Tag Archives: HS-LS3.A

Tragedy of the Goldfish

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tragedy of the goldfishSustainably Managing a Common Pool Resource

by Duran Fiack and Dan Johnston

The tragedy of the commons is a dilemma when multiple individuals, acting independently, deplete a shared, limited resource. Articulating solutions to the tragedy of the commons is one of the main problems of environmental policy and natural resource managers. In the absence of enlightened self-interest, altruistic or cooperative behavior, some form of authority is needed to solve the collective action problem.

In this module, students represent independent actors seeking to catch fish to support their livelihood. Students learn: 1) How human activities can cause resource depletion, 2) How interactions between individual actors are important in natural resource management, and 3) How to use data to make graphs and to discover trends over time.

Docs: fullltext.docx   lecture.pptx   info.docx   handout1.docx
Keywords: cause, common pool resource, environmental policy, graphs, HS-LS3.A, HS-LS3.B, HS-LS4.A, natural resource, patterns

Are You My Sister

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Sister moduleBuilding Trees to Understand Evolutionary Relationships

by Ben Higgins and Satina Ciandro

How do students begin to make sense of the vast diversity of life?  Even when exposed to just a sliver of such diversity, it is commonplace for students to become disengaged.  This module is a first step in understanding why and how animals are classified and to become excited about the process.

The purpose of this module is to use the traits that each species possess to develop an understanding of species relatedness.  Upon completion of this module, students should have a better understanding of why assemblages of animals are classified together. This module is an opportunity for students to learn: 1) How organisms are grouped together and 2) How to interpret relationships among groups of organisms.

Docs: sequences.docx   cards.pdf
Keywords: argument, cause, data, evolutionary trees, explanations, HS-LS3.B, HS-LS3.A, HS-LS3.B, HS-LS4.A, investigations, models, MS-LS4.A, patterns, phylogenetics, traits

Why Do Organisms Vary?

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why do organisms varyGenetic and Environmental Contributions to Trait Variation

by Beth Bastiaans and Ryan Kuntz

In this 2-month project, students design an experiment to assess phenotypic variation in one or more traits. Students use Wisconsin Fast PlantsTM (Brassica rapa). In a breeding experiment, they select a trait and analyze it during two generations of plants. Students create a pedigree by cross-pollinating the first generation with those of other students to generate a second generation of seeds with known parentage. They use linear regression to measure similarity of the selected trait in both generations. The second experiment begins with the offspring generation: students select an environmental variable, and plant enough of those offspring seeds to control that variable, again measuring the selected trait, and using linear regression to analyze effectiveness of that environmental factor.

Docs: Fulltext.pdf
Keywords: argument, data, HS-ETS2.B, explanations, genetic traits, investigations, HS-LS1.B, HS-LS3.A, HS-LS3.B, HS-LS4.B, math, organisms, phenotype, questions, variation

It Runs in the Family

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Runs in the FamilyBuilding Trees to Understand Evolutionary Relationships

by Ben Higgins and Satina Ciandro

How do students begin to make sense of the vast diversity of life?  Even when exposed to just a sliver of such diversity, it is commonplace for students to become disengaged.  This module is a first step in understanding why and how animals are classified and to become excited about the process.

The purpose of this module is to use the traits that each species possess to develop an understanding of species relatedness.  Upon completion of this module, students should have a better understanding of why assemblages of animals are classified together. This module is an opportunity for students to learn: 1) How organisms are grouped together and 2) How to interpret relationships among groups of organisms.

Docs: fulltext.docx   handout.docx   handoutkey.docx
Keywords: cause, evolution, Inheritance, HS-LS3.A, HS-LS3.B, HS-LS4.A, morphology, MS-LS4.A, patterns, traits