CEP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Haile Romero

10/1/15
School:
Poudre High School
Area: 21st Century Science

Date:
Grade Level:

Title: Ecological Interactions

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Content
Lesson #: 1

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

Colorado State Standards

CO.HS.2.1

CO.HS.2.2

NGSS

HS-LS2-6

Concepts Covered:

Ecosystems exist because of the interactions of the many living and nonliving components in the environment.

Organisms in an ecosystem can interact in many ways that can benefit or

harm either party.

Inquiry Questions:

How do cycles affect systems?

How do the parts of a system interact to make the whole system function?

How does a system react if one component is no longer functioning?

How does the system react if an outside component is introduced?

Learning Objectives:
1. SWBAT: Infer definitions of unfamiliar words from their roots/word origins
2. SWBAT: Describe and predict ecological interactions and the outcomes of these
interactions
List of Assessments:
Formative:

Pre-Quiz (google form)

Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Forming definitions (1)

Summative:

Post-Quiz (google form)

List of Significant Vocabulary:

Abiotic factors: The living components of an ecosystem

Biotic factors: The non-living components of an ecosystem

Autotroph: An organism that is able to synthesize its own food from inorganic
carbon (AKA producer)

Heterotroph: An organism that must take in organic carbon for energy (AKA
consumer)

Specialist: Organism that eats only one type of food

Generalist: Organism that eats many types of food

Competition: Interaction of organisms that depend on gaining a share of a

limited resource

Symbiosis: An interaction between two different organisms characterized by

close proximity.

Parasitism: A symbiotic relationship where one party benefits at the expense

of the other

Mutualism: A symbiotic relationship where both parties benefit

Commensalism: A symbiotic relationship where one party benefits and the

other is not affected.

Predation: One organism feeding on another

Niche: The role of an organism in its community

Anticipated Misconceptions:

Predation and parasitism are the same.

Materials:

SmartBoard and Computer

M&Ms

Plastic Spoons

Small Cups

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Class set of hand outs

Instructional Planning:

Gather all materials prior to class.

Have the sets of group materials ready before students arrive

Print out student sheets

Parasite video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgCQStTSMuk

Teacher guide:
http://ysp.wustl.edu/KitCurriculum/EcologicalInteractions/EcoEvo_Ecological
%20Interactions%20Kit_TeacherHandout.pdf

Student sheet:
http://ysp.wustl.edu/KitCurriculum/EcologicalInteractions/EcoEvo_Ecological
%20Interactions%20Kit_StudentHandout.pdf (will be modified for this
class)

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Planned Lesson Activities

Student Activity
Engage

Explore

Parasite video

Teacher Activity

Reflect on the video.

Write learning target on the board, take attendance.

Ensure students are watching the video and not engaged
elsewhere

Think about what they know about how

organisms interact in ecosystems.

Take a moment to allow the students to express their

ideas/ feelings about the video.

Using the word roots provided, in groups of 2-4

write definitions for the new vocabulary words.

Provide an example of how to determine meaning from

word origins using the word niche

Take notes on the additional terms presented.

Define terms not covered in root words.

Example additional terms:
-

Generalist

Specialist

Predation

Competition

Fill out symbiotic relationship box.

Use the power point as a guide for notes. Fill in the
blanks with the students.
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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Explain

Share the definitions and your thought processes

Take notes on the formal/class definitions in your
science notebook

Elaborate

Students will break apart into groups of three and

do the interactions activity. Follow the activity
hand out.
As a group, discuss and answer the answers to the
questions for each round.

Facilitate the discussion and ensure that all students have

accurate definitions going forward.
Example Questions:
-

What does auto mean?

What does troph mean?

What can you infer autotroph means?

Break students apart using the notecard system. Students

will be in letter groups for groups of 3.
Explain the directions for the activity and identify what
you want students to learn
As students participate in the activity, time the rounds
and ensure all groups are on task and facilitate as needed.
After the first round, discuss the answers to the activity
questions. Ensure that students are grasping the concepts
of parasitism, commensalism and mutualism in practice.

Evaluate

Take the post-quiz as homework.

Sponge

Discuss the post-fire plants question as a class.

Facilitate discussion, asking guiding questions as needed.

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

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