Grade/Course   Title  of  Unit   Proposed  Duration  6th  Grade  Science   Ecology:  An  Interconnected  World   5-­‐6  class  periods  Big  Idea   Essential  Questions  How  do  living  and  non-­‐living  things,  including  humans,  interact  in  local  and  global  ecosystems?  

How  do  abiotic  factors  in  the  environment  impact  organisms?  How  do  adaptations  increase  the  survival  of  organisms?  How  do  populations  of  plants  and  animals  interact  with  each  other  and  their  environment?  How  do  human  actions  impact  the  living  and  nonliving  elements  of  our  environment?  

CCSS  “Habits  of  Mind”   Standards  

  Demonstrate  independence   S63.22  Define  environment.  S63.23  Explain  characteristics  of  his/her  environment.  S63.1  Describe  characteristics  of  living  and  non-­‐living  things.  S63.2  Classify  familiar  objects  as  living  or  non-­‐living.  S63.3  State  basic  needs  of  living  things.  S63.29  Construct  food  chains/food  webs  illustrating  energy  flow  in  an  ecosystem.  S63.30  Define  and  correctly  use  the  terms:  producers,  consumers,  decomposers.  S63.31  Describe  ways  in  which  populations  of  plants  and  animals  in  a  community  interact  with  one  another  and  their  environment.  S63.24  Give  examples  of  changes  in  environments.  S63.25  List  some  effects  of  changes  in  environments.    

  Build  strong  content  knowledge  

  Respond  to  the  varying  demands  of  audience,  task,  purpose,  and  discipline  

  Comprehend  as  well  as  critique  

  Value  evidence  

  Use  technology  and  digital  media  strategically  and  capably  

  Come  to  understand  other  perspectives  and  cultures  

21st  Century  Themes   21st  Century  Skills  

  Global  Awareness     Creativity  and  Innovation     Flexibility  and  Adaptability  

  Financial,  Econ,  Business  Literacy     Critical  Thinking  and  Problem  Solving     Initiative  and  Self-­‐Direction  

  Civic  Literacy     Communication  and  Collaboration     Social  and  Cross-­‐Cultural  Skills  

  Health  Literacy     Informational  Literacy     Productivity  and  Accountability  

  Environmental  Literacy     Media  Literacy     Leadership  and  Responsibility  

Warm  Up  Day  1  –  What  do  you  need  to  survive?  (Food,  water,  shelter,  and  space  to  live,  grow  and  reproduce.  The  place  that  provides  the  things  an  organism  needs  to  survive  is  called  a  habitat.)    Day  2  –  What  is  a  population?  (all  the  members  of  one  species  that  live  in  a  specific  area)    Day  3  –  What  are  same  ways  organisms  interact  in  an  ecosystem?      Day  4  –  Where  does  your  body  get  the  energy  it  needs  to  survive?    Instruction    Day  1  –  Divide  students  into  groups  and  pass  out  photographs  of  different  environments  (ocean,  mountain,  pond,  forest,  prairie,  etc.)    Instruct  students  to  list  all  aspects  of  the  environment  that  interact  in  this  picture.    Then,  ask  students  to  divide  their  list  into  “living  things”  and  “non-­‐living  things.”  Ask  them  to  label  the  “living  things”  as  biotic  factors  and  the  “non-­‐living  things”  as  abiotic  factors.    On  their  abiotic  factors  list,  they  should  include:  water,  sunlight,  oxygen,  temperature,  and  soil.            Day  2  –  Discuss  with  students  why  it  might  be  important  to  know  the  size  of  a  population?  What  are  some  ways  you  could  figure  out  how  large  a  population  is?  Why  might  it  be  difficult  to  count  populations?  Read  the  topic  introduction  from  the  “Population  Sampling  Activity,”  available  at:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Activity-­‐Pack-­‐Population-­‐Sampling-­‐Activity-­‐1170673    Day  3  –  Students  will  read  in  the  Green  Sciencesaurus,  p.  132.  They  will  define  competition,  predation,  symbiosis,  parasitism,  and  mutualism.  Present  students  with  several  images  of  relationships  between  populations,  such  as  competition,  predation,  symbiosis  

 

 

(mutualism,  commensalism,  and  parasitism).    Ask  students  to  describe  the  relationship  between  the  two  organisms  and  how  each  organism  is  affecting  the  other.      Then,  present  each  type  of  relationship  (competition,  etc.)  and  ask  them  if  the  picture  at  their  table  illustrates  that  type  of  interaction.    Finally,  in  groups,  students  should  brainstorm  two  examples  for  each  type  of  relationship.    If  they  have  access,  they  may  use  the  internet  to  help  them.    Day  4  –  Students  will  read  about  Food  Chains  and  Food  Webs  from  the  Green  Sciencesaurus,  p.  133-­‐135.    They  will  record  definitions  for  food  chain,  primary  consumer,  secondary  consumer,  tertiary  consumer,  and  food  web.    They  will  copy  the  example  of  the  food  chain  on  p.  134  into  their  notebook  and  then  create  another  example  of  a  food  chain,  which  they  will  also  record  in  their  notebook.    Day  5  –  Interactions  in  Ecosystems  Quiz,  available  at:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quiz-­‐Interactions-­‐in-­‐Ecosystems-­‐1179621    Activity  Day  1  –  Students  will  read  p.  130-­‐131  in  Green  Sciencesaurus,  “Ecosystems”  and  “Factors  That  Affect  Populations.”    Students  will  cut  and  paste  the  FishChannel  Community  Tank  coloring  page  into  their  notebook.    They  will  title  the  page  “Abiotic  Factors”  and  add  captions  to  identify  and  describe  each  abiotic  factor  on  the  page  (water,  sunlight,  oxygen,  temperature,  and  soil),  using      Then,  below  the  picture,  they  will  make  predictions  about  what  would  happen  if  ________  were  not  present.  

• Without  water,  I  predict…  • Without  sunlight,  I  predict…  • Without  oxygen,  I  predict…  • If  the  temperature  changed,  I  predict…  • Without  soil,  I  predict…  • Answer:  What  are  two  more  abiotic  factors?  

 Day  2  –  Students  will  complete  the  Population  Sampling  Activity  available  at:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Activity-­‐Pack-­‐Population-­‐Sampling-­‐Activity-­‐1170673    Day  3  –  Students  will  read  in  the  Green  Sciencesaurus  p.  132,  “Relationships  Between  Populations.”  They  will  record  definitions  for  competition,  predation,  symbiosis,  mutualism,  commensalism,  and  parasitism.    Then,  they  will  read  Doctor  Betsy  Jackson’s  Journal,  available  at    http://www.nsta.org/publications/interactive/galapagos/activities/pdf/atales.pdf.    They  will  identify  five  ecological  relationships  and  record  them  on  the  chart  available  at    http://www.nsta.org/publications/interactive/galapagos/activities/pdf/btales.pdf.    Day  4  -­‐    Students  will  cut  out  the  Galapagos  Marine  Organisms  from  a  worksheet,  available  at    http://www.nsta.org/publications/interactive/galapagos/activities/pdf/marine.pdf.    They  will  paste  these  pictures  onto  index  cards.    They  will  use  these  cards  for  several  activities.    First,  they  will  work  in  partners  to  create  a  food  web,  connecting  organisms  with  string.    They  will  copy  the  food  web  into  their  notebooks.    Then,  they  will  make  predictions  for  the  following  scenarios:  

1. What  would  happen  to  the  population  of  seals,  if  the  population  of  grouper  suddenly  dropped?  2. What  would  happen  to  the  population  of  ulva,  if  the  population  of  sea  turtles  suddenly  dropped?  3. What  organisms  would  be  affected  if  zooplankton  populations  suddenly  dropped?    Describe  how  they  would  be  affected.  4. What  organism  do  you  think  is  most  important  to  this  food  web?  Why?  

   Assessment  

-­‐ Population  Sampling  Activity  questions,  available  at:    http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Activity-­‐Pack-­‐Population-­‐Sampling-­‐Activity-­‐1170673  

-­‐ Quiz,    available  at:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quiz-­‐Interactions-­‐in-­‐Ecosystems-­‐1179621