By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe how organisms acquire energy in a food web and in associated food chainsExplain how the efficiency of energy transfers between trophic levels affects ecosystem structure and dynamicsDiscuss trophic levels and how ecological pyramids are used to model them

Students explore the biosphere and its associated environments and ecosystems in the context of creating a model ecosystem, learning along the way about the animals and resources. Students investigate different types of ecosystems, learn new vocabulary, and consider why a solid understanding of one's environment and the interdependence of an ecosystem can inform the choices we make and the way we engineer our communities. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

Students will be able to design and defend a salmon rearing tank for the highest survival rate. They will measure temperature, ph and ammonia on daily basis and make needed adjustments. Given unit ending data students will be able to determine the optimal design for a salmon rearing tank using patterns between water conditions and survival rates.

Weird and wild fungi are everywhere, especially when it’s wet out. Given the chance to explore and observe fungi, students will notice them everywhere. Exploring fungi will also lead students to appreciate how fungi function in ecosystems as decomposers and other important roles. Recent discoveries in science have found that huge underground networks of thin, branching tubes of mycelium, the white tubes that are the main growing part of a fungus, provide key links between plants and the rest of the ecosystem.

In this Focused Exploration activity, students begin by observing fungi. Then, they learn that mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi. Students use a simple key to identify types of fungi, record data, then regroup, and discuss patterns of where fungi grow. Next, they learn about how fungi digest what they live on, discuss fungal impacts on ecosystems, and reflect on fungi roles in decomposition.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Glaciers and ice sheets may seem dead and empty to the naked eye, but the dust that coats them, cryoconite, is a hotspot for microbes and microbe-driven biogeochemical cycling. However, little is known about the geographical diversity in cryoconite microbial communities. Most cryoconite research focuses on polar microbial communities, and reports on Asia’s high mountain glaciers are rare. A recent metagenomics study found key metabolic and light harvesting differences between polar and Asian alpine cryoconite microbiota. The Asian cryoconite community had more abundant genes for denitrification, suggesting that denitrification is enhanced there compared to polar regions. While Asian cryoconite is dominated by multiple cyanobacterial lineages that possess phycoerythrin, a green-light harvesting protein, polar cryoconite is dominated by a single cyanobacterial species (_Phormidesmis priestleyi_) that lacks phycoerythrin..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students learn about energy flow in food webs, including the roles of the sun, producers, consumers and decomposers in the energy cycle. They model a food web and create diagrams of food webs using their own drawings and/or images from nature or wildlife magazines. Students investigate the links between the sun, plants and animals, building their understanding of the web of nutrient dependency and energy transfer.

Students learn about energy and nutrient flow in various biosphere climates and environments. They learn about herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, food chains and food webs, seeing the interdependence between producers, consumers and decomposers. Students are introduced to the roles of the hydrologic (water), carbon, and nitrogen cycles in sustaining the worlds' ecosystems so living organisms survive. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

Students are introduced to innovative stormwater management strategies that are being used to restore the hydrology and water quality of urbanized areas to pre-development conditions. Collectively called green infrastructure (GI) and low-impact development (LID) technologies, they include green roofs and vegetative walls, bioretention or rain gardens, bioswales, planter boxes, permeable pavement, urban tree canopy, rainwater harvesting, downspout disconnection, green streets and alleys, and green parking. These approaches differ from the traditional centralized stormwater collection system with the idea of handling stormwater at its sources, resulting in many environmental, economic and societal benefits. A PowerPoint® presentation provides photographic examples, and a companion file gives students the opportunity to sketch in their ideas for using the technologies to make improvements to 10 real-world design scenarios.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Coral reefs are important ocean ecosystems. However, they have been declining in recent years due to human activities, including elevated nitrate in the water. Corals maintain complex relationships with numerous microbes, including the dinoflagellate algae Symbiodiniaceae and bacteria. To better understand the impact of nitrate on coral and their resident microbes, researchers recently examined coral and microbial gene expression changes in larval Pocillopora damicornis. Under elevated nitrate conditions, the Symbiodiniaceae algae generally hoarded more nutrients for its own growth. Normally Symbiodiniaceae share nutrients with the coral, so this was a shift from a mutualistic relationship to a parasitic one, which led to impaired development in the larval coral. However, the prokaryotic microbes might reduce this negative interaction by restraining Symbiodiniaceae growth, which partially restores coral larval development..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Interview an Organism gives students the opportunity to enter the world of an organism. Students slow down and have a “conversation” with an organism of their choosing, asking questions that can be answered through more observation while paying attention to its surroundings and the scale of its world. It helps take students to a “next level” of observing and questioning as they learn to ask themselves questions that lead them to make deeper observations. In the process, they get to know their chosen organism.

In this Exploration Routine, students search for interesting organisms and observe them. Each pair of students chooses an organism to study, comes up with questions about the organism’s appearance and structures, while attempting to answer each one through observations. Then they move on to more probing questions about the organism’s behavior, ecosystem, and relationships to other organisms. Afterwards, students share with other pairs and then with the whole group.

This activity is an inquiry and field study based. Students will be trying to observe, document, compare, contrast, and communicate what information they were able to gather. The will use this information to make in inference about the organisms they have found and classify them as either an insect or not an insect.

This lesson aims to teach students about invasive species, native species, and non-native species. The lesson also covers the potential damages that an invasive species can cause to an ecosystem.

All living things are organized. From the simplest molecule to most complex ecosystem, living organisms have structures that perform tasks at every level. From reproduction to gathering energy, even simple single celled organisms have organization. In this seminar we will explore how living things are organized, from the smallest particles imaginable to the most complex ecosystem on Earth.StandardsBIO.A.1.2.2 Describe and interpret relationships between structure and function at various levels of biological organization (i.e., organelles, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and multicellular organisms)

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Long-term mono-cropping often suppresses plant growth, but the mechanisms behind this are poorly understood. The key may lie in the soil surrounding the plants’ roots. This region, the rhizosphere, is filled with important microbes and the carbon-containing photosynthesis products, rhizodeposits, that plants exude from their roots. Rhizodeposits are part of the link between plants and their rhizosphere microbes. So, a team of researchers examined the interactions among rhizodeposits, rhizosphere microbes, and mono-cropping long-term. They found that years of mono-cropping led to a gradual decrease in carbon deposition and the chemical diversity of the rhizodeposits. These decreases were strongly correlated with decreases in the rhizosphere microbial diversity and metabolic functioning. Mono-cropping long-term also slowly led to a decrease in the abundance of plant-beneficial microbial groups..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This 5th grade unit will take about 8 weeks, 25.5 hours to complete. Students plan and carry out an original investigation in which they observe the effect of different types of matter on the growth of plants. They create their own observable question with prompting such as: “What type of matter do you think will affect plants’ growth?” or “Do you think the amount of a particular type of matter will affect how the plant grows?” They observe their experiment over a period of seven days (or longer if time allows). At the conclusion of the investigation, students use their data to explain how plants convert matter (gas and liquid) into plant matter.

This 5th grade unit will take about 8 weeks, 25.5 hours to complete. Students plan and carry out an original investigation in which they observe the effect of different types of matter on the growth of plants. They create their own observable question with prompting such as: “What type of matter do you think will affect plants’ growth?” or “Do you think the amount of a particular type of matter will affect how the plant grows?” They observe their experiment over a period of seven days (or longer if time allows). At the conclusion of the investigation, students use their data to explain how plants convert matter (gas and liquid) into plant matter.

Marie Hartford's class of 5th grade scientists learn about the importance of water quality and its benefits to wildlife and the environment. Within the narrow confines of pH necessary for their tank of red-legged frogs, students use a combination of pond and tap water to keep the tank healthy, using their collected data to make the decision on the proportion between the two.

Rating: Examples of High Quality NGSS Design if Improved

Science Discipline: Life Science

Length: Unit

This middle school unit was designed to support the middle school NGSS related to Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics integrated with elements of related Earth science NGSS (Human Impact). The unit includes five chapters, each focused on a specific phenomenon related to ecosystem disruption, including questions around the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and the invasion of zebra mussels in the Great Lakes and the Hudson River. © Regents of the University of California

As students learn about the creation of biodomes, they are introduced to the steps of the engineering design process, including guidelines for brainstorming. Students learn how engineers are involved in the design and construction of biodomes and use brainstorming to come up with ideas for possible biodome designs. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.