Why do you think the native people of Easter Island went extinct?

http://easterisland.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/map1.jpghttp://www.rapa-nui.org/projects_files/NASA_Satellite1.jpghttp://www.mattnortham.com/blog/wp-content/images/2007/01/easter-island.jpg

Ecology and the Environment

Concept PresentationEAQ2020Y-Y-60Ian Hazlewood

Ministry Expectations

There are Ministry expectations related to ecology and the environment throughout every grade:Starting in grade 1 with a unit on the needs and characteristics of living things

(1.1, 1.2, 2.2, 2.4, 3.1, 3.4-3.7)

all the way throughGrade 12 Expectations in Biology (C1.1, 2.3, 3.2, 3.4, E1.2, F1.2, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2,

3.4, 3.5), Chemistry (B1.1, 1.2, C1.2, D1.1, 1.2,

E1.1, 1.2) and Earth Science (F1.3, 2.2, 3.6)

The Joys of Teaching Ecology

It’s a huge complicated topicLabs take a long timeWe should still strive to hold to

scientific process

Common Difficulties

Students tend to notice the differences between animals and plants, but fail to recognize the similarities and thus their interdependence

Most ecology is presented in an abstract method (textbooks and charts), making it hard for students to fully understand, especially those born in urban areas

Presentation Focus

Expectations B 3.2 Describe the complimentary processes of cellular respiration and photosynthesis with respect to the flow of energy and the cycling of matter within ecosystems, and explain how human activities can disrupt the balance achieved by these processes.

B 3.4 Identify the earth’s four spheres, and describe the relationship that must exist between these spheres if diversity and sustainability are to be maintained.

Lesson OrderLesson /Cluster Number Major Topics Covered, Activities, and Evaluations

1Abiotic v Biotic Concept AttainmentPhotosynthesis and Cellular Respiration

- what do they need, what do they produceSet up fertilizer and acidity labs

2Food Chains/Webs – Web of life GameEnergy Transfer – What is actually being passed from level to levelCycling of Materials - ball toss activity

3Pyramids - energy, numbers, biomassBioaccumulation – What else can be passed along the chainLimiting Factors – what happens when something is removed?

Which things are most important?

4

Case Studies/Labs – Human effects on the cycling of materials•Finish up fertilizer lab•Finish up acidity lab•Case study on Greenhouse Gasses•Case study of Deforestation

Misconceptions related to food chains and pyramids

food webs are interpreted as simple food chainsorganisms higher in a food web eat everything that

is lower in the webthe top of a food chain has the most energy

because it accumulates up the chainpopulations higher on a food web increase in

number, because they deplete those lower in the web

Evaluation

“Flow maps and content analysis may be used to identify connections of knowledge.”Bischhoff, Paul J.; Anderson, O.R. School Science and Mathematics; v98 n5 p228-37 May 1998 .

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/whales/foodweb.gif

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/whales/_derived/food%20web.htm_txt_whales1.gif

Lesson OrderLesson /Cluster

Number Major Topics Covered, Activities, and Evaluations

1Abiotic v Biotic Concept AttainmentPhotosynthesis and Cellular Respiration

- what do they need, what do they produce

2Food Chains/Webs – Web of life GameEnergy Transfer – What is actually being passed from level to levelCycling of Materials - ball toss activity

3Pyramids - Energy, Numbers, BiomassBioaccumulation – What else can be passed along the chainLimiting Factors – what happens when something is removed?

Which things are most important?

4

Case Studies/Labs – Human effects on the cycling of materials•Set up fertilizer lab•Set up acidity lab•Case study on Greenhouse Gasses•Case study of Deforestation

Flow Activity

http://www.starsandseas.com/SAS_Images/SAS_ecol_images/SAS_ecol_physical/cycle_carbon_4.jpg

http://www.starsandseas.com/SAS_Images/SAS_ecol_images/SAS_ecol_physical/Nitrogen_Cycle-4.jpg

http://www.starsandseas.com/SAS_Images/SAS_ecol_images/SAS_ecol_physical/Water_Cycle-4.jpg

http://www.starsandseas.com/SAS_Images/SAS_ecol_images/SAS_ecol_physical/Cycle_Phosphorus_2.jpg

Activity InstructionsDivide class into groups.Each group represents a different

nutrient cycle, with different individuals representing different sections of the cycle.

Students pass the balls around by announcing the process that is occurring and passing the ball to the appropriate area.

After mastery in their own cycle, join multiple cycles together. Have individual groups demonstrate their cycle to the class, then try passing all materials at once.

Evaluation

Concept maps (visual learners)A journal telling of the path a

particular nutrient followed, the things it met, the things it did, etc… (literary learners)

A radio/television broadcast following a day in the life of a particular nutrient (oral learners)

Etc…

Next Steps

We can introduce the idea of the different pyramids to show how much energy/material is being transferred from level to level.

What happens when parts of the web start disappearing? (Limiting Factors)

What else can passed along the food chains? (Bioaccumulation)

Societal Implications

Over fishingDeforestationPollutionBioaccumulationClimate Change