We're All In This Ecosystem Together

How do organisms interact with and respond to the environment and other organisms?


Teacher Tips for This Project

Project Development:

This online research project wass designed to be used in tandem with the Populations and Ecosystems Course created by FOSS. It follows the Research Cycle, created by Jamison McKenzie and adopted for use in the Bellingham School District.

Each student group will use the project CD and textbook for research data, vocabulary and graphics.

Populations and Ecosystems. CD-ROM. Berkeley, CA: Delta Education, 2004.

Lawrence Hall of Science. Populations and Ecosystems; Images, Data, and Readings . Berkeley:, Delta Education, 2004.

This science kit was purchased for use in Bellingham School District classrooms through FOSS. It was developed at Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley.

The CD and textbook contain information on ten ecosystems; 9 listed in the project and 1 which should be studied as a whole class, (Mono Lake, California). It also contains links to Internet sites which offer additional information appropriate for student research.

Orgainzing for the Project:

As you begin to study Mono Lake, CA, introduce this project. Students may be encouraged to send for information on their ecosystem. This should be done early in the study to allow time for delivery of informational brochures.

Students will rely heavily on the vocabulary and understandings they get from the whole class study of Mono Lake. As they gain knowledge they will begin the research on their assigned ecosystem.

Students will be working in teams of three. Decide ahead of time how you wish to group students, either by assigning partners or allowing students to select their own partner.

Ask teams to briefly survey the 9 Ecosystems and select their three top choices. Use these lists to assign one ecosystems to each group. Ensure that all ecosystems are assigned.

You may wish to keep a teacher checklist where you can check off or grade students at different stages of the project. You can print this document, or use it in file format-adding your comments as your students work through the project.

Saving Project files:

Be prepared to teach students how to open and save project documents. This may involve creating a folder where you want the files saved. Your LMS can help you with this step.

One suggestion is to save to a folder on the S Drive under the teacher's name. Create a subfolder called Ecosystems or Ecoscenarios. Direct students to create a unique name for their documents, perhaps using their combined names or initials and a document identifier. For example:JohnMichaelAmy Questioning.doc

Students should be encouraged to keep a backup copy in their own h:drive folder as well.

Vocabulary:

Students will be taught many new terms and vocabulary words related to the study of ecosystems. The vocabulary words used within this online research project are:

Ecosystem Environment Organism Population
Community Human Impact Human Issues Trophic Level
Food Web Abiotic Biotic Producer
Consumer Decomposer Energy Flow  

Additional terms will be introduced and defined in the text, the curriculum guide and on the CD.

Final Presentations:

Teams should divide up jobs and plan to make a persuasive oral presentation describing one key organism, presenting their food web and giving their recommendations to Congress. The presentations will include:

  • A PowerPoint presentation which uses images and brief text to highlight the important details on their organism.
    • Defines 2-3 abiotic factors for the ecosystem and describes how these abiotic factors influence the ecosystem.
    • In preparing the presentation keep in mind that for each bullet, students should have at least one additional fact or point of clarification to add to what is on the screen
    • Begin with an Introductory slide
    • End with a Conclusion slide
  • A poster detailing a food web with 10-15 organism representing all trophic levels and arrows showing energy flow in the ecosystem.
  • A Bibliography of sources used to gather the information and images used in the presentation and letter. Created in MLA citation format . The resources contained on the previous link will provide you with information to use in teaching this skill and others that will assist the student in creating their list of works cited.