Ecological Concepts – Trophic Levels and Succession

Lab Sheet
Lab Rubric
Lab Answer Sheet
Lesson Worksheet
Pre- and Post-Tests

Names: Debra Sears and Susan Dodds
Grade 10 (or appropriate for Environmental Studies)
School: Norwood-Norfolk High School
Subject: Regents Living Environment

NYS Learning Standards - Science
Standard 4 Key Idea 1: Living things are both similar to and different from each other and from nonliving things.

Performance Indicator 1.1: Explain how diversity of populations within ecosystems relates to the stability of ecosystems.

Major Understandings 1.1a – 1.1f:

• a. Populations can be categorized by the function they serve. Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers carrying out either autotrophic or
• heterotrophic nutrition.

b. An ecosystem is shaped by the nonliving environment as well as its interacting species. The world contains a wide diversity of physical conditions (abiotic factors), which creates a variety of ecosystems.

• c. In all environments, organisms compete for vital resources. The linked and changing interactions of populations and the environment compose the total ecosystem.
• d. The interdependence of organisms in an established ecosystem often results in approximate stability of hundreds and thousands of years (climax community). For example, as one population increases, it is held in check by one or more environmental factors or another species.
• e. Ecosystems, like many other complex systems, tend to show cyclic changes (succession) around a state of approximate equilibrium.
• f. Every population is linked, directly or indirectly, with many others in an ecosystem (species interactions). Disruptions in the numbers and types of species and environmental changes can upset ecosystem stability.

NYS Learning Standards - Math
7.S.1 Identify and collect data using a variety of methods
7.S.6 Read and interpret data represented graphically (pictograph, bar graph, histogram, line graph, double line/bar graphs or circle graph)
7.S.8 Interpret data to provide the basis for predictions and to establish experimental probabilities
8.N.3 Read, write, and identify percents less than 1% and greater than 100%
8.N.5 Estimate a percent of quantity, given an application

NYS Learning Standards - M.S.T.
MST Standard 2.1: Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.

Problem Statement:
To explain how the living and nonliving factors within an ecosystem affect each other and how they change and respond to disturbances over time by examining species interactions and changes displayed in computer generated diagrams and graphs.
Learning objectives (1-6 Trophic Levels, 7-11 Succession):

1. TSW create a food web diagram to show the feeding relationships and flow of energy through a forest ecosystem with a given set of organisms.
2. TSW be able to determine the effect of changes in biotic and abiotic factors on the organisms within the given ecosystem.
3. TSW be able to identify the feeding level that each organism occupies within the food web (producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, etc.).
4. TSW be able to organize organisms based on the different types of consumers (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, and decomposer).
5. TSW discuss the importance of species diversity on ecosystem stability.
6. TSW calculate the percentage of trees present in an abandoned field at 5 years, 20 years, 50 years and 100 years after abandonment.
7. TSW generate two graphs showing the percentage of each species of tree at each time period, either in the understory or canopy.
8. TSW relate the data shown in the graphs to the process of succession in an abandoned field.
9. TSW interpret the data to determine how succession affects the number and type of organisms in an ecosystem.
10. TSW determine the resulting type of climax community in an abandoned hayfield in New York.
11. TSW predict what effect this ecological disturbance will have on the types of organisms that live or will live in that particular ecosystem.

Optional Extension Objective:
TSW compare and contrast the succession events in an abandoned hay field (based on information from their graphs) to a current local or national ecological disturbance.

Essential Question(s):
What are some positive and negative effects of ecological disturbances?
How can human activities affect species diversity?
What implications does this have for ecosystems over time?

Discussion of thinking skills/levels that students will need:

1. Knowledge – define, describe, recall, recognize – key terms within unit
2. Comprehend – calculate, explain, infer, interpret, predict
3. Apply – compute, construct, produce, relate
4. Analyze – analyze, compare, contrast, relate
5. Synthesis – construct, explain, relate, summarize
6. Evaluate – compare, contrast, describe, determine, explain, interpret, relate, summarize

Rigor and Relevance Target: D Adaptation (Real World Predictable)

Resources:
Prentice Hall textbooks:

• for Honors RLE – Biology for New York State
• For RLE – Biology: Exploring Life

Software:

• Inspiration
• Smart Board – Notebook
• Microsoft Powerpoint
• ExamGen – for tests

Website resources: Google Image search

Technology: Computers, Smart Board, multi-media projector, calculators

Other: Students needed to use their class notes to find and clarify answers

Instructional Modifications:
Extended test time and alternate location for students with an IEP or a 504 accommodation.

Estimated Time used for Planning: (at least 20 hours)
Time spent putting lessons together, including time used during workshops to develop lessons, searching for images online, re-writing the lab activities with technology integrated and additional analysis questions, learning how to use Smart Notebook and creating graph template, reviewing Inspiration program, and copying, at least 20 hours for both lab activities between the two of us. We initially had some difficulty deciding exactly which lessons we wanted to select for this project, so that took up some of our time, as well.

Estimated Time for Implementation: (total – six, 42 minute class periods)
In addition to the class notes given, instruction on how to use particular software, scheduling computer lab time…
Both lab activities require three, 42 minutes class periods to complete the required data compilation, computer work, answer the questions and then complete a final answer sheet.

Estimated Time for Assessment: (total – 154 minutes)
Pre-test: 20 minutes
Post-test: 20 minutes
Grading labs with rubric: 30 minutes
Unit Test (would be given during class time and include information from the entire Ecology Unit): 42 minutes (1 class period)
Lab Test (unfortunately these two labs were taught in different marking periods due to snow days, and were not able to be assessed on the same test): 42 minutes (1 class period)

Time spent in triad outside of workshops: Often (3-6 times)
But, we also work in adjoining classrooms, so there were many times when we discussed our STEM lessons in little bits here and there.

Reflection
Why These Lessons Were Developed
The two laboratory activities that were developed for this unit were chosen
because they require students to actively manipulate and work with the concepts taught in our Ecology unit for Living Environment. Further, these two lab activities integrate many of the ecological concepts needed for success on the Living Environment Regents exam.
We did teach both of the lab activities in this mini-unit. However, the Succession lab was the only one that had been revised as a Gold Seal lesson before we taught it. We did teach our original Trophic Levels lab, and the Trophic Levels lab that is included here was revised as a Gold Seal lesson after the Ecology unit was completed, so this reflection will focus only on the Succession lab.

What We Learned From Implementation
The Succession lab is one that we have done for years, using traditional methods of graph paper and colored pencils. Students have always found it frustrating – the graphs are involved and somewhat complex and they often made mistakes in plotting the data points, requiring them to start over. Another area of frustration (for both students as well as teachers!) was calculating the percentages of trees in the quadrats. For some reason, even though students are very familiar with calculating percents, as soon as they see this in a science lab it becomes a totally unknown concept, requiring the teachers to re-teach a concept that students should already know.
To help students “remember” what they already know about calculating percentages we added a refresher and a formula for the calculations. Doing this removed most of the issues we’d had previously with this part of the lab and allowed us to focus more on explaining the science processes involved.
Using Notebook Software (available for use with Interactive Whiteboards)
we developed a graph template which includes the axes and “cloned data points” and saved it on our school server. We then reserved the library for each of our lab sections for 2 days each, allowing plenty of time for students to become familiar with this new graphing method. After a short 15-minute instruction on how to work with the software and template, we let the students work on their own and made ourselves available for questions.
We also added 6 additional analysis/conclusion questions that required the
students to further relate their data to the concepts of ecological succession and demonstrate a deeper understanding.
Even with increased rigor, students were still able to meet with objectives without great difficulty. Students were quickly able to learn the new software used to create their graphs and experienced less frustration with the graphing aspect of this lab activity.

Representation of Best Classroom Practices
Students learn science best by participating in active learning that is relevant to their lives and the world outside of school. These lab activities incorporate active learning and combine it with the use of technology and allow for students to work together and help each other. The laboratory setting is less formal than a structured classroom, letting students fulfill their need for social learning while still staying on task and completing the activity.

Student Engagement
The students were highly engaged in this lab activity. They stayed on task during the software instruction and easily followed the procedure and directions. One of the most notable differences between this years’ lab and previous versions was the ease with which students were able to correct mistakes while graphing. As they became familiar with using the program, they added their own creative details and took more time to get things exactly right. There was much less frustration and no complaining about starting over when they made a mistake on their graph. We felt that they were much more able to focus on the data and less inclined to obsess over getting the graph exactly right because they knew it was easily correctable.

Assessment
Since we were already teaching this unit when we started our STEM workshops, we were not able to use the Pre and Post-test as assessment tools. However, the concepts in these labs were also covered in class and were tested on the Unit test at the end of the unit.
Our labs are graded in front of the students at the moment they are turned in, according to the Grading Rubric. Any wrong answers, drawings, graphs, etc. must be corrected immediately. Labs are not accepted until they are completely correct. Therefore, our Lab Grading Rubric is extremely useful and allows for immediate feedback to students. They are constantly being assessed on their understanding of the concepts during their lab sessions.
At two points, halfway through the marking period and then at the end, the students are given a lab test that covers the previous labs. Students have their own “sloppy copies” of the labs with the correct answers to study for these tests.
We were disappointed in one aspect of the students’ results for the lab test that incorporated these labs – even though we had added extra instruction on calculating the percentages, many students still did not complete that part of the lab test, or completed it incorrectly. We concluded that students had not gone back to study their labs and make sure they were able to perform all of the skills being tested. However, we feel that “not studying” is a separate issue and does not indicate any problem with the lab activity itself.

Life Outside of School
Ecology and the environment is a “hot topic” right now and constantly in the news. The relevancy of this topic to students’ lives outside of school is high, as many of them hunt, hike, or fish. Many students live on small farms and have seen succession first-hand, perhaps without knowing what they were seeing.
These lab activities enable students to perceive that the natural world has processes that work on a large scale, but small-scale interference by humans can have a profound impact at a local level.