In this unit, students analyze how matter cycles between the living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem. They compare plant and animal cells, figuring out how internal structures help an organism get energy. Then, in this lesson, students figure out how energy flows and matter cycles through a food web, and investigate the phenomena of how plants convert non-food sources, such as light, air, and water, into food sources. This page showcases key elements of this lesson.
In this unit, students evaluate the science phenomena of how a change to an ecosystem can impact the living things that make it up. In this lesson, students explore how a change to the kind of plants in an environment results in a ripple effect phenomena on predation in the area. This page is a high-level extract of this lesson.
Standards citation: NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.