Application: Describe carbon Level 2 Level 3 Movement/Carbon cycling within students students will Question ecosystems as will explain recognize movement of ecosystem fluxes as carbon processes involving among carbon as series of movements of pools associated causally matter, but with: connected not that fluxes Movement of events BOTH make materials: (rabbits eat one pool Eating, grass; larger AND defecation, foxes eat make another death rabbits) pool smaller. transforming processes: combustion, photosynthesis, digestion, biosynthesis, cellular respiration Explain why the biomass pyramid is a consistent pattern in terrestrial ecosystems. Explain changes in size of carbon pools in terms of fluxes into and out of carbon pools Application: Identify energy Level 2 Level 3 Energy question transformations students students are involved in carbon will likely to fluxes describe describe energy as a energy as Describe energy cause of recycling in as flowing through events ecosystems ecosystems, from rather than (e.g., through sunlight to a soil nutrients) chemical energy conserved to heat that is entity that radiated into can be traced through systems.
Application: Movement/Carbon Question Describe carbon cycling within ecosystems as movement of carbon among carbon pools associated with: Movement of materials: Eating, defecation, death processes: combustion, photosynthesis, digestion, biosynthesis, cellular respiration Explain why the biomass pyramid is a consistent pattern in terrestrial ecosystems. Explain changes in size of carbon pools in terms of fluxes into and out of carbon pools Level 2 students will explain ecosystem processes as series of causally connected events (rabbits eat grass; foxes eat rabbits) Level 3 students will recognize fluxes as involving movements of matter, but not that fluxes BOTH make one pool larger AND make another pool smaller. Application: Energy question Identify energy transformations involved in carbon fluxes Describe energy as flowing through ecosystems, from sunlight to chemical energy to heat that is radiated into Level 2 students will describe energy as a cause of events rather than a conserved entity that can be traced through systems. Level 3 students are likely to describe energy as recycling in ecosystems (e.g., through soil nutrients) transforming
Ecosystems%20Teachers%20Guide%202012-2013.docx