Ecosystem+Threats

=**Lesson Four - Ecosystems in Danger**=

__Essential Question__: What threatens/ affects an ecosystem?

__Objective__: SWBAT identify three to four factors which threaten or affect the ecosystem

__Materials__: Class Poster (KWL) Sticky Notes Science Journals Chart Paper [|Threats to Ecosystems - U of MIch]

__Do Now:__ Brainstorm a list of possible threats to one of our closest ecosystems – Central Park

__Mini Lesson__: As a group, we will look at the University of Michigan site on “Threats to Ecosystems”. Together we will identify major threats to ecosystems and chart them. Chart them on Chart Paper to hang in class.

__Activity__: Students will be given a handout of “Threats from Above” and a section they will read. They will highlight new vocabulary and take notes as discussed in lesson 2 on their section. They will create a learning poster for share out on their assigned section and jigsaw the results.

__Project__: Students will be given the Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Threat handout. They will read the document and list factors that threaten or affect an ecosystem. They will then decide which of these factors are taking place in their local ecosystems and list them on the back of the paper.

__Assessment__:
 * 1) Classwork - Sharing of learning poster and new vocabulary usage
 * 2) Concept - Can students identify major threats to ecosystems?
 * 3) Homework - Student created list of factors threatening/affecting ecosystems based on reading of text

__Standards__:

3. Individual organisms and species change over time. 4. The continuity of life is sustained through reproduction and development. 5. Organisms maintain a dynamic equilibrium that sustains life. 7. Human decisions and activities have had a profound impact on the physical and living environment.
 * MST Learning Standards **
 * Standard 4—Science - Intermediate **

2. Technological tools, materials, and other resources should be selected on the basis of safety, cost, availability, appropriateness, and environmental impact; technological processes change energy, information, and material resources into more useful forms. 3. Computers, as tools for design, modeling, information processing, communication, and system control, have greatly increased human productivity and 5. Technology has been the driving force in the evolution of society from an agricultural to an industrial to an information base. 6. Technology can have positive and negative impacts on individuals, society, and the environment and humans have the capability and responsibility to constrain or promote technological development.
 * Standard 5 – Technology - Intermediate **


 * NYS Core The Living Environment **
 * Grades 5-8 **

4. recognize and analyze patterns and trends 5. classify objects according to an established scheme and a student-generated scheme 6. develop and use a dichotomous key 7. sequence events 8. identify cause-and-effect relationships 9. use indicators and interpret results
 * General Skills **

6. classify living things according to a student-generated scheme and an established scheme 9. identify structure and function relationships in organisms
 * Living Environment Skills **

Individual organisms and species change over time. 3.1b Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms with a particular trait. Small differences between parents and offspring can accumulate in successive generations so that descendants are very different from their ancestors. Individual organisms with certain traits are more likely to survive and have offspring than individuals without those traits. 3.1c Human activities such as selective breeding and advances in genetic engineering may affect the variations of species.
 * Key Idea 3: **

Describe factors responsible for competition within species and the significance of that competition. 3.2a In all environments, organisms with similar needs may compete with one another for resources. 3.2b Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to permit its survival. Extinction of species is common. Fossils are evidence that a great variety of species existed in the past.

Human decisions and activities have had a profound impact on the physical and living environment. 7.1a A population consists of all individuals of a species that are found together at a given place and time. Populations living in one place form a community. The community and the physical factors with which it interacts compose an ecosystem. 7.1b Given adequate resources and no disease or predators, populations (including humans) increase. Lack of resources, habitat destruction, and other factors such as predation and climate limit the growth of certain populations in the ecosystem. 7.1c In all environments, organisms interact with one another in many ways. Relationships among organisms may be competitive, harmful, or beneficial. Some species have adapted to be dependent upon each other with the result that neither could survive without the other. 7.1d Some microorganisms are essential to the survival of other living things. 7.1e The environment may contain dangerous levels of substances (pollutants) that are harmful to organisms. Therefore, the good health of environments and individuals requires the monitoring of soil, air, and water, and taking steps to keep them safe.
 * Key Idea 7: **

Describe the effects of environmental changes on humans and other populations. 7.2a In ecosystems, balance is the result of interactions between community members and their environment. 7.2b The environment may be altered through the activities of organisms. Alterations are sometimes abrupt. Some species may replace others over time, resulting in longterm gradual changes (ecological succession). 7.2c Overpopulation by any species impacts the environment due to the increased use of resources. Human activities can bring about environmental degradation through resource acquisition, urban growth, land-use decisions, waste disposal, etc. 7.2d Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have resulted in major pollution of air, water, and soil. Pollution has cumulative ecological effects such as acid rain, global warming, or ozone depletion. The survival of living things on our planet depends on the conservation and protection of Earth’s resources.

__ Blooms __ :

Knowledge:
 * Selecting important information from nonfiction text to include in science journal.
 * Recalling facts and using them in group discussions and writing
 * Defining what a threat to an ecosystem is.

Comprehension: Analysis
 * Explains what a threat to an ecosystem is.
 * Rewrites what is learned from texts and lessons in class to support his or her learning
 * Summarizes their finding about various subjects covered in unit
 * Compare and Contrast threats to Ecosystems

Synthesis:
 * summarizes threats to ecosystems and the place that man plays in those threats.

Evaluation:
 * interprets the loss of diversity and what is means for humans