Draft Notes for Stage 1 of Understanding By Design Unit: Unit Title Ecological Succession Grade Level: 10 Subject/Topic Areas: Living Environment Key Words: Primary Succession, Secondary Succession, Pioneer Species, Climax Community Designed by: Stephen Coon Time Frame: _ School District: School: _ ======================================= Link to Content Standards: Standard 4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas of science.
======================================= Brief Summary of Unit (including curricular context and unit goals): The goal of this unit is to acquaint students with the concepts of ecological succession.
Identify Desired Results
======================================= Established Goals: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas of science.
What understandings are desired? Students will understand that… 1) Living things are both similar to and different from each other and from nonliving things. 2) Plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment. 3) Living and nonliving environments change over time and respond to disturbances 4) The interrelationships and interdependencies of organisms affect the development of stable ecosystems 5) Through ecological succession, all ecosystems progress through a sequence of changes during which one ecological community modifies the environment, making it more suitable for another community. These long-term gradual changes result in the community reaching a point of stability that can last for hundreds of thousands of years. 6) A stable ecosystem can be altered, either rapidly or slowly, through the activities of organisms (including humans), or through climatic changes or natural disasters. The altered ecosystem can usually recover through gradual changes back to a point of long term stability. What essential questions will be considered? 1) How do communities change through ecological succession? 2) How do populations interact and affect one another in an ecosystem? 3) Why do communities change through ecological succession? 4) How does the living and nonliving environment change over time and respond to disturbances?
What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit? Students will know . . . 1) The difference between primary and secondary succession 2) Characteristics of primary and secondary succession flora 3) Stages of ecological succession and characteristics of each stage and their flora/fauna 4) Causes of plant succession 5) How to identify pioneer species 6) How to identify a climax community
Students will be able to . . . 1) Show the difference between primary and secondary succession 2) Show the difference between the stages of succession and the organisms within each stage 3) Distinguish common characteristics in organisms with in specific stages of succession, throughout various ecosystems
Unit Title Ecological Succession Grade Level: 10
Subject/Topic Areas: Living Environment
Key Words: Primary Succession, Secondary Succession, Pioneer Species, Climax Community
Designed by: Stephen Coon Time Frame: _
School District: School: _
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Link to Content Standards: Standard 4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas of science.
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Brief Summary of Unit (including curricular context and unit goals):
The goal of this unit is to acquaint students with the concepts of ecological succession.
Established Goals: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas of science.
What understandings are desired?
Students will understand that…
1) Living things are both similar to and different from each other and from nonliving things.
2) Plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment.
3) Living and nonliving environments change over time and respond to disturbances
4) The interrelationships and interdependencies of organisms affect the development of stable ecosystems
5) Through ecological succession, all ecosystems progress through a sequence of changes during which one ecological community modifies the environment, making it more suitable for another community. These long-term gradual changes result in the community reaching a point of stability that can last for hundreds of thousands of years.
6) A stable ecosystem can be altered, either rapidly or slowly, through the activities of organisms (including humans), or through climatic changes or natural disasters. The altered ecosystem can usually recover through gradual changes back to a point of long term stability.
What essential questions will be considered?
1) How do communities change through ecological succession?
2) How do populations interact and affect one another in an ecosystem?
3) Why do communities change through ecological succession?
4) How does the living and nonliving environment change over time and respond to disturbances?
What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?
Students will know . . .
1) The difference between primary and secondary succession
2) Characteristics of primary and secondary succession flora
3) Stages of ecological succession and characteristics of each stage and their flora/fauna
4) Causes of plant succession
5) How to identify pioneer species
6) How to identify a climax community
Students will be able to . . .
1) Show the difference between primary and secondary succession
2) Show the difference between the stages of succession and the organisms within each stage
3) Distinguish common characteristics in organisms with in specific stages of succession, throughout various ecosystems