August-June
Energy is constantly moving in and through an ecosystem. Students will conduct a survey of stream, field, and forest habitats at Greenacres and learn about the interrelationships between the organisms that they have observed as well as the movements of matter and energy throughout the ecosystem.
Ohio Science Standards:
- LS Grade 7: Matter is transferred continuously between one organism to another and between organisms and their physical environments.
- LS Grade 7: Energy can be transferred through a variety of ways.
- LS Grade 7: In any particular biome, the number, growth and survival of organisms and populations depend on biotic and abiotic factors.
NGSS Standards:
- MS-LS1-4. Use arguments based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
- MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms
- MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
- MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
Vocabulary:
food web, carnivore, omnivore, herbivore, ecosystem, population dynamics
Introduction: CLICK HERE for a poster from a Greenacres educator