NC Bio Unit: How do small changes make big impacts on Ecosystems?
Unit Question: How do small changes make big impacts on ecosystems? | |||
Anchoring Phenomenon |  Lionfish as an invasive species Image by Fiona Martin available via Creative Commons License through WIkimedia. | ||
Standards Alignment | 2.2.1 Infer how human activities (including population growth, pollution, global warming, burning of fossil fuels, habitat destruction and introduction of nonnative species) may impact the environment. 2.1.3 Explain various ways organisms interact with each other (including predation, competition, parasitism, mutualism) and with their environments resulting in stability within ecosystems 2.1.1 Analyze the flow of energy and cycling of matter (water, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen) through ecosystems relating the significance of each to maintaining the health and sustainability of an ecosystem 4.1.1 Compare the structures and functions of the major biological molecules (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids) as related to the survival of living organisms. 4.1.2 Summarize the relationship among DNA, proteins and amino acids in carrying out the work of cells and how this is similar in all organisms 4.1.3 Explain how enzymes act as catalysts for biological reactions. 2.1.1 Analyze the flow of energy and cycling of matter (water, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen) through ecosystems relating the significance of each to maintaining the health and sustainability of an ecosystem | ||
Narrative for teacher: In this unit, students will use the anchoring phenomenon: Lionfish population change in the Atlantic to explore questions related to population, energy, food webs, limiting factors, respiration/photosynthesis, biomolecules, relationships in an ecosystem, and sustainability. Woven in between lessons, I pre-assess and provide small group instruction aligned to standards in order to extend content, provide practice with standard content, or remediate content for students that have not shown proficiency with the standards. I will be linking those resources in the future. Also, I weave in days for students to have one-on-one conferences because I use a modified standards-based grading model. Please share any remixes you create! | |||