.

If students do not seem to understand the issues presented in the game, the instructor should review the concepts presented.

EXPLANATION Time: 10 Minutes


Misconceptions

Explain results of game, and clarify understanding of games, and use examples and questions to connect the game to real world issues and the benchmark.

What are some negative effects of invasive species?

What are some positive effects of invasive species?

[They can eat native species, outcompete nativespecies, make native species sick, and destroy/damage crops.]

[They can provide food for native species and provide habitat.]

Do the benefits outweigh the costs?

What are some ways that invasive species are introduced?

What are some things that you can do to help controlor prevent invasive species from becoming established?

[In general,the answer is no. However, not all species that areintroduced cause damage. Therefore, the speciesthat are not causing economic or ecological damage are not usually viewed as a problem [althoughthere is always the risk that those species couldlater become a problem]. Most scientists do notargue for a ban on all species that are not nativeto a region, but they do argue for bans on speciesthat are known to cause problems.]

(People releasing unwanted pets, peoplesmuggling items into the country, invasive seedstraveling on muddy boots, ballast water transportingspecies.]

[Do not release unwanted pets into the wild,do not plant invasive species, do participate in invasive removal projects, do not smuggle plants in fromother regions.]


Use student worksheets to assess student understanding. Students showing an understanding of issues like pollution, human intervention, and others will allow the lesson to continue to the explanation.

If students do not seem to understand the issues presented in the game, the instructor should review the concepts presented.

ELABORATION Time: 5 Minutes


Misconceptions

Show Jaws 50 second clip. (Already downloaded and loaded on flash drive)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzv-c6d_Zzs&feature=related

What do you think of when I say the word shark?

[dangerous, man-eating, top predator]

Show shark finning clip (that does not provide too much insight into how shark populations affect the rest of the ocean) (Clips are very short and are downloaded and already loaded on flash drive)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0qkr2cIe5c

What do you think about sharks now? Predators? Or prey?

Sharks are at the top of the food chain, meaning they are apex predators, what affects could this have on the rest of the ocean or humans if any

[Prey]

[Other animal species populations will go up, disrupt food chain, disrupt ecological flow]

Nothing will happen, or more fish will be there for humans to consume

Keep all of this in mind for tomorrow, as we will be using it in a activity






The probing questions and concept maps constructed on the 2nd day will give insight into what the students know and don’t know, and what they understand and believe.

If the answers are correct and viable then students are starting to understand biodiversity. If the concept maps are feasible and make sense then students are beginning to create a picture about biodiversity and consequences of losses in biodiversity and how species are linked together.

Day 2:

Key Question: What are the consequences that occur as a result of a loss of biodiversity?

ENGAGEMENT Time: 5 Minutes

What the Teacher Will Do

Probing/Eliciting QuestionsStudent Responses and

Misconceptions

Play video that is on USB called “Silent Invaders”

Ask students probing questions.

Did anyone write down invasive species yesterday?

Why do we worry at all about invasive plant species?

What we see is when one issue changes something in an ecosystem we see a ripple effect that affects everything in the ecosystem.

[I did/No one]

[When plants are affected everything is affected]

EXPLORATION Time: 20 Minutes


Misconceptions

Over Fishing activity: “Fishing for the Future”

(See attached handout/student worksheet)

Explain the game rules and hand directions sheet.

Each student will be a “fisher” whose livelihood depends on catching fish.

The candies represent ocean fish such as cod, salmon, tuna, etc.

Each fisher must catch at least 2 fish in each round to survive (i.e. get enough fish to either eat or sell).

When the fishing begins, students must hold their hands behind their backs and use the “fishing rod” (straw) to suck “fish” (m&m’s) from the “ocean” (bowl) and deposit them into their “boat”.

The fish remaining in the ocean after each fishing season represent the breeding population, thus, 1 new fish will be added for every fish left in the ocean (bowl).

EXPLANATION Time: 10 Minutes


Misconceptions

Require students to present and explain the results of their investigation.

Summarize and clarify students’ understanding as it relates to each objective.

Correlate the activity and results to the science concept(s).

How did you feel when you realized that you had depleted your fish stock?

How did you feel when other fishers joined your ocean group?

How does this activity relate to real ocean and fishery issues?

Yes, fishermen and fisheries deplete populations of adult fish, leaving few to breed and reproduce.

What happens when a commonly owned resource is overused?

Yes, the fishing industry is one of the largest industries worldwide, if we lose this resource this can damage businesses everywhere and can result in a major economic breakdown.

What are the impacts of overfishing or exploiting a natural resource?

Exactly, fish are a valuable food source and we depend on them for a variety of reasons.

Yes, think about other impacts that may occur…along the lives of other species, habitats, cycles, other animals.

How can we establish and maintain

[Sad, terrified, jealous, hungry!]

[Desperate, aggressive.]

[It models real fisheries by showing the effects of hunting where there is no natural incentive to control it, in a community owned resource like the ocean.]

[Everyone loses out on the resource.]

[The natural resource may disappear.]

[If one species of fish dies out then other species that interact with them directly or indirectly may decrease in numbers as

the sustainable use of a resource?

In this case we need to learn more about the resource, limit the amount of fish that can be fished, protect their habitats and spawning grounds, and use strong enforcement management so fisheries do not fish more than needed.

What is missing in this game?

What happens to a resource when you have infinite population growth, rapidly developing technology, and a finite resource?

Yes, the resource may be depleted but also the environment can be damaged terribly, and habitats destroyed.

Does anyone know what bottom trawling is?

Well, basically when boats use large nets that drag along the ocean floor and destroy coral reefs and habitats, which also adds to factors that deplete the amount of fish.

Are there any commonly owned resources in our region or community?

If so, are there any similar issues?

well. This can have disastrous effects on the whole ecosystem]

[Everyone agreeing on the problem and limiting their catches to a certain quota.]

[Other factors such as chance.]

[The resource may be depleted.

[No]

Paynes Prairie Preserve, Ocala National Forest.

Hunting is a similar issue, but these locations have implemented special hunting seasons to ensure that biodiversity is maintained.


Probing questions to make sure a good survey of student understanding. Making sure I call on every student at least once.

If students are not making the proper connections between the causes and effect, then we will clarify through use of examples.



Misconceptions









[Prey]





The probing questions and concept maps constructed on the 2nd day will give insight into what the students know and don’t know, and what they understand and believe.

If the answers are correct and viable then students are starting to understand biodiversity. If the concept maps are feasible and make sense then students are beginning to create a picture about biodiversity and consequences of losses in biodiversity and how species are linked together.







Misconceptions









[Prey]








EVALUATION Time: 10 Minutes


Misconceptions

Pre-Assessment/Post Assessment

1) Which issue do you believe has the biggest impact on Biodiversity? (catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species) Explain your choice with at least 2 sentences. (2 points)

2) How do you think the issue you chose will impact Biodiversity in the future? Explain. (2 points)

3) Create a strategy to mitigate the consequences of the loss of biodiversity and explain how you would implement it. (2 points)

Instruction sheets:

Documents

nicholaswhite.weebly.com · Web viewBiodiversity is crucial to the planet’s health because every organism no matter how large or small plays a critical role in the functioning of