Ecosystems and competition Hayley Donovan 4th Grade 1-3 days (45 minute to 1 hour long sessions)

1. Purpose, Student Understanding, and Instructional Objectives a. The purpose of this unit within the ecosystem unit, is to assist students in understanding components of the ecosystem and be able to apply concepts to a real life situation. Through this understanding students will be able to identify and understand a food chain, habitat, niche, advantage and habitat within a given ecosystem. They will also be able to understand how change in one part of an ecosystem can affect the entire ecosystem. Likewise students will also need to be able to present these understandings and show their knowledge through the use of technology and a presentation to the class. 2. Standards a. Content Standard 1: Students, through the inquiry process, demonstrate the ability to design, conduct, evaluate, and communicate results and reasonable conclusions of scientific investigations. b. Students through the inquiry process, demonstrate knowledge of characteristics, structures and function of living things, the process and diversity of life and how living organisms interact with each other and their environment. 3. Materials and Resources Needed a. Fruit loops b. Smartboard c. IPads d. Handouts e. Science textbook f. Newspaper article 4. Instructional Method/ Teaching Procedure: a. Day 1 i. Introduction: For this activity students will take on members of a habitat and an ecosystem in order to begin to understand how actions of animals and the habitat affect the life and the survival of a species. ii. As the students walk in the door I will give them each a card that has a species of animal from the ecosystem on it. They will either be a: deer- herbivore, rabbit-herbivore, fox- omnivore, turkey buzzard- carnivore. 1. Before we start I will also make sure that the students know what a omnivore, carnivore, and herbivore are. iii. Students will then be instructed to collect the fruit loops. They will place them in their bags and then return to their seats, I will also tell them that it will not

matter how many fruit loops they collect or how fast they collect them. When the students return to their desks I will ask them to sort their fruit loops and display their species card. iv. Next I will tell the students what each color represents for each color of fruit loops. 1. Green: Plants, Blue: Water, Red: Predator Meat Yellow: Shelter, Orange: Scavenger Meat, Purple: Pollution v. Next I will present the students with the following constraints and see who survives 1. Explain if you are an elk, deer or rabbit you need to take away (put back in their baggies) the red and orange (meats) because you are a herbivore and these resource is not useful to you. 2. Explain if you are a buzzard you need to take away green (plants). TTW also explain that if you are a buzzard you need to take away red as they are scavengers. 3. At this point, the game really begins of who stays alive because now you make up situation such as the ones below. 4. Say For every purple (pollution) you have - it takes away one water or food source as it contaminates it. (Some may die at this point and they should go to the corner of the room.) 5. Then say, You need to have 5 waters, 5 food source, 5 shelters to survive the first round. Those who die from not having enough resources go to one corner of the room. Everyone else puts the fruit loops they used in the baggies because those are used resources. 6. Say to the ones alive, You now need 4 water, 4 food source, 4 shelters. A few more will die. 7. Then say, The buzzards can take 5 food sources from someone next to them that is dead. (This is because they would have more food sources if things die off because they are scavengers) 8. Then say, You know need 4 water, 4 food source, 4 shelters. A few more will die. vi. Next as a whole group we will talk about what happened in the activity by using the following questions to guide our discussion. 1. Why did the ones that survived the ecosystem survive? 2. What kind of animals in our ecosystem were the most successful? What traits would lead to a high success rate of a population in a ecosystem? 3. How does competition affect an ecosystem? 4. If the deer population in our ecosystem were to greatly decrease what are some reasons that would occur? 5. The purple fruit loops represented pollution, what types of pollution do you think could be possible in the ecosystem? How does this affect the animals and the non-living parts of the ecosystem?

a. The deer that died around Missoula b. http://missoulian.com/news/local/biologists-floored-bymortality-of-whitetail-deer-along-clark-fork/article_a11345b820d9-11e3-b61b-001a4bcf887a.html 6. Day 1 Reflection At the end of the lesson there were a few things that I would like to change if I were to do the lesson again. I think most importantly I need to first off relax when I am in front of students and not rush. In my first lesson I noticed that I was a fast talker and I think this is something that carried over into this lesson as well. Not only does it make me seem anxious and nervous but it rushes the students, often time I think causing them to be unclear about what is expected of them. On a more technical side I would pass out materials after completely going over all directions, and when talking during the lesson I would have had the students put all their attention on me. I believe this would have lead to a better discussion and perhaps the students would have taken away more from the lesson. Lastly, I would have liked to time my lesson better and had a way to end the lesson instead of just transitioning students back into their daily routine. I think if I did this again I would have the students tell me what they learned and what they took away from this activity as a sort of wrap-up. b. Day 2 i. The following day, the students will use the information that they acquired about ecosystems and apply it to a real world situation. ii. I will ask students to define competition in ecosystems and then I will ask students to give other examples of competition in their lives, and then between other animals. 1. If two species of animals live in the same habitat, eat the same food, and like to sleep in the same type of shelter, wouldnt they be competing for the same resources? What factors might determine which animal prospers more? a. diseases, food supply, weather, reproductive rates etc. iii. First as a whole group the students and I will explore Nova Scotia. On their IPads using Google Earth the students will explore Sable Island, Nova Scotia a remote island off the coast of Canada. We will also look at pictures of the island and some of its inhabitants. I will ask the students: 1. Do you think this looks like a good place for people to live? 2. What about wildlife? 3. Marine animals? Seals? a. Pictures of seals, sharks, and sand lances. iv. Next students will be broken into prearranged small groups and given the following reading. 1. Grey seals are doing very well on Sable Island. Harbor seals, however are not doing as well. They seem to be having trouble reproducing and

keeping their young peps alive. Only two to ten harbor seal pups are born on the island each year. 2. Sharks, including the great white shark, like to eat both species of seal. Harbor seal pups and adults are smaller than gray seal pups and adults and are therefore easier for the sharks to catch and eat. 3. Gray seals and harbor seals both eat sand lances, tiny fish that live just off the shores of Sable Island. To catch these fish, gray seals swim close to the ocean floor and dig their snouts into the sand to find hiding fish. Harbor seals, on the other hand, follow schools of sand lances and catch fish that wander from the school. v. Alternate explanations 1. Harbor seals are having trouble reproducing and keeping their pups alive, grey seal populations are doing very well on Sable Island. 2. Sharks eat both species of seals. Harbor seals are smaller than grey seals making it easier for the sharks to catch and eat them. 3. Both harbor seals and grey seals eat sand lance. Grey seals swim close to the ocean floor and dig in the sand to find sand lances. Harbor seals follow schools of sand lances and catch fish that wander from the group. vi. Next, students in their small groups will be asked to answer the following questions using their IPads (using the notebook, and the recording feature) 1. What is happening to harbor seal populations? 2. Do you think the gray seals will continue to be more successful than harbor seals? Why or why not? 3. How are the seals feeding behavior a sign of competition? 4. Do you think the fact that the sharks are in this habitat has anything to do with the competition? vii. Alternate Questions 1. What is happening to the harbor seal population? 2. Do you think the grey seals will continue to be more successful in this ecosystem? Why or why not? 3. How does the way that the seals obtain their food affect the success of their population? 4. How does the presence of the Great White Shark effect the seals population? viii. Students will use their Ipads and in their groups be responsible for answering each question. c. Extension i. If you were the naturalist for Sable Island what suggestions would you have to balance the ecosystem again?

1. Example: The reintroduction of the wolf into Montana, was an attempt to try and control the deer and elk populations. However the downside is that this reintroduction has upset hunters as well as ranchers due to the effect of the wolf on cattle and the decrease of population of deer and elk. ii. In what ways does your suggestion balance out the ecosystem? iii. What possible cons could your suggestions have on the ecosystem. d. Day 2 Reflection i. Going into this day I was really very excited. I had some kids in our first group that made great progress the first day and the kids seemed to be excited about the reports. I took our second group of students today and we went to another room to work and record their answers to the questions. I was pleasantly surprised that most of the kids had the work done and ready to be recorded after a little tweaking. However I was bummed out after talking with Mr. Straw and learning that two groups had lost their research and had to start all over again. I know that this was for the most part out of my control, as they students were informed in advance that there were going to be responsible for the information including its safe-keeping. However, I still was a little upset that that had lost an entire days worth of work and that would effect their overall report. e. Day 3 i. Students will present their findings on Sable Island to the class. They may either read aloud or play their recording from their IPad. ii. Class participation will require the students to present but also be respectful and courteous audience members while their groups are presenting. iii. *If time permits* 1. Show students the article from the Billings Gazette about Eurasian and Mourning Doves in Montana 2. http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/article_26c9ffa8-4dac11df-8025-001cc4c002e0.html 5. Adaptations for Individual Students a. Adaptations will be made through the use of IPads, students will be able to record their findings as well as being able to pair students strategically. Alternative explanations of the scenario will also be available for students. 6. Assessment Procedures a. Formative: Students will be assessed formatively throughout the unit. They will be able to demonstrate their understanding orally through group discussions as well as their ability to participate in the introduction activity and apply that knowledge to the real life situation on Sable Island. b. Summative: Students summative assessment will be addressed through the final presentation in which they will demonstrate their ability to apply their knowledge of competition and ecosystems.

7. References a. "Competition on Sable Island." - National Geographic Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2014.ces b. "Inside the Classroom, outside the Box!" Inside the Classroom outside the Box. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2014. c. French, Brett. "Scientists Watching Closely to Assess Impact of Invasion by Eurasian Collared Doves." The Billings Gazette. N.p., 22 Apr. 2010. Web. 02 Feb. 2014. d. "Science Essential Learning Expectations." The Montana Office of Public Instruction. N.p., Nov. 2006. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. <http://opi.mt.gov/pdf/standards/09ScienceELE.pdf>. 8. Reflection a. Overall I thought this lesson went really well. The students responded with excitement and enthusiasm to the project. As well, after we presented our projects I could tell by the class discussion we had that the students were able to pick up some of the major concepts, as well as the difficulties they presented. Students worked well in groups with their peers and I felt like the collaboration portion was key to the success of this project. Being able to hear the students share ideas with each other lead me to believe that they truly understood the material. Overall this lesson was a success and I would do it again in the future.