What is an ecosystem, and how do ecologists organize nature in order to understand it and solve problems?
Cycle Summary
Session
1
Elicit
Students read and explain their thinking on the “Is it an ecosystem?” probe.
Engage
Students identify images of ecosystems as healthy or unhealthy.
Explore
Students identify and compare biotic and abiotic factors of ecosystems by looking at provided posters.
Session
2
Explain
Students observe a teacher demonstration and complete a reading with discussion questions related to ecosystem organization.
Session
3
Elaborate
Students use a map of Forest Park to identify ecosystems and describe the levels of ecological hierarchy.
Evaluate
Students complete a multiple choice assessment.
In this module, students begin by viewing the phenomenon of a series of environment photos, in which they consider whether or not the photos represent a healthy ecosystem. They answer the guiding question for this Concept, “What is an ecosystem, and how do ecologists organize nature in order to understand it and solve problems?” Students review biotic and abiotic ecosystem components, and obtain information about the levels of organization of ecosystems, from the level of individual to the level of biosphere. In this Concept, they are also introduced to Forest Park ecosystems through a virtual tour. Forest Park will be used as a case study throughout the whole module.
This Concept sets the foundation for the rest of the module, as students need a common foundational vocabulary for how to describe the components of an ecosystem in order to explore ecological interactions and disruptions.