Ecology [10th grade]

By the end of this unit students will understand that organisms in an ecosystem are interdependent and that an ecosystem is made up of more than just the living things in it. Furthermore, they will be able to create, correctly label, and predict the effects of a given event on a food web. Throughout this unit students will practice creating and interpreting food webs & nutrient cycles. They will also practice using the appropriate vocabulary as listed in the unit below. In the performance assessment, students research an ecological issue of their choice and create a report containing an explanation of the issue, a food web, a nitrogen cycle, and a water cycle, each with an explanation of how their ecological issue affects it. Finally, students will compare and contrast their report to another student with a different ecological issue, deciding which issue is the most detrimental to the environment and why