Learning Goals
Students will be able to investigate how living and nonliving parts of a Bernheim habitat support plant and animal survival.
Students will be able to analyze organism observations from Bernheim to compare inherited traits and variation within a group of similar plants or animals.
Students will be able to construct evidence-based arguments about which animals form groups that help members survive.
Students will be able to determine which organisms can survive well, survive less well, or cannot survive at all in a specific habitat using evidence from observations and research.
Students will be able to evaluate a simple solution for how a habitat change might affect the plants and animals that live there.
Students will be able to collaborate to revise an ecosystem model or presentation using teacher and peer feedback.
Products
Bernheim Ecosystem Investigation Notebook
Each student keeps a research notebook that records their question, habitat observations, trait comparisons, food chain notes, and evidence-based conclusions. The notebook shows how their ideas changed across the project and proves individual understanding of ecosystem survival relationships.
Bernheim Ecosystem Showcase Model and Oral Presentation
Teams create a labeled habitat model or slideshow for the Ecosystem Showcase that explains one ecosystem, the organisms that live there, and how they survive. The presentation must use shared evidence, include at least one environmental-change solution, and address any conflicting or surprising findings from team research.
No rubric has been generated yet.