Student Exploration: Forest Ecosystem

Gizmo Warm-up
The Forest Ecosystem Gizmo shows you the effects of
adding organisms to, or taking them from, a forest. An
organism is any living thing. To start, do the following:
• Click Advance year a couple times to see two
years of growth.
• Remove all Deer from the forest by clicking the
minus (-) button until none remain.
• Click Advance year a couple more times.

1. Select the DATA tab. Select Pictograph and click the Tree to show the size of the
tree population for the past several years. Click graph to see a comparison of all
populations. How did losing deer affect the mushrooms?
Losing deer affected the mushrooms by increasing their population

Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity A:
• Click Reset.
Trees
• Select the FOREST tab.

Question: What role do trees play in the forest?

1. Form hypothesis: How do trees get the nutrients they need to grow? _________

Trees get the nutrients they need to grow through the process of photosynthesis
_________________________________________________________________________

2. Predict: Based on your hypothesis, how will the tree population change if ALL other
organisms (deer, bears, and mushrooms) are removed from the forest?
The tree population will be increased if other organisms are removed from the forest
_________________________________________________________________________

Analyze: Remove ALL organisms except trees. Click Advance year a few times and select
the DATA tab. What is the carrying capacity of trees if the deer, bears, and mushrooms are
removed? (Your answer can be in the form of percent of original number.)
The carrying capacity of trees with no other organisms is 10 trees

2019
3. Draw conclusions: Substances that contain carbon and are produced by living things are
called organic. Examples of organic materials are sugar, blood, protein, and fat. Other
materials, like water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and ammonia, are called inorganic.

Some living things, called producers, can produce the organic materials they need (like
food) from inorganic matter. All other organisms are consumers; they consume organic
matter since they cannot make it themselves.

Explain how your results are evidence that trees are producers.
If trees were consumers were consumers, the population of trees would decrease because the trees would have
no other organisms to rely on in order to survive

4. Analyze: Click the FOREST tab. Click the plus (+) button for mushrooms several times.
Click Advance year a few times. Select the DATA tab.

What is the carrying capacity of mushrooms if there are no animals in the forest. How did
adding mushrooms affect trees? (Your answer can be in the form of percent of original
number.)

The mushrooms thrived without hurting trees. How might this happen?
The reason that the mushrooms survived with out the harm of trees is that they are both producers

Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity B:
• Click Reset.
Bears
• Select the FOREST tab.

1. Are bears producers or consumers?

Bears are consumers

2. Click Reset. Click Advance year a couple times. Add as many bears to the forest as
possible. Then go forward a couple more years. Select the DATA tab. Which populations
were hurt by adding bears?
All populations were hurt due to the increase in population of bears

2019
3. Challenge: Using the Gizmo, figure out what bears prefer to eat most. Write your results and
reasoning below. Add a screenshot of one or more graphs to support your reasoning.

Bears prefer to eat mushrooms the most because the mushroom population was decreased the most

2019