Students will spend a few minutes brainstorming ideas of different ecosystems and a few organisms that live in them. Then, as a class we will write our examples on the board. Are there any similar organisms across the different biomes? Are there any organisms with similar strategies/niches?

Learning Objective:

SWBAT group similar roles across different ecosystems by talking in groups and sharing ideas to the class.

Now that we have noticed there are similarities across ecosystems, we should look at how these similarities create the individual environments. Students will be asked to locate one species that has a big effect on their environment and write about it on the top half of their exit slip. Students will also be asked about what words would describe these species, with the expectation of using previous vocab from the course

Learning Objective:

SWBAT describe one important species and how it changes its environment.

Students will be taught about keystone species and how one species can fully alter its environment. Students will then be asked by raise of hand whether they think their species is a Keystone Species and why.

Learning Objective:

SWBAT identify what species are keystone species after being given the definition.

Students will then explore what happens when a keystone species is altered. This will be done in groups, with each group researching a particular example, such as beaver trapping, invasive bee species, mammoth die off, otters in changing temperatures, etc. Groups will be asked to share with the class what the change to their keystone species did to its environment. On their exit slips students will be asked to either draw or describe the environment with and without the species of their group.

Learning Objective:

SWBAT communicate the differences Keystone Species make to their environments.

Students will be asked whether the species from their Personal Species Project is an example of a Keystone Species and to argue why or why not on the bottom of their exit slip.

Learning Objective:

SWBAT apply the concept of Keystone Species to a fictional environment in order to test their understanding by the end of the class period.

HS-LS-1.3:

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.

HS-LS-2.1:

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect

carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

HS-LS-2.2:

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Use mathematical representations to support explanations that biotic and abiotic factors affect biodiversity

at different scales within an ecosystem.