Effective Researching

Organism Interactions in the Environments

Name: Bao Le

Title of lesson: Organism Interactions in the Environment

Date of lesson:

Length of lesson: 1 hr. 45 min.

Description of the class: Freshman Biology

Name of course: Biology

Grade level: 9^th, 10^th, or 11^th

Honors or regular: Honors

Source of the lesson:

http://www.science.siu.edu/plant-biology/faculty/gibson/macaron.pdf

TEKS addressed:

(2) Scientific processes. The student uses scientific methods during field and laboratory investigations. The student is expected to:

(A) plan and implement investigative procedures including asking questions, formulating testable hypotheses, and selecting equipment and technology;

(B) collect data and make measurements with precision;

(D) communicate valid conclusions.

(12) Science concepts. The student knows that interdependence and interactions occur within an ecosystem. The student is expected to:

(B) interpret interactions among organisms exhibiting predation, parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism;

(D) identify and illustrate that long-term survival of species is dependent on a resource base that may be limited; and

(E) investigate and explain the interactions in an ecosystem including food chains, food webs, and food pyramids.

I. I. Overview

Students will simulate a predator-prey interaction in this macaroni lab. They will take on the role of predator and hunt for prey (the macaroni of different color) in different environments (dirt only, dirt and grass, dirt and branches/dried leaves) using different tools (forks, toothpicks, knives, spoons, chopsticks). Through this, they will determine abiotic and biotic factors that affect the number of prey a predator can obtain. Then they will pick just one factor and conduct a controlled experiment to test that factor.

II. Performance or learner outcomes

Students will be able to:

· Distinguish the difference between food web and food chain.

· Observe how a food web and a food chain works in equilibrium with all the components of the ecosystem (biotic and abiotic components).

· Identify the different parts that make up the ecosystem.

· Conduct a controlled experiment

III. Resources, materials and supplies needed

· Netlogo program

· 2 variety boxes of utensils

· box of toothpicks

· 15 pairs of wooden chopsticks

· timer

· colored macaroni

· 6 bins about 2x1.5

· dirt, enough to fill bins about 1 in. (or some other stuff that’s not as dirty if we find it at Home Depot)

· leaves/branches, for 2 bins

· leaves to cover 2 bins

· projector/computer

Teacher Preparations:

1. Prepare the bins: 2 bins should have just 1 in. of dirt, 2 bins should have a layer of leaves, and 2 bins have dirt mixed with leaves and braches.

2. Put the two bins together to create a larger bin.

3. Spread colored macaroni throughout the dirt or surface.

4. Put tape on the floor of classroom to mark “Start” space.

IV. Supplementary materials, handouts.

Worksheets

5-E Organization

Teacher Does:

Student Does:

Engage:

Explain to students that we’re going to show them an example of a food chain. (Netlogo simulation). The program that appears in the screen consists of wolves which are the grey dots, the sheep which are the white dots, and grass which is the green background. Click the button and simulation of wolves and sheep number fluctuate with grass amount.

Any questions at this point? It may become easier once we play a couple of times. Time to play! Take suggestions from the students to change one variable at the time. (i.e. # of wolves, # of sheep, plots of grass, adding another organism…) Ask the students to predict what will happen before doing each run. Ask them to explain their prediction.
Alright, we just completed a simulation of what could happen in your backyard. What kind of relationships do we see here? Who depended on whom? (Draw this on board to demonstrate that this is a food chain of grassàsheepàwolves. So what would we call this guy at the bottom? What characteristics does it have? (producer---plant, grows from sunlight) Why? And the sheep? (consumer-grows from eating) Why? Wolves? (consumer)
What if we introduce humans in the picture? How would this affect our food chain? Will it be called a food chain?
Are there any other relationships that we haven’t listed? The ones we didn’t see in the simulation but are actually there in real life? Students will list and we put these on the board. Ask the kids to distinguish between living and nonliving factors. Tell them the definition of abiotic factors and biotic factors.

Students participate in discussion and interact with Netlogo to understand the relationship between the organisms and their environments.

Questions:

In the above discussion.

Expected Student Responses:

Evaluate

Ask the students to do an example of a food web on the board and explain it.

Teacher Does:

Student Does:

Explore:

Divide the students into groups of no bigger than 3 students.

You will be presented with 3 different habitats where animals shaped like macaronis live. In one environment you only have dirt, the other environment has dirt and grass, and ultimately the third environment contains dirt and bushes.
Your goal is to collect as many macaronis, one by one, as you can in 45 seconds. One of you in the pair will be a hunter or consumer and the other will collect data for you. In groups of 3, 1 person will be the recorder, 1 the predator, and 1 can be the time keeper.

· What groups want to try this on the soil environment?

· What groups want to try this on the grass?

· What groups want to try this on the bushes?

Alright, I want all the prey collectors to take note of how many macaronis they gathered as specified in the worksheet: black, red, and yellow macaronis.
I repeat that the consumer will go hunt and bring the prey one by one to the partner for 45 seconds. We want to see who collected more at the end of this mission.
On your marks, set, go! Stop after 45 seconds. Switch bins so that all groups get to try all three environments.

Students are engaged in a hands-on activity.

Questions:

Are you having a hard time getting the macaroni? Why? What factors are causing this?

Expected Student Responses:

Other students are competing with me for prey. Prey is hard to see under all the branches.

Evaluate

Get the students interested in predator-prey relationship and make the connection between the activity and the concept of what affects the relationship.

Teacher Does:

Student Does:

Explain:

Now, let’s take some numbers: ask each group about the numbers they obtained and the colors and write them in the board under each environment.

Participate in the class discussion.

Questions:

Can you all see any relationships concerning the number of prey between the environments?
What factors affect the number of prey that the predator is able to obtain? Take all considerations and write them on the board (macaroni color, environment, speed, male vs. female, obstacles on the way)

Based on the list in here,

Which factors do you think are the living parts of the environment or biotic factors, and which do you think are the nonliving parts of the environment or abiotic factors (soil)?

1.) Which factor do you think affects the number of prey collected the most? (Students will predict different ones.)

Expected Student Responses:

Students should see that macaroni of brighter colors are retrieved more and more should be from the plain environment, the one with just the dirt. Other patterns could also be recognized and students should relate these with factors that affect predator-prey relationships.

Evaluate

Make sure all students participate in the discussion.

Teacher Does:

Student Does:

Extension:

Pick one factor from the list of factors and design a controlled experiment to test it.

Students design a controlled experiment.

Questions:

Write results on the board for every team.

So in which (environment, color of macaroni, whichever factor testing) did you get more prey?
Why do you think this is?
In a real life ecosystem, what could this factor represent?
Why is it so important that animals that live in certain areas depend on the environment?
If the same number of animals lived in each environment, what needs to happen in order for the animal to get their food faster and with more success?

Expected Student Responses:

Students analyze the results.

Evaluate

Ask the students to write down the questions and predict the answers before discussing as a class.

Macaroni Experiment

Experiment Procedure:

Get with your partner.
Pick an environment. Pick a tool.
Get behind the designated line.
When the teacher says “Go”, walk to the bin that you picked and dig for a macaroni. NO RUNNING!!! You can walk quickly.
When you have ONE, walk back to your partner and put it down in front of him/her.
Go again until the teacher says “TIME”.

OBJECTIVE: GET AS MUCH PREY AS YOU CAN! YOU DON’T WANT YOUR CHILDREN TO STARVE!!

Data: HOW MANY MACARONI?

TRIALS	RED	BLACK	ORANGE	YELLOW
1
2
3
4

TRIALS	RED	BLACK	ORANGE	YELLOW
5
6
7
8