| POPULATIONS
AND ECOSYSTEMS COURSE MATRIX |
 |
SYNOPSIS |
SCIENCE
CONCEPTS |
PROCESSES |
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6. |
Population
Size (5–6 sessions)
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|
Students
explore some of the variables in an ecosystem that limit population
size. Based on their milkweed-bug study, they predict what the
population would be in 12 months. Students use simulations to
explore population interactions and outcomes. |
•
Reproductive potential is the theoretical unlimited growth of
a population over time.
• A limiting factor is any biotic or abiotic component
of the ecosystem that controls the population size. |
•
Calculate theoretical growth of a milkweed-bug population with
no limits.
• Analyze results of experiments on abiotic factors and
bug egg hatching.
• Relate abiotic and biotic factors to the growth or decline
of populations. |
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7. |
Ecoscenarios
(5 sessions) |
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Working
in groups, students use knowledge developed in previous investigations
to analyze a specific ecosystem and prepare reports. The FOSS
CD-ROM provides a tool to research ten ecosystems. |
•
Similar ecosystems occur in areas of similar abiotic conditions
on Earth.
• An ecosystem is a group of interacting organisms and
abiotic factors in a specified area.
• All ecosystems have characteristics in common, such
as trophic levels. |
•
Describe and communicate the abiotic and biotic components and
their interrelations in a specific area.
• Apply understanding of ecological concepts to a new
system.
• Describe ways that ecosystems are the same and different. |
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8. |
Adaptations
(7 sessions) |
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Students
are introduced to adaptation first through a video and then
by working with a multimedia simulation of a population of walkingsticks
that exhibit color variation. Students study the impact of predation
on the insects in different environments. |
•
Variation is the range of expression of a feature in a population.
• An adaptation is any trait of an organism that helps
it survive and reproduce in its environment.
• Variation in a population helps the population survive
when the environment changes. |
•
Use a multimedia simulation to investigate the adaptive value
of
protective coloration.
• Explain how adaptations help organisms survive in a
specific environment.
• Describe how a population can change over time in response
to environmental factors. |
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9. |
Genetic
Variation (6 sessions) |
|
Students
investigate the underlying mechanisms of change in population
by breeding imaginary animals called larkeys. They learn how
organisms inherit traits from their parents and how dominant
and recessive alleles interact to produce traits in a population. |
•
Genes are the basic units of heredity carried by chromosomes
in the nucleus of every cell. Genes code for features of organisms.
• An organism’s particular combination of paired
alleles is its genotype; the traits produced by those alleles
result in the phenotype. |
•
Use a simulation to determine the transfer of genetic information
during breeding and the traits that result.
• Explain how organisms inherit traits from parents. Describe
the interaction of dominant and recessive alleles.
• Use Punnett squares to predict the proportion of offspring
that will have certain traits. |
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10. |
Natural
Selection (5 sessions) |
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Students
study natural selection with larkeys and take a video journey
to the Galápagos Islands to revisit the location where
Charles Darwin gathered data for his theory of natural selection. |
•
Environmental factors put selective pressure on populations.
• Natural selection is the process by which the individuals
best adapted to their environment tend to survive and pass their
traits to subsequent generations. |
•
Describe how selective pressure can affect the genetic makeup
of a population.
• Explain how the traits expressed by the members of a
population can change naturally over time. |
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page 6
of 8 |
