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Storyline Narrative 8.3.3

Episode 1 Phenomenon: Students will watch a video about the wolves in Yellowstone and their effect on the ecosystem. They will ask questions about why this is occurring.  

 

Episode 2: Students will create a food web as a model using cards of organisms and string to show the relationships between them. They will identify that a food web helps to show the energy flow as well as the cycling of matter in an ecosystem.  

 

Episode 3:  Students obtain information as they participate in a Carbon Cycle Activity. They then use this information to develop a model of their own unique journey through the carbon cycle. They then compare their journey with other students journey’s. Students participate in a discussion where they share what they found out about their journey as an atom of carbon and how that compared to others journeys. Through this activity students are able to see the complexity of the carbon cycle, relate the cycle to the Law of Conservation of Matter, and relate how the carbon cycle is an important process in sustaining life on Earth.

 

Episode 4: Students will identify the organisms that are in the urban ecosystem around the school. They will create a food web model and then identify which organisms used to be in the food web but aren’t anymore.  They will identify what caused the changes of our ecosystem.


Episode 5: Students explore and explain the phenomenon by researching a change happening in an ecosystem and writing a five paragraph essay communicating what they now know after obtaining, evaluating information.

Bacon Pancakes

Episode 1

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Question

What causes changes to occur in ecosystems?

Snapshot

Students will watch a video about the wolves in Yellowstone and their effect on the ecosystem.  They will ask questions about why this is occurring.  

Conceptual Understandings

Introducing wolves into Yellowstone had a dramatic change on the ecosystem.

How does organism have such a major effect on other organisms?

Anchor 4

Conceptual Understandings

A food web is a model that shows the energy flow as well as the cycling of matter  in an ecosystem.  Organisms rely on each other and if one is affected so are the others.

What matter is cycling through the ecosystem?

Snapshot

Students in a class activity will create a food web using cards of organisms and string to show the relationships between them.  

Episode 2

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Question

What relationships are there in an ecosystem?

Anchor 1

Episode 3

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Question

What type of matter is extremely important to the function of an ecosystem?

Snapshot

Students participate in a Carbon Cycle Activity.   They then use this information to develop a model of their own unique journey through the carbon cycle.  

Conceptual Understandings

Carbon cycles through living and nonliving things in an ecosystem

What are the relationships in the ecosystem we live in?

Anchor 2
Anchor 3

Episode 4

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Question

How has our ecosystem changed?

Snapshot

Students will identify the organisms that are in the urban ecosystem around the school, create a food web, and identify what the food web used to look like before we came here

Conceptual Understandings

By living in the area we do it has changed the ecosystem.  

What other types of changes affect ecosystems?

Anchor 5

Episode 5

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Question

What type of changes are happening to ecosystems today?

Snapshot

Students explore and explain the phenomenon by researching a change happening in an ecosystem and write a five paragraph essay about what they learned.

Conceptual Understandings

Some of the problems faced by an ecosystem that bring about changes that jeopardize the stability of the ecosystem.  And that there are ways that we can help bring stability back to an ecosystem.

Final Assessment is found in episode 5

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