Teacher Resources for Instructional Planning


HS, Biology Std 16: Identify density-dependent and density-independent limiting factors that affect populations in an ecosystem. • Ex – density dependent – disease, predator-prey relationships, availability of food and water – density independent – natural disasters, climate. • Discriminating among symbiotic relationships, including mutualism, commensalisms, and parasitism.

Lesson Plans: The Natural Selection of Forks and Beans Students will observe how population size can vary from generation to generation in response to changing environmental conditions. Burrowing Owls To give students an example of how human activities impacted a specific community of Burrowing Owls. Abrupt Climate Changes To explore how scientific knowledge changes in the context of abrupt climate change. Acid Rain and How it Affects Our Environment Demonstrate phenomenologically the effects of acid rain on our environment and perform long-term "real-time" experiments. Crowding in an Ecosystem What happens when a plant population is too dense? Wetland Ecosystems A great collection of labs. Biodiversity Activities The first activity illustrates how to use math to calculate a simplified version of the diversity index of a selected habitat. The closer to 1 the diversity index is, the more diverse and healthy the habitat is. the second activity compares and contrasts the spread of disease in monoculture and biologically diverse communities. Bird Populations To understand how scientists discern patterns and changes in bird populations. The People Bomb Students learn about factors which influence birth rates, predict the world’s future population based on current growth rates, discuss changes in life-style necessary for larger populations, and suggest and discuss solutions to the dilemmas posed by rapid population growth. Cricket Patch Density A semester-length field study investigating the size of a grassland patch as related to cricket population density. By utilizing the mark-recapture method, students apply the Lincoln-Peterson equation to population estimates. Comparisons are made between large grassy patches and small ones for population density. Findings can then be related to further research on habitat fragmentation and species diversity. Managing the Everglades Ecosystem To explore the Everglades ecosystem using the Internet. To develop an understanding about conservation of resources in the context of the Everglades; explore relationships between species and habitats; and develop an understanding of how human beings have altered the equilibrium in the Everglades. Design an Ecosystem A simulation activity: Students create a simple, imaginary ecosystem. They describe the interrelations between the species inhabiting the ecosystem and their physical environment. Then then imagine an alteration in their environment and project the impact that such a change would have on the organisms living in their ecosystem. Finally, they write an environmental impact statement suggesting ways to mitigate the effects of the change. Parasites and Disease Students have probably heard about parasite-borne diseases, but they might not know the specifics of how these diseases are spread and how disease rates can be reduced. In this lesson, they will research some parasite-borne diseases and report on how parasites infect their hosts and how people are trying to reduce infection rates. Two Threats to African Wildlife Two of the most serious threats to African wildlife today are habitat destruction and hunting/poaching. In this lesson, students will investigate both of these issues and determine which problem should be addressed first or whether they must both be addressed simultaneously.

Resources: National Wildlife Federation Teacher's Corner Resources Biodiversity Online Presentation
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