Unit Plan 18 (Grade 7 Science): Ecosystems — Quarter Synthesis
Grade 7 unit synthesizing ecosystem learning: students analyze data, model energy flow, argue human impact effects, and evaluate design solutions to protect biodiversity.
Focus: Explain interdependence, energy flow, and human interactions in ecosystems by integrating data analysis, models, arguments, and engineering design evaluations.
Grade Level: 7
Subject Area: Science (Life Science — Ecosystems; Engineering Design)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this quarter-synthesis unit, students bring together everything they’ve learned about ecosystems: resource availability, species interactions, energy and matter flow, stability and change, biodiversity, and engineering solutions. Working with a focal ecosystem case study (local or global), they interpret data, construct explanations of interactions, build or refine models of energy and matter, argue from evidence about human-caused changes, and evaluate design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. The unit culminates in an Ecosystem Synthesis Portfolio & Presentation that showcases mastery of MS-LS2-1–5 and MS-ETS1-1–3.
Essential Questions
- How do resource availability, interactions, and energy/matter flow together shape ecosystem stability and population patterns?
- In what ways are organisms interdependent within food webs and broader ecosystems?
- How do human actions change physical and biological components of ecosystems, and how do these changes affect populations and biodiversity?
- How can engineering design and data-based evaluation help maintain or restore biodiversity and ecosystem services?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Analyze and interpret ecosystem data sets (graphs, tables) to provide evidence for how resource availability affects organisms and populations (MS-LS2-1).
- Construct explanations that predict patterns of interactions (predator–prey, competition, mutualism) among organisms in an ecosystem, using both data and models (MS-LS2-2).
- Develop and refine a model (e.g., food web/energy–matter diagram) showing the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of the focal ecosystem (MS-LS2-3).
- Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that a change to a physical or biological component (e.g., resource change, habitat loss, new species) affects one or more populations (MS-LS2-4).
- Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services, using criteria, constraints, and test data (MS-LS2-5, MS-ETS1-2–3).
- Define a clear design problem related to the focal ecosystem, with explicit criteria and constraints, and propose a data-informed recommendation or improvement (MS-ETS1-1).
Standards Alignment — 7th Grade (NGSS-based custom)
- MS-LS2-1 — Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations.
- MS-LS2-2 — Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms in ecosystems.
- MS-LS2-3 — Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
- MS-LS2-4 — Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
- MS-LS2-5 — Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- MS-ETS1-1 — Define design problems with criteria and constraints to ensure successful solutions.
- MS-ETS1-2 — Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process.
- MS-ETS1-3 — Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among design solutions.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can use graphs and tables to explain how resources affect populations in an ecosystem.
- I can describe and predict interactions (predator–prey, competition, mutualism) using data and models.
- I can create a food web/energy–matter model that correctly shows how energy flows and matter cycles in my focal ecosystem.
- I can write or present a science argument using evidence from data to show how a change in the ecosystem affects populations.
- I can compare design solutions for protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services using clear criteria, constraints, and test data.
- I can clearly explain a design problem for my ecosystem and recommend a solution or improvement based on evidence.