DE+ecosystems+crosswalk

Delaware Ecosystems Standards Crosswalk Document

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 * Lesson ||  Objective  ||  Standards Addressed (include prioritization E, I or C)  ||  Lesson Prioritization (E, I, C)  ||  Timing Suggestion(s)  ||
 * Investigation 1: Nature of Science: What Makes Science "Science"? ||  Explore how science is different from other disciplines.
 * Investigation 1: Nature of Science: What Makes Science "Science"? ||  Explore how science is different from other disciplines.

Describe what science tells us that other disciplines do not. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 2: Big News from a Small State: The Horseshoe Crab Shorebird Controversy ||  Be able to frame and refine questions that can be investigated scientifically, and generate testable hypotheses.

Form explanations based on accurate and logical analysis of evidence.

Further explain what makes science different from other disciplines. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 3: Dollars on the Beach (Formerly The Crabs, The Birds, and the Beach) ||  Through the use of documentary video students will be introduced to the controversy over the use of the horseshoe crab as a natural resource and the impact this may have on other species in the ecosystem  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 4: Sampling Populations ||  Be able to define a population and propose a reasonable technique for estimating the number of organisms in a given population.

Learn about the importance of accurate, fast census-taking. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 5: The Plot Thickens: School Yard Biotic Population Sampling ||  Design and conduct simple scientific investigations.

Select and use appropriate tools, technology, and mathematical techniques to gather, analyze and interpret data.

Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models based on evidence.

Survey the diversity of organisms in a local or model ecosystem and recognize that a population consists of all individuals of a species that occur together at a given place and time.

Identify the abiotic factors in a habitat.

Measure the abiotic factors using simple data-collecting technique. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 6: Interactions Among Organisms in a Community ||  Consider the impact that predators and prey have upon each other.

Consider relationships between species in which at least one species is benefitted. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 7: Movement of Energy and Materials Through an Ecosystem ||  Understand that energy in the ecosystem starts as electromagnetic radiation produced by the Sun that is transformed by plants during photosynthesis into chemical energy that can be used by organisms.

Understand that once energy is in chemical form in plants, it is passed from one organism to another.

Understand that almost all of the energy obtained by an organism is used for its life processes and very little is stored in its body tissues that can be passed on to others when eaten.

Create an Ecological Pyramid as a useful graphic for illustrating feeding relationships, energy flow, and movement of materials through an ecosystem. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 8: Beak Adaptation Investigation: The Beak Speaks ||  Categorize population of organisms according to the functions they serve in an ecosystem.

Conduct a natural selection simulation to demonstrate how a specific trait has selective advantages for an organism.

Compare and contrast observations of the same phenomena and discuss why differences in observations exist.

Form a logical explanation about the cause and effect relationship in an investigation. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 9: Evolving Beaks: Darwin's Finches ||  Demonstrate how beak adaptation is in response to a changing environment.

Differentiate between a short-term physiological adaptation and a long-term evolutionary adaptation. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation10: Why Is That Critter Like That? ||  Use observation skills to identify the adaptations of a variety of organisms.

Discover the relationship between and organism’s structure and the functions they may serve.

Learn how the adaptation’s structure is advantageous to organism and thus to the species.

Understand how the process of natural selection allows inherited structural features to be passed down from one generation to another. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 11: A Dichotomous Key: Shorebirds of the Delaware Coast ||  Recognize that there is a standard system of classifying and naming species that is used throughout the world.

Examine an assortment of plants and animals and use simple classification keys, based on observable features, to sort and group the organisms.

Discuss how the different species of plants and animals from an area might be classified. Develop dichotomous keys to group and classify observed species. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 12: Let the Sun Shine, Let the Sun Shine In: Where it All Begins ||  Relate that the Sun is the source of almost all of the Earth’s energy and that this energy travels to the Earth in the form of electromagnetic waves.

Explain that the electromagnetic waves from the Sun consist of a range of wavelengths and associated energies.

Learn how energy in sunlight is used by plants to make food.

Learn how the energy stored in food is used by both plants and animals to power life processes. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 13: Photosynthesis and Biomass: How Ecosystems Get the Right Stuff ||  Learn what biomass is, where it comes from and how to measure it.

Design and conduct investigations with controlled variables to test hypotheses. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 14: Which Color is Best? ||  Explain that the source of almost all of the Earth’s energy is light from the Sun which travels to Earth in a range of wavelengths. I

dentify and describe the differences in energy levels associated with visible light.

Demonstrate the existence of the color components of visible light using a spectroscope.

Design and conduct simple scientific investigations. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 15: The Greasy Leaf: Investigating Gas Exchange During Photosynthesis ||  Design and conduct simple scientific investigations to determine the role of air in photosynthesis.

Compare and contrast observations of the same object or phenomena and discuss why differences in observations exist.

Select and use appropriate tools, technology, and mathematical techniques to gather, analyze and interpret data.

Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models based on evidence.

Form logical explanations about the cause and effect relationship in an investigation.

Evaluate and provide appropriate feedback regarding experimental results and explanations proposed by other students. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 16: Destruction Crew at Work! ||  Categorize populations of organisms according to the roles (producers, consumers, and decomposers) they play in an ecosystem.

Describe and explain how factors (i.e., space, food, water, disease) limit the number of organisms an ecosystem can support.

Design and conduct investigations with controlled variables to test hypotheses.

Accurately collect data through the selection and use of tools and techniques appropriate to the investigation.

Construct tables, diagrams and graphs, showing relationships between two variables, to display and facilitate analysis of data.

Compare and question results among students. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Investigation 17: Red Knot Olympics ||   Describe and appreciate some of the remarkable feats that the Red Knot performs.

Understand that Red Knots migrate thousands of miles each year as part of their life cycle, depending on ecosystems in South America, the Delaware Bay, and the Canadian Arctic, and that to do this requires some special adaptations and incredible physical abilities.

Describe the role that Delaware Bay and horseshoe crabs play in shorebird migration  ||   ||   ||   ||