Mission Library

Ecosystem Patterns
Ecosystems
Grades 3, 6-8

The Mission
39 min

Storyline

Students will analyze ecosystems to determine the best solution to help the organisms thrive.

The Industrial Sector currently has animals and plants that should be thriving but are currently teetering on the brink of destruction if we don't intervene. There is some instability in the ecosystems that needs to be ironed out. The crew will need to investigate the ecosystems in question and come up with the best solutions to correct the problems there.

This is a follow-up Mission to the "Relocation Round-Up" mission, but can also stand alone.

3-Dimensional Science

Phenomenon

Patterns in interactions among organisms maintain healthy ecosystems.

Science and Engineering Practices

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

  • Constuct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that predict(s) and/or describe(s) phenomena.

  • Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students' own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

  • Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to construct, revise and/or use and explanation for real-world phenomena, examples, or events.

  • Apply scientific reasoning to show why the data or evidence is adequate for the explanation or conclusion.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

  • Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

  • Students recognize that macroscopic patterns are related to the nature of microscopic and atomic-level structure. They identify patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships that provide information about natural and human designed systems. They use patterns to identify cause and effect relationships, and use graphs and charts to identify patterns in data.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

  • Organisms and populations are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors, any of which can limit their growth. Competitive, predatory, and mutally beneficial interactions vary across ecosystems but the patterns are shared.

Resources
Targeted Standards
Timeline
Skills in Action