Lesson Title: SNC1D: Sustainable Subject: Biology

Ecosystems

Unit Title: Ecosystems Time 75

Required: minutes

Teacher Garnet Lollar & Jason Grade: 9

Candidate: Vervaeke 

Learning Goals (What do you want the students to know or be able to do at the end of the
lesson?)

 I can explain the concepts of carrying capacity and ecosystems in the context of
limiting factors
 I understand that humans are animals as well, and contribute to these factors

Success Criteria (What will you observe that tells you that students are successful?)

 Homework
 Observation of students (engaged: eye contact, nodding heads)
 Responsiveness to discussions

Accommodations (How will you meet the needs of your students? What management strategies
will you use?)
  

 Slides
 Talking/discussion/rapport
 Worksheet/in-class assignment

Background Knowledge Required and Common Misconceptions (What prior knowledge

and or experiences need to be in place? What persistent misconceptions do students hold for the
concepts covered in this class?)

 Energy and matter movement in an ecosystem

Curriculum Expectations (Overall and Specific - Which expectation is the focus for your
instruction?)

B3.3 Describe the limiting factors of ecosystems (e.g., nutrients, space, water, energy, predators),
and explain how these factors affect the carrying capacity of an ecosystem (e.g., the effect of an
increase in the moose population on the wolf population in the same ecosystem)

Overall:

 Assess the impact of human activities on the sustainability of terrestrial and/or aquatic
ecosystems; and evaluate the effectiveness of courses of action intended to remedy or
mitigate negative impacts
 Demonstrate an understanding of the dynamic nature of ecosystems, particularly in terms of
ecological balance and the impact of human activity on the sustainability of terrestrial and
aquatic ecosystems
 

Instructional Strategies (Which teaching strategies will you use? how will you group the
students?

XIndependent Work         X Cooperative Learning            ¨ Summarizing & Note taking   

XIdentifying similarities/differences

¨ Homework & Practice    X Visual & Graphic Organizers X Questions                              

¨Generating & Testing Hypotheses

¨ Goal setting & Feedback   ¨ Problem Solving

   

Materials Key
Quest
ions

Google Slides  
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hOjCg7Y3bnN_HuPvzPClhPUHpB_dl
P_VycfLRlysE0Y/edit?usp=sharing

Instruction (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate)

 
Duratio Activity/Task
n

5 mins  Introduction (How will you engage and motivate the students?)

 Review Ecosystems
 What is an ecosystem? An ecosystem is a community of living
organisms with the nonliving components of their environment
interacting as a system.
 design your own ecosystem -> overall class group discussion (not just
about the animals! Plants, resources, etc). Start off with a picture of a
rainforest tree and some ground, or a pond, or a coral reef. Anything is
good to get them thinking.
   Lesson Steps (Explore, Explain, Elaborate.)

15 mins  Ecosystem Scale (micro, local, regional (biome), global)

 Limiting factors 
o Touch on energy and matter?
o Limiting Factors: Anything that constrains a population’s size
E.g. Food, habitat, water
 Density dependent/independent
25 mins  Activity (how long will this take? 10 mins to fill sheet, 10 mins to
discuss with group?)
o assign different ecosystems to groups, then ask them to take
some time to google/wikipedia positives from that ecosystem
and what’s threatening it -> consider in the context of carrying
capacity/limiting factors. Assignments: Rainforest, Tundra,
Mangrove Forests, Coral Reefs
 Carrying Capacity & Equilibrium
15 mins o Carrying Capacity: The maximum population size of a biological
species in a specific environment given the amount of resources
available (limiting factors)
 Examples?
o Equilibrium: The state when populations of species are at
balance with each other and with their environment (i.e.
populations and resource amounts don’t change overall over
10 mins time). Wolf/Elk example
 Human interactions
o We are also animals, so how does human activity impact our
surrounding ecosystems?
o Human interactions with other species
o Interactions that affect other humans
o Climate change
 5 mins Lesson Consolidation (How will you wrap-up the lesson?)

 Can you think of things you do that impact your ecosystem?

 Explanation and homework assignment
 Homework: think about the human impacts of a small town on an
ecosystem

Next Steps (What would you plan as a follow-up to this lesson? What homework would you
assign?)

“Design a town” Assignment

Read (Relevant Chapter of the Text): On Different Spheres 

Assessment (How will you know that the students have achieved the learning expectation? What
assessment tool will you use?)

 
 

 In-class assignment
 In-class questions during slides
 Homework