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What forces drive the patterns of change observed in organisms and environments over time?
Each organism has a place, defined by the biotic and abiotic features that surround it. Life operates using the tools provided by the instructions within their DNA. However, natural systems are complex and unpredictable, so change is inevitable. This lesson will examine how each organism and environment is both a cause of and a response to constant change.
Warm Ups, etc:
The Place I Live - students revisit the features of their own local natural habitat and their place in it.
The 7th Extinction - students analyze historical causes of extinction, then they generate their own pie graph using data provided.
Extinct is Forever? - Open response questions about the restoration of a species and it implications (can be used as exit slip activity)
Keystone Species - students define and give examples of specific organisms that support or represent the health of ecosystems
The Giraffe's Neck - students review basic concepts of natural selection (as compared to Lamarck)
Change Over Time - students interpret diagrams and relate examples to the patterns of speciation
Instruction, Presentations, Assignments, Activities, etc:
Discuss - Conservation Status - how scientists classify organisms regarding their current numbers and future prospects
Reading Assignment: 20 Species We Might Lose - read assignment, answer questions (ws in plan book)
Follow up- review conservation status and the current state of these organisms
The Aral Sea - short BBC documentary about the disappearance of a major body of water due to human action
WS - Extinctions Then and Now - Review the major features of historical extinctions, then review examples of modern extinctions and their anthropogenic causes.
WS - Ecological Succession - read and review
Speciation Video (Amoeba Sisters) - review processes of speciation
Starling Murmuration - video footage of a flock of starlings (use to describe niche, alien species)
Notes - Critical Features - how certain environments are limited
Vocab & Diagrams - Natural Selection & Speciation
Web Resources:
The Beaver example of niche - wikipedia
The Aral Sea - short BBC documentary about the disappearance of a major body of water due to human action
Speciation Video (Amoeba Sisters) - review processes of speciation
Starling Murmuration - video footage of a flock of starlings (use to describe niche, alien species)
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