Lesson plan
Effect of Chemicals in Ecosystem
Students will investigate how chemicals affect ecosystems through trophic cascades and biomagnification.
Overview
Students investigate how chemicals affect ecosystems through trophic cascades and biomagnification. The lesson opens with a video about Yellowstone wolves and a Puget Sound food web built from informational cards. Students then study biomagnification and trophic cascades. Finally, they choose a household chemical such as caffeine, research its effects, write an inquiry plan with a hypothesis and experimental design, and test it on Daphnia as a bioindicator. Groups present their findings on one slide using a claim, evidence, and reasoning format.
Lesson Objectives
- Investigate how chemicals affect ecosystems through trophic cascades and biomagnification.
Standards
NGSS · 2
- HS-LS1-2Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.
- HS-LS1-3Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.
CCSS ELA · 5
- RST.11-12.1Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to Important distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or inconsistencies in the account.
- WHST.9-12.2Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes.
- WHST.9-12.7Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including self-generated questions) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
- WHST.11-12.8Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the specific task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain
- WHST.9-12.9Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research