LS2+(7-8)+-+5


 * Students demonstrate an understanding of equilibrium in an ecosystem by …**

5a __identifying which biotic (e.g., bacteria, fungi, plants, animals) and abiotic (e.g., weather, climate, light, water, temperature, soil composition, catastrophic events) factors affect a given ecosystem.__

5b __analyzing how biotic and abiotic factors affect a given ecosystem.__

5c __predicting the outcome of a given change in biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.__

5d __using a visual model (e.g., graph) to track population changes in an ecosystem__

What do these GSEs mean? What subtopics do students need to address to understand these GSEs?
Need to provide examples of biotic and abiotic factors interacting in an ecosystem- how is each organism benefitting from this interaction Be able to predict what would happen if biotic/abiotic factors are changed in an ecosystem

What ideas to students need to understand before they can address the topics described above?
What is an ecosystem? What does it include? Definition and examples of biotic/abiotic factors in a specfic ecosystem - How these factors have an affect on the ecosystem What is equilibrium in an ecosystem? How is it maintained? Relationships within an ecosystem (predator/prey, producer/consumer/decomposer, etc.)

What misconceptions are students likely to have about these topics?
A leaf that has fallen from a tree becomes an abiotic factor because it is dead. Biotic factors in an ecosystem need water only for “hydration” Manmade objects are abiotic Biotic and Abiotic factors don’t have any effect on each other

How can students show that they understand these GSEs?
Six Facets of Understanding: 1. Explanation- based on data, experiments, observations. Provide examples of biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem and their niches. How these factors contribute to one another 

2. Interpretation- the means by which scientists make sense of data, making connections. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">Hypothesize what would happen if one factor was missing or altered <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"> 3. Application- using knowledge to solve new problems <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;">- Do not give the answer. - Present a related, but challenging task to explain - Point towards use of prior knowledge - Hints to provide a scaffold

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">4. Perspective- recognizing that multiple interpretations are possible, not jumping to conclusions and consider all alternatives, **knowing the importance of an idea-** teachers should design their lessons so that students come away knowing the importance <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;">- “Valuing the discipline is required for knowing and understanding the discipline”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">5. Empathy- Four levels: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in;">1. Struggle to validate the ideas and theories that they’re learning 2. Understand and appreciate the ways that science has changed people’s ways of thinking over time about the natural world. 3. Teachers need to grasp how and why students are thinking as they do 4. Open- mindedly embrace ideas that seem strange <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">6. Self-knowledge- examination of one’s own ideas and reasoning in order to advance them