134 The importance of niches pg. 135 Plant growth requirements pg.138 Labs: – Investigate the interdependence of living systems and environment, as well as competition for resources. - To observe and identify the components of an ecosystem. - To investigate diversity in a pond water ecosystem. – Students will explain how adaptations help organisms survive in different environments. - Explore the factors influencing the size of Dall sheep populations Informational text: – Student reading on populations – “Life in a community” Lessons: - Over the course of four days, students will be introduced to the topic of “invasive species” and watch video clips showcasing some well-known young and avoids danger. Performance task: Allow students to imagine that they are molecules of water. Create a story about how they travel and what they will encounter as they go through one complete cycle of the water cycle. Performance task: Explore the school grounds outdoors. Have students work in groups to describe the different levels of organization found on the grounds. They should describe an organism, a population, the community of populations, and the abiotic elements of the ecosystem. Performance task: Write and describe the ecosystems where they used to live. Encourage the students to explain why the ecosystem is important to the people in that area. Show the locations of these areas on a map after students describe and present them to the class. Performance task: - Design a travel brochure to convince their audience to visit there. Performance task: – Article explaining how energy moves through the ecosystem. Use this article to identify the claims, evidence, and reasoning of how organisms obtain energy. Performance task: Using a graphic
observe particles collected and chart the data – over 10 experiments available –p. 26 – p. 29 – activities 1-11 Informational text: - The text explains the three ways heat passes into and through the atmosphere by relating examples from everyday life to atmospheric forms of heat transfer. – Readworks passage Lessons: – Explore the causes and effects of the Earth's ozone holes through discussion and an interactive simulation – lesson that involves understanding properties and behavior of heat, light, and sound. Community connections Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Local news stations Meteorologists one of the selected articles provided in the materials section. Tell them that as they read, they should look for descriptions of the Earth’s different spheres within the text. Performance task: Make an oral or written argument that supports the concept of convection and its effect in the atmosphere. Performance task: - Allow the students to read about the causes of wind including land and sea breezes. Performance task: Using a barometer, students should demonstrate how to observe and record daily pressure readings within the classroom and outdoors. They should collect data and write their findings in the science journal. Have them to rationalize why the readings vary. Performance task: – Math connection activities one and two that provide procedures on conducting the investigations Performance task: – Build a solar house p. 44 Performance task: Write three paragraphs describing examples from your life that show how you use or interact with heat. The first