SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn how cultural practices can spread not only ideas and traditions, but also invasive species into new areas.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson gives students the go-ahead to explore the underlying cultural practices that could spread invasive species and ways to reduce the spread to maintain a healthy and balanced ecosystem. All materials embedded in the lesson are factual and accurate. That being so, this lesson has passed our science credibility review process and is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson features kinesthetic learning as students play Three Steps Forward, One Step Back.
-Students will develop a strong connection to self and community through learning about invasive species in their community.
-This lesson features excellent vocabulary development.
-Students learn through multiple games.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-One-to-one technology or cardstock with art supplies are required for poster creation.
-Students need access to research materials such as the Internet and/or books about invasive species.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Groups of students with mixed abilities can collaborate on their educational posters.
-Possible Extension: Do a campus tour and have students take notes on species that could be invasive.

This is a National Geographic short video that briefly describes how succulent plants in the South African Karoo biome are dying off due to changes in climate.

Giant clams are no myth. In New England, people love clam chowder, but in the Pacific, some of the clams are as big as a suitcase! In this video filmed in Micronesia, Jonathan goes in search of Giant Clams. These clams are so big that people used to think they caught people...and it almost looks like they could. It turns out that the real problem is that too many people are eating the clams. Please see the accompanying lesson plan for educational objectives, discussion points and classroom activities.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students explore the impact of climate change on small-scale fishing communities and best practices for building resilience.

SCIENTIST NOTES: In this lesson, students explore how climate change is changing industrial fishing. This lesson passes our scientific review process.

En esta lección, los estudiantes exploran cómo el cambio climático está cambiando la industria pesquera. Esta lección pasa nuestro proceso de revisión científica.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson builds on lesson 1 of the Cambio Climático y la Pesca unit by providing real-life examples of what students experienced in the role-playing game, El Juego de Peces.
-The authentic texts, game, and student choice in this lesson engage students in discovering new information while developing their Spanish language skills and increasing their capacity for intercultural understanding.
-In this lesson, students are invited to explore the topic of gender equity through data and by listening to the voices of women in the small-scale fishing industry.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 2 of 3 in our Cambio Climático y la Pesca unit.
-To successfully navigate this lesson, students should be at an intermediate-low proficiency level.
-Students familiar with the imperfect tense will be prepared to understand the interviews in the videos in which fisher people describe their childhoods.
-Students with the ability to use the present subjunctive will have the opportunity to employ this concept to express recommendations, doubts, and perspectives.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-The Conecto game in the Inquire section can be played in small groups or pairs by sharing the link with students.
-Students may want to watch the video in the Inquire section one time with the closed captions off and then again with the Spanish closed captions on.
-The tic-tac-toe activity in the Investigate section can be assigned as a graded mini-project or as un-graded collaborative classwork.
-The mural can be painted directly on a wall, or students can use a long sheet of bulletin board paper.
-After completing this lesson, advanced students can research small-scale fishing in their own community and record an AP-style cultural comparison presentation.

In this activity, students examine hydra, a fresh-water relative of coral, under a microscope to observe feeding behavior and identify stinging cells that are characteristic of corals. They also learn more about the individual animals that make up coral reefs and construct simple models of coral polyp anatomy and feeding behavior.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

In this Lab students focus their attention on an area significantly larger than their study site as they apply their developing knowledge of local Earth system interactions to the regional scale. Although the scale changes, the questions remain the same. How does organism or process or event "A" influence, or become changed by organism or process or event "B"? Specifically, in what ways is my local region interconnected with adjoining regions? What types of matter and energy cross the regional boundaries to help define and shape the neighboring regions?
Although students will investigate the region in which they live, the concept of a "study site" changes: instead of focusing their attention on an actual plot of land, students will investigate their region by combining their personal knowledge of the region with information they can learn from Google Earth.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

During this lab, students learn about the life cycle of corals, including how they grow and reproduce. Students consider the chemistry of seawater and the importance of the symbiotic relationship between corals and zooxanthellae in the formation of coral reefs. They blow CO2 through calcium hydroxide (limewater) to model how respiration assists coral in precipitating calcium carbonate. Students also build on the coral polyp models they made in Lab 2 to demonstrate coral growth, reproduction, and reef formation.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Students begin this investigation by reading about the basic premises of Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) and how it can be applied to fisheries management — Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management (EBFM). In Part B of the investigation, students learn about Integrated Ecosystem Assessments and how they are used as a tool for ecosystem-based fisheries management.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This lab activity introduces students to Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). In Part A, students read about what MPAs are, what purposes they serve, and how they are classified. In Part B, they learn about the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of CortÃs). This tiny strip of sea has historically been one of the richest and most productive marine ecosystems in the world, but today faces many of the same threats that are destroying ocean health worldwide. Students watch short videos and read about challenges of new MPAs in the area as well as about Cabo Pulmo, which has been an MPA since 1995.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This lab activity introduces students to overfishing, using Georges Bank groundfish as a case study. In Part A, students learn about overfishing by examining trends in annual haddock landings and mortality in Georges Bank from 1969-2016. In Part B, they learn about what it means for a species to be overfished by examining trends in Georges Bank Atlantic cod recruitments and spawning biomass from 1978-2014. In Part C, students explore the issue of the still-collapsed cod stocks and the role ocean warming may play in the failure to for the stock to rebound.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

In the previous lab, students explored the characteristics of the ocean environment in which coral reefs thrive. Unfortunately,there are a number of factors, both natural and anthropogenic (resulting from human activities), that can alter the ocean environment and threaten the health of coral reef ecosystems. In this activity, students will examine the three main factors that disrupt corals.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Human-induced nutrient loading of the world's oceans has been linked to increased and prolonged algae blooms, sometimes with potentially deadly consequences. In this investigation, students will create their own algal blooms, analyze satellite images of chlorophyll concentrations in the Sea of CortÃs, and learn about two alarming consequences of excessive algae growth-—dead zones and harmful algae blooms (HABs).

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This article highlights lessons that help K-grade 5 students understand that animals and plants can only survive in certain environments.The lessons support the theme of an issue of the free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The theme is "We Depend on Earth's Climate."

The lesson activity titles are:

What are systems? (Purpose: to have students understand what a "system" is, in the broadest sense)
How is the natural environment of the tribal community a system? (Purpose: to tie what students learned during the year about the tribal community and its natural environment to the concept of what a "system" is)
How did settlers of European descent change the tribe's ecosystem? (Purpose: to explore the connections between what European settlers did to the tribe's ecosystem and what the effects have been on the ecosystem)
What can be done? What should be done? (Purpose: to explore and evaluate policy options for future environmental sustenance)

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This article discuss basic ecological concepts such as food chains and webs within the context of the tundra.

Grade Level:  9-12Standard(s):  Wyoming State StandardsSC11.1.4 Interdependence of Organisms: Investigate the interrelationships and interdependence of organisms, including the ecosystem concept, energy flow, competition for resources, and human effects on the environment.SC11.1.5 Matter, Energy, and Organization in Living Systems: Describe the need of living systems for a continuous input of energy to maintain chemical and physical stability. Explain the unidirectional flow of energy and organic matter through a series of trophic levels in living systems. Investigate the distribution and abundance of organisms in ecosystems, which are limited by the availability of matter and energy and the ability of the living system to recycle materials.SC11.1.6 Behavior and Adaptation: Examine behavior as the sum of responses of an organism to stimuli in its environment, which evolves through adaptation, increasing the potential for species survival. Identify adaptations as characteristics and behaviors of an organism that enhance the chance for survival and reproductive success in a particular environment.Introduction: Today, it will be the students’ mission to research and report on different ecosystems. Body of Lesson: The students will be taking part in the WebQuest activity.  Before they are grouped together, I will display the WebQuest on the projector screen and discuss the roles and responsibilities of the scientists, explain the rubric and expectations, and answer any question students may have.  Some members may have to play more than one scientist or the members may work together to complete a scientist’s responsibilities.  Each team will be randomly assigned an ecosystem and follow the process and tasks outlined in the WebQuest. ResourcesSmart Board/projectorIpad/tablet/laptopCraft suppliesWebQuest link:  http://questgarden.com/23/19/1/060421044159/index.htm

This project relates to Ecology Standards and Literacy Goals. I have combined several different levels of this project so that the activity can be adapted for different levels. I have used the activity primarily with High School students and introductory-level biology with college/university students. The content could also be adapted for middle and elementary students. I would choose a book for the students on these lower levels but that is also an option at the higher levels as well.

Interactive map tool to assess how rising stream temperatures could affect native fish of the Northwest. Lesson concepts include the relationship between water temperatures, dissolved oxygen levels in streams, and the impacts of changing temperatures on native fish. Focused skills include use of an interactive map to assess how stream temperatures are expected to change and the impacts on native fish.

Freshmen enrolled in the Spaceship Earth Living Learning Community conduct research on a real project that is formulated and conducted during a 2-semester academic year.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This video highlights specific climate change-related phenomena that are threatening the flora and fauna of Yellowstone National Park.