“There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.”
― Aldo Leopold
Course Description:
This course will explore two of the primary ecosystems in Wisconsin; prairies and wetlands. You will learn the basics of how an ecosystem operates and apply those ideas to both types of ecosystems. This class is often outside and sometimes combined with the Thursday field days so plan to be outside, and get dirty.
Driving Question: How can we restore and maintain the health of our local ecosystem?
Unit 1: Prairies:
What is a prairie?
What organisms live in a prairie?
Why are prairies important?
What can we do to protect and restore prairies?
Related Projects and Field Experiences
Seed Collection
Soil Testing
Design and Build a Prairie at MG21
2
Unit 2 Wetlands:
What is a wetland?
What organisms live in a wetland?
Why are wetlands important?
What can we do to protect wetlands?
Related Projects and Field Experiences:
Cranes in the Classroom
Water Testing
Independent Wetland Research Action Project
Issues, Ideas and Concepts to Explore:
Introduction to Ecosystems - Abiotic vs. biotic features
Skills of Scientists: Using Transects and Quadrats to Gather Data in Ecosystems
Using Identification Tools such as Field Guides
Energy in an Ecosystem - Trophic Levels and Food Chains/Webs
Population Interactions in the Food Web
Biomass and Data Collection
Primary Standards:
(Disciplinary Core Idea) Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem. MS-LS2-1
Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems. MS-LS2-2
Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem. MS-LS2-3
Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations. MS-LS2-4
Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. MS-LS2-5