Ecology in Middle School TEKS 2009-2010 A Sample Inquiry – Your Ideas for Assessment

What do we find for Middle School? Organisms and environments. Students can describe biotic and abiotic parts of an ecosystem in which organisms interact (6th) Organisms and environments. The student knows that there is a relationship between organisms and the environment. (7th) Organisms and environments. The student knows that interdependence occurs among living systems and the environment and that human activities can affect these systems. (8th)

Descriptive verbs diagram the levels of organization (6) observe and describe how different environments, including microhabitats in schoolyards and biomes, support different varieties of organisms;(7) describe how biodiversity contributes to the sustainability of an ecosystem;

Descriptive verbs (7) The student knows that populations and species demonstrate variation and inherit many of their unique traits through gradual processes over many generations. The student is expected to: examine organisms or their structures such as insects or leaves and use dichotomous keys for identification; explain variation within a population or species by comparing external features, behaviors, or physiology of organisms that enhance their survival such as migration, hibernation, or storage of food in a bulb; and identify some changes in genetic traits that have occurred over several generations through natural selection

Descriptive Verbs (8) describe producer/consumer, predator/prey, and parasite/host relationships as they occur in food webs within marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems; investigate how organisms and populations in an ecosystem depend on and may compete for biotic and abiotic factors such as quantity of light, water, range of temperatures, or soil composition;  explore how short- and long-term environmental changes affect organisms and traits in subsequent populations; and

A Favorite Inquiry – “Tasty Worms” Question: Does color, pattern or taste make a difference as to whether a “worm” gets eaten by birds in a field or a wooded environment? In other words, do certain colors, patterns, tastes support species survival? Does it matter whether the “worm” is in an open field or in a wooded area?

Method Make various 2” worms from flour and water (tasty), food coloring—some to match environments, some to contrast, to some add bitter flavoring (vinegar?), others add warning stripes with the bitter, others warning stripes without the bitter. Be sure to record how many of each variety your group has: Ex: 12 yellow, 12 green, 12 red, 12 blue, 12 yellow striped, 12 yellow bitter striped, 12 blue striped

Methods (cont.) Each group measure out a plot 3m x 3m Distribute your “worms” – you will take a count of each kind every day or every other day for 10 days In the meantime—you can collect various data about your plot (field or woods)- species diversity (# producers, #consumers), air and soil temperature each day, etc.- daily journal Hypothesis: What do you expect to happen to your “worm” numbers after 2,4,6,8,10 days? Put in chart?

Assessment Ideas? Yours?

Assessment? Daily Journal – observations, measurements, individual responsibilities Concept Map –interdependence among living things? Relationship between organisms and their environment? Ecosystem – biotic and abiotic? Rubric – see pg 14 in handout Vee –Team Plan –Implement – Evaluate evidence Conceptual Model – microhabitat in schoolyard Formative along the way-initial hypotheses (color, stripes, taste)