In this unit...
Students will understand that...
Balance of an ecosystem is subject to change.
Natural, as well as human, interactions cause changes to environmental systems and cycles with predictable effects.
Organisms have structures and processes that serve various functions.
Different species can be classified by common characteristics and life cycles.
All organisms depend on the living and nonliving features of the environment for survival.
An organism's characteristics are inherited, the results of interactions with the environment, or a combination of the two.
Students will keep considering the following questions:
What is necessary for life?
What conditions create a change?
What effect do people have on the environment?
How can living things be so different, yet so alike?
Students will work on the following skills/concepts:
physical characteristics (living and nonliving) of environments support populations and communities within an ecosystem.
the specific environment that meets an organism’s needs is called a habitat.
a habitat can only keep a certain number of organisms alive.
the role an organism plays in its habitat is called its niche.
environmental changes may be harmful or helpful to the organisms living in an ecosystem.
the flow of energy in the food chain begins with the Sun.
organisms have structures with functions in order to interact and survive in a specific environment.
Students will be skilled at:
observing and describing the physical characteristics of environments.
using diagrams to illustrate and compare plant and animal life cycles.
illustrating and describing how energy is transferred throughout a food chain.
predicting how changes in a food chain affect an ecosystem.
investigating how plants undergo changes during a life cycle
collecting information by detailed observations and accurate measuring.
communicating scientific explanations and valid conclusions.
reading texts and/or using media to obtain information
Critical Vocabulary
communities
ecosystem
functions
food chain
sun energy
shelter
physical characteristics
populations
structures
survive
habitat
organism
niche
thrive
parish
consumer
producer
decomposer
species
energy transfer
food web
biome
Life Science Assessment - Thursday, February 16th
Quizlet: Life Science Vocabulary
Life Science Project
Students will be researching in groups about a specific ecosystem. Students will then individually choose an organism from that ecosystem and create a google slide with information on how the organism survives in the environment. They will individually create a model of their organism and its habitat, while collectively creating a model zoo exhibit of their ecosystem with their group.