Materials and Energy in Ecosystems

MYP unit planner

Unit title

/

Materials and Energy in Ecosystems

Teacher(s)
Subject and grade level / Grade 9
Time frame and duration / 3.5 Weeks
This introductory unit about ecosystem structure, cycle of materials and energy flow in the environment is intended to be the first of a possible 2-unit package for Grade 9 Ecology topics, the other half of which focuses on Populations, Communities and Interactions.

Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit question

Area of interaction focus

Which area of interaction will be our focus?
Why have we chosen this? / /

Significant concept(s)

What are the big ideas? What do we want our students to retain for years into the future?
1. Environment
Environmental stewardship necessitates
a good understanding of ecosystem
structure and dynamics.
2. Approaches to Learning
Increasing global environmental concerns
utilized and explored in the classroom
cultivate essential learning skills and
personal attitudes. / The cycling of matter and the flow of energy are required for the functioning of ecosystems.
Materials cycle through the living and nonliving components of ecosystems.
Much of the energy originally coming from the sun is lost as it flows through ecosystems.

MYP unit question

How do matter and energy move through the biosphere?

What Assessment

task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?
1. Construction of schematic diagrams of processes, patterns and relationships
- Biogeochemical cycles, trophic levels, flow of energy, food webs, ecological pyramids
2. Game Design – food web
3. Practical inquiry
- Identifying, measuring and comparing quantitative data of selected areas
- Measuring energy in a peanut
- Measuring primary and secondary productivity
- Design Lab: Effect of ______on seed germination / Effect of ______on Leaf Variables
4. Problem-solving
- Comparing physical factors and gradients in micro-environments
- Calculations of productivity values
5. Review of an article: Environmental issues in Mozambique
6. Unit Test
Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?
A. One World
B. Communication in science
C. Knowledge and understanding
D. Scientific Inquiry
E. Processing Data
F. Attitudes in Science
Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?
A. One World
B. Communication in science
C. Knowledge and understanding
D. Scientific Inquiry
E. Processing Data

Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the learning activities through inquiry

ContentWhat knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the unit question?
What AERO standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the significant concept(s) for stage 1?
Syllabus content – pegged to AERO standards
Topics / AERO Standards
1. Distinction and identification of biotic and abiotic
factors in an ecosystem / 17.8b
2. Ecosystem structure and concepts of
population, community, niche and habitat / 17.8a, 17.12e
3. Biogeochemical cycles / 18.8b, c, d, 18.12a
4. Trophic levels and food chains/webs / 18.12b
5. Laws of thermodynamics and energy flow / 18.8a, 18.12c
6. Ecological pyramids / 18.12b
7. Net and gross primary and secondary
productivity / 18.8a, 18.12c

Approaches to learning

How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?
1. Knowledge-acquisition skills
- locating appropriate reference materials for research work
- using graphic organizers, schematic diagrams to map out and synthesize concepts learned
2. Observation skills
- For practicals, especially in the use of lab instruments to gather data about the environment
3. Information-processing skills and organization skills
- Data transformation into appropriate graphs in lab reports
4. Communication skills
- Paraphrasing/Summarizing references/articles
- Proper citation of information used for research/reflection papers
5. Scientific inquiry skills
- Formulation of research question and hypothesis
- Identification and control of variables in experiments
6. Analysing skills
- Recognizing and explaining patterns and relationships from given data
7. Integrating and summarising skills
- using graphic organizers, schematic diagrams to map out and synthesize concepts learned
8. Evaluation skills
- Evaluating design of experiments and proposing suggestions for improvement
9. Collaboration
- Teamwork in practicals, delegation of tasks
10. Responsibility
- Planning long-term assignments
Learning experiencesHow will students know what is expected of them? Will they see examples, rubrics, templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and practise the skills required? How will they practise applying these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will we know? / Teaching strategiesHow will we use formative assessment to give students feedback during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have we made provision for those learning in a language other than their mother tongue? How have we considered those with special educational needs?
1. What’s Your Environmental IQ: A class
survey on common environmental concepts
2. Rubrics – both teacher and student-designed
a. Designing a game (trophic levels and food
webs)
b. Design lab
c. Review of an environmental article
3. Templates for key ecological processes and
relationships (schematic diagrams, graphic
organizers, etc.)
4. Lab reports
- for inquiry and manipulative skills / 1. Games
a. teacher-made game to survey students’ prior
knowledge
b. student-designed: application of concepts (trophic
levels, food webs, cycles of materials, flow of
energy)
2. Jigsaw reading activities
- forming expert and collaboration groups
3. Diagram templates as instructional scaffolds in
discussion summaries
4. Unit test

Resources

What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during the unit?
1. Lab materials for practicals
2. Wilderness areas around campus
3. Textbook and supporting references
4. Virtual simulations and animations of key ecological processes and relationships
5. Science journals for environmental articles

Ongoing reflections and evaluation

In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There are further stimulus questions at the end of the “Planning for teaching and learning” section of MYP: From principles into practice.

Students and teachersWhat did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?
How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning?
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated action?
Possible connections How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?
Are we prepared for the next stage?
Data collection
How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?
Reflection

Figure 12

MYP unit planner