Curriculum

HOW CAN WE PREDICT CHANGE IN ECOSYSTEMS?

  • The cover of the How Can We Predict Change in Ecosystems Teacher Guide with a grid of 12 circle images with trees, orcas, sea squirts and fish in the circle images.

HOW CAN WE PREDICT CHANGE IN ECOSYSTEMS?

Tagged
Grade 5
Life Science

How Can We Predict Change in Ecosystems? is part of Smithsonian Science for the Classroom, a curriculum series by the Smithsonian Science Education Center. It is aligned to a group of grade 5 standards. It has a focus on life science with a secondary focus on physical science. In this module, students:

  • Carry out investigations to provide evidence that plants get most of their matter from air and water.
  • Analyze data showing that animals get both matter and energy by consuming food.
  • Develop and use food web models to track matter and energy flows in ecosystems.
  • Obtain information about the causes and effects of invasive species.
  • Use models to support a prediction about which of two coastal locations is more likely to be invaded by a nonnative sea squirt.

Below are digital resources that support teaching this module.

 

Coming Soon!

Lesson 2: It’s a Gas

Bromothymol Blue
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This image shows how the color of bromothymol blue (BTB) changes as carbon dioxide levels increase.

Lesson 4: What’s the Matter?

Key for Representing Energy and Matter
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This file is a key to the symbols used to represent energy and matter in models created throughout the module.

Lesson 6: Panda-monium

Panda September 2020
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This video shows a giant panda cub shortly after being born.

Panda January 2022
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This video shows the same giant panda cub playing, running, and rolling in the snow.

Energy in Food
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This video shows a peanut and marshmallow burning.

Lesson 8: A Mystery at the Pond

Fish Kill
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This video shows a pond with dead fish floating on the surface.

Aquatic Plants
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This video shows gas bubbles forming on aquatic plants under a lamp.

Lesson 9: A Tangled Web

Sample Food Web
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This image shows a simplified food web that includes plants and animals in a pond environment.

Lesson 12: Worming Their Way

Kitchen Compost
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These images show the kitchen compost a week apart.

Worm Investigation
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This image shows students the materials they have available to plan an investigation.

Lesson 14: Surveying Sea Squirts Part 1

Sea Squirts
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This video shows live sea squirts.

Lesson 15: Surveying Sea Squirts Part 2

Science Challenge: Surveying Sea Squirts
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This file contains a description of the Science Challenge.

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