NGSSS SCIENCE SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES
STUDENT PACKET
Biology
SC.912.L.17.9
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEM ATICS AND SCIENCE
THE SCHOOL BOARD OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA
Perla Tabares Hantman, Chair
Dr. Lawrence S. Feldman, Vice Chair
Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall
Susie V. Castillo
Dr. Wilbert “Tee” Holloway
Dr. Martin Karp
Lubby Navarro
Dr. Marta Pérez
Raquel A. Regalado
Julian Lafaurie
Student Advisor
Alberto M. Carvalho
Superintendent of Schools
Maria Izquierdo
Chief Academic Officer
Office of Academics and Transformation
Dr. Maria P. de Armas
Assistant Superintendent
Division of Academics
Mr. Cristian Carranza
Administrative Director
Division of Academics
Dr. Ava D. Rosales
Executive Director
Department of Mathematics and Science
Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide students with enhancement tutorial sessions that will
enrich the depth of content knowledge of the Biology 1 course. Each tutorial session is aligned
to Biology Annually Assessed Benchmarks of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards
(NGSSS) as described in the course description and the Biology Item Specifications and include
an ExploreLearning Gizmos activity and/or a science demonstration followed by assessment
questions.
The Nature of Science Body of Knowledge (BOK) is embedded in all lessons. Teachers are
encouraged to generate an inquiry-based environment where students grow in scientific thinking
while creating and responding to higher-order questions.
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Biology
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Table of Contents
Organisms, Populations, and Ecosystems - SC.912.L.17.9 Use a food web to identify and
distinguish producers, consumers, and decomposers. Explain the pathway of energy transfer
through trophic levels and the reduction of available energy at successive trophic levels. (Also
assesses SC.912.E.7.1)
Activity 1A - Food Chain .............................................................................................................3
Activity 1B – Food Web ............................................................................................................10
Activity 2 – Online Food Chain ................................................................................................15
Activity A – Online Food Chain ............................................................................................16
Activity B – Online Food Webs ............................................................................................16
Activity C – Online Orca Food Chain ...................................................................................16
Activity D – Fun with Food Webs.........................................................................................17
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Activity 1A – Food Chain
Vocabulary: consumer, ecosystem, equilibrium, food chain, population, predator, prey,
producer
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
The Food Chain Gizmo™ shows a food chain with hawks, snakes, rabbits, and grass. In this
simulation, the hawks eat snakes, the snakes eat rabbits, and the rabbits eat grass.
1. Producers are organisms that do not need to eat other organisms to obtain energy.
A. Which organism is a producer in this food chain?
B. Where does the producer get its energy?
2. Consumers must eat other organisms for energy. Which organisms are consumers in this
food chain?
Gizmo Warm-up
The SIMULATION pane of the Gizmo shows the current population, or number, of each
organism in the food chain.
1. What are the current populations of each organism?
Hawks: _____
Snakes: ____
Rabbits: ____
Grass: ____
2. Select the BAR CHART tab, and click Play (
). What do
you notice about each population as time goes by?
If populations don’t change very much over time, the
ecosystem is in equilibrium.
3. Compare the equilibrium populations of the four organisms.
Why do you think populations decrease at higher levels of
the food chain?
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Part A: Predator-prey relationships
Engage Question: Predators are animals that hunt other animals, called prey. How do predator
and prey populations affect one another?
1. Get the Gizmo ready:
 Click Reset (
).
 Check that the BAR CHART tab is selected.
2. Observe: Run the Gizmo with several different starting conditions. You can use the + or –
buttons to add or remove organisms, or you can choose Diseased from the dropdown lists.
3. Form hypothesis: How do you think predator and prey populations affect one another?
Hypothesis: ______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Predict: Based on your hypothesis, predict how changing the rabbit population will affect the
other organisms at first. Write “Increase” or “Decrease” next to each “Prediction” in the table.
Change
Doubling rabbit
population
Halving rabbit
population
Grass
Prediction: ________
Snakes
Prediction: ________
Hawks
Prediction: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Prediction: ________
Prediction: ________
Prediction: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
5. Test: Add rabbits until the population is about twice as large as it was (200% of balance).
Click Play, and then Pause (
) after approximately ONE month. Next to each “Result” line
in the table, write “increase” or “decrease.” Click Reset and then halve the rabbit population
(50% of balance). Record the results for this experiment in the table as well.
A. How did doubling the rabbit population affect the grass, snakes, and hawks at first?
B. How did halving the rabbit population affect the grass, snakes, and hawks at first?
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6. Predict: Predict how changing the snake and hawk populations will affect the other
organisms within the first month. In the tables below, write your predictions.
Change
Grass
Prediction: ________
Rabbits
Prediction: ________
Hawks
Prediction: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Halving snake
population
Prediction: ________
Prediction: ________
Prediction: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Change
Grass
Prediction: ________
Rabbits
Prediction: ________
Snakes
Prediction: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Prediction: ________
Prediction: ________
Prediction: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Result: ________
Doubling snake
population
Doubling hawk
population
Halving hawk
population
7. Test: Click Reset. Try each experiment with the Gizmo. Record each result after one month.
A. How did increasing the snakes affect the grass?
Explain why:
B. How did increasing the hawks affect the rabbits?
Explain why:
8. Draw conclusions: In general, what effect did removing prey have on predators?
What effect did removing predators have on prey?
Extend your thinking: In North America, many top predators, such as wolves, have been driven
nearly to extinction. What effect do you think this has on their main prey, deer? Write your
answer on a separate sheet, and/or discuss with your classmates and teacher.
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Part B: Long-term changes
Engage Question: An ecosystem is a group of living things and their physical environment. How
do ecosystems react to major disturbances?
1. Get the Gizmo ready:
 Click Reset (
).
 Select the GRAPH tab.
1. Observe: Kill off most of the hawks using the – button, and then click Play. Observe the
GRAPH for about 12 months, and then click Pause. What happens?
2. Analyze: Explain why you think the population of each organism changed the way it did.
(Use extra paper if necessary.)
3. Experiment: Click Reset. Try making other changes to the ecosystem. Use the + or –
buttons, or choose Diseased from the dropdown lists. Click Play and observe for at least 12
months. Record what happens on another sheet of paper or in your notes.
4. Summarize: Give at least one example of each of the following:
A. A major disturbance that the ecosystem was able to recover completely from.
B. A major disturbance that caused the ecosystem to stabilize at a new equilibrium.
C. A major disturbance that caused the ecosystem to completely collapse.
D. (Challenge) A major disturbance that almost caused a total collapse, but that the
ecosystem was able to recover from eventually.
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Assessment – Food Chain
1. If a disease strikes the snake population in the food chain shown, what will be the initial
effect on the populations of hawks and rabbits?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The populations of hawks and rabbits will decrease.
The populations of hawks and rabbits will increase.
The population of hawks will increase. The population of rabbits will decrease.
The population of hawks will decrease. The population of rabbits will increase.
2. In the stable food chain shown below, what would you expect to happen initially if you were
to suddenly double the population of rabbits?
A. The populations of the other three species would also increase.
B. The populations of the other three species would decrease.
C. The grass population would decrease. The snake population and hawk population would
increase.
D. The grass population and hawk population would decrease. The snake population would
increase.
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3. What event within the food chain might lead to the graph shown below?
A.
B.
C.
D.
A disease in the population of rabbits.
A disease in the population of snakes.
A disease in the population of hawks.
Its impossible to tell which of the above occurred.
4. What most likely caused the rabbit population to decrease over the first time unit shown in
the following graph?
A.
B.
C.
D.
A disease in the population of rabbits
A decreasing population of grasses
An increasing population of hawks
A higher-than-ideal population of snakes
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5. Trapping has severely reduced the population of rabbits in an ecosystem, as shown in the
bar graph below. What is the most likely effect this will have on other organisms?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The snake population will decrease rapidly and the grass population will increase rapidly.
The hawk population will increase rapidly and the rabbit population will decrease rapidly.
The grass population will decrease rapidly, and the snake population will increase rapidly.
The grass, rabbit, snake, and hawk populations will all decrease rapidly.
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Activity 1B – Food Web
Read through the text. Design a food web and answer some questions from the following
information:
The Torrens River starts in the Adelaide hills as several small creeks which join to form on
larger creek. As it winds its way down the hills to the city, more and more water is added. It
generally only flows in winter when the rainfall is sufficient, and dries up into small waterholes
during the summer. A weir is used to hold water permanently in the city. It is surprising how
many organisms rely on the river for their existence.
Algae can be observed growing in the water, as well as water ribbons (Triglochin procerum). On
the water’s edge, fluffy topped reeds such as the common reed (Phragmites australis) and the
bulrush (Typhus sp) grow. Water boatmen are observed swimming in the water. They are eating
the algae and reeds. Mosquito larvae also eat the algae while the freshwater snail eats both the
algae and water ribbons. A long necked tortoise pokes its nostrils above the water. The tortoise
eats the algae too, as well as feeding on snails, boatman and yabbies. The water boatman
provides food for many species including fish, frogs, diving beetles and dragonfly larvae. The
yabbies are scavengers, feeding on rotting plant and animal matter, while bacteria also help
break down this dead material by digesting it and recycling nutrients in the food web. The
mosquito larvae are considered a delicacy for several varieties of fish (such as the big-headed
gudgeon or the congolli).
Birds are in abundance along the waterway. Pacific black ducks are feeding on fish, dragonfly
larvae and diving beetles, while the occasional visiting pelican feeds on fish, frogs and dragonfly
larvae. Black swans make a beautiful sight, bending their elegant necks to forage under the
water grazing on the water ribbons, snails and an occasional fish. The white-faced heron makes
a meal of the fish and frogs. The purple swamp hen runs quickly from the bulrushes where it
feeds on the tender growth of the bulrushes and also makes its nest. On the bank a blue-tongue
lizard is sunning itself in a warm rock. It snaps at the dragonflies and diving beetle and beware
the unwary frog, the lizard will sometimes eat them too.
1. Use the pictures provided below to construct a food web
It is best to start with the producers and build up. When you are happy with your placement,
glue/write the animals in place and complete the arrows to show the flow of energy. You may
need to read through parts of the text again.
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2. Divide the organisms into the following categories:
Producers
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1st Order Consumer
2nd Order Consumer
(and higher)
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3. Which of the organisms contain chlorophyll? Are they producers or consumers? How do you
know?
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_________________________________________________________________________
4. Which organisms feed on algae?_______________________________________________
5. Which organisms feed on fish?_________________________________________________
6. Find a food chain from your web with at least 4 organisms. Place them in the pyramid with
the producer at the bottom and the highest order consumer at the peak. Estimate numbers of
organisms for each level (their population) in that habitat. It should decrease as it goes
higher. Infer or explain why this happens.
7. The decomposers. Which organisms are decomposers? Where do they live? What do they
do? Indicate where they fit in your food web.
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8. Predict what would happen to the organisms if:
a) an oil spill occurred nearby.
b) all the fish were killed.
c) several house owners nearby fertilised their lawns followed by a big rain.
d) the weather is warmer than usual and less rain falls.
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Activity 2 – Online Food Chain
Food Chain
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/explorer/ecosystems/be_an_explorer/map/foodweb_play.
htm
Objective:
Your job is to build a food web.
Procedures:
 Move each arrow from the predator and put it directly on what it eats. Make sure the
arrow overlaps the food image, and if you are right, the arrow will lock into place.
 You can move the pictures around at any time to make the food web easier to read. (Hint:
you want to see all the connections between the icons.)
 When you have connected all the arrows, you have created the food web!
 The first activity to complete starts with the food chain below:


Once Stage #1 is completed, answer the question on the box provided and click NEXT.
A second question will be asked. Choose from 4 answers. Once you get the right answer,
write your name to create the certificate of completion for this activity that you can print.
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Activity A
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.htm
1. You may be asked to come up to the smart board and manipulate the food chain. Participate
in discussions as other students complete this activity on the board.
2. Start with the Simple Chain. As you do all of the food chains below, assign hypothetical
energy values to one so that students use the 10% rule throughout the web. There are three
organisms to complete this simple food chain: A bird, flower and caterpillar.
3. Next is the Bigger Chain. Complete the food chain using a: snake, mouse, hawk and an
acorn.
4. Now move on to the Marine Chain. Complete the food chain using a: big fish, small fish,
dolphin and algae.
5. Begin now with the Mixed Chain. Notice the food chains are getting more complicated.
Complete the food chain using a: big fish, insect, flower, seagull and small fish.
6. Now move on to the Full Chain. Complete the food chain using a: lizard, plant, mushrooms,
eagle and grasshopper.
7. Now go to a Full Marine Chain. Complete the food chain using a: fish, jellyfish, plankton,
turtle, shark and bacteria.
8. Now do the Chain with humans. Complete the food chain using a: big fish, human, plankton,
mussel, and small fish.
Activity B
http://www.gould.edu.au/foodwebs/kids_web.htm
Prior Knowledge:
Before conducting this activity, discuss with class what you know regarding: top-level
carnivores, secondary carnivores, carnivores, herbivores and producers.
1. There are four food webs to choose from: Australian Grasslands, African Grasslands,
Antarctic, and Marine
2. Choose one of the food webs to complete and as they are completed, go on to the second,
then third and fourth.
3. Place the animal in its correct category within the food web based on whether they are toplevel carnivores, secondary carnivores, carnivores, herbivores and producers.
Activity C
Orca Food Chain Activity: http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00547/ActFOODCHAIN.html
Vocabulary:
 Carnivore - a strictly meat eating animal
 Consumers - opposite of the producer, someone or something that feeds off other links
in the food chain
 Food chain - A food chain is the link between organisms from the producers to the
consumers.
 Organism - a living being
 Producer - an organism that produces its own food
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Procedures:
1. Click on the Intro tab and Cloze read the information presented and discuss with the class.
2. Click on Producers and participate in the reading of the Diatoms and Eelgrass.
3. Participate in class discussion about Herrings and Krill.
4. Click on Animals 1. Take turns reading about Herrin and Krill and discuss.
5. The teacher will read the Orcas information and discuss with students.
Challenge:
1. You are now ready to create the Orcas food web. Can you create a food chain to keep orca
alive? A food chain is the link between organisms from the producers to the consumers. It is
a complex balance of life whereby one organism feeds off another. It begins with a producer
(eel grass) and ends with a carnivore (killer whale).
2. Make a food chain that will allow orca to survive. Do this by adding enough eel grass,
diatoms, herring and salmon to feed the orca.
3. Now follow this link: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0309/quickflicks/
4. Click on the Brain POP link that plays the movie. As the movie is played, stop and play it
encouraging discussion when you stop. Never play the movie in its entirety without
discussion parts of it as it plays.
5. Then go back to this link: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0309/quickflicks/
and Play the Brain POP Quiz.
6. Be prepared to come up to the Smart Board and present.
Activity 3D
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/food/food_menu.html
Students will be selected to lead each discussion and present on the board regarding the
following topics:
 Meadow Food Web #1
 Artic Food Web #2
 Pond Food Web #3
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Anti-Discrimination Policy
Federal and State Laws
The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida adheres to a policy of nondiscrimination in employment and
educational programs/activities and strives affirmatively to provide equal opportunity for all as required by:
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, or
national origin.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended - prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of
race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 - prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) as amended - prohibits discrimination on the basis of
age with respect to individuals who are at least 40.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 as amended - prohibits gender discrimination in payment of wages to women and
men performing substantially equal work in the same establishment.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - prohibits discrimination against the disabled.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) - prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities
in employment, public service, public accommodations and telecommunications.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) - requires covered employers to provide up to 12 weeks of
unpaid, job-protected leave to "eligible" employees for certain family and medical reasons.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 - prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of
pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
Florida Educational Equity Act (FEEA) - prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin,
marital status, or handicap against a student or employee.
Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 - secures for all individuals within the state freedom from discrimination
because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status.
Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) - prohibits discrimination against
employees or applicants because of genetic information.
Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act of 2002 – no public school shall deny equal access to, or a fair
opportunity for groups to meet on school premises or in school facilities before or after school hours, or
discriminate against any group officially affiliated with Boy Scouts of America or any other youth or
community group listed in Title 36 (as a patriotic society).
Veterans are provided re-employment rights in accordance with P.L. 93-508 (Federal Law) and Section 295.07
(Florida Statutes), which stipulate categorical preferences for employment.
In Addition:
School Board Policies 1362, 3362, 4362, and 5517 - Prohibit harassment and/or discrimination against
students, employees, or applicants on the basis of sex, race, color, ethnic or national origin, religion, marital
status, disability, genetic information, age, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, gender identification,
social and family background, linguistic preference, pregnancy, and any other legally prohibited basis.
Retaliation for engaging in a protected activity is also prohibited.
Revised: (07.14)