Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Systems Are Everywhere

Subject Area

Science

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview

In this unit, students are introduced to systems, systems modeling, and systems thinking. The activities provide opportunities for them to explore how systems modeling and systems thinking are used to address complex problems and to apply their knowledge and skills to a challenge in their own lives. During the unit, students build an understanding of real-world systems by analyzing parts of an urban farm system, using an online tool to model a subsystem of the urban farm, developing and modeling an example of a system, and generating ideas for mitigating the negative effects and/or elaborate on impacts to the system.

    Science (2015) Grade(s): 09-12 - Biology

    SC15.BIO.7

    Develop and use models to illustrate examples of ecological hierarchy levels, including biosphere, biome, ecosystem, community, population, and organism.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:SC15.BIO.7

    Vocabulary

    • Ecology
    • Biosphere
    • Biotic factor
    • Abiotic factor
    • Population
    • Biological community
    • Ecosystem
    • Biome
    • Species

    Knowledge

    Students know:
    • The biosphere is the portion of the Earth that supports life.
    • The lowest level of organization is the individual organism itself.
    • Individual organisms of a single species that share the same geographical location at the same time make up the population.
    • A group of interacting populations that occupy the same geographical area at the same time is a biological community.
    • An ecosystem is the biological community and all the abiotic factors that affect it (e.g., water temperature, light availability).
    • A biome is a large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of communities.

    Skills

    Students are able to:
    • Organize objects or organisms into levels of hierarchy.
    • Develop a hierarchical classification model using standard language and parameters.

    Understanding

    Students understand that:
    • In order to study relationships within the biosphere, it is divided into smaller levels of organization.
    • The simplest level of organization is the organism, with increasing levels of complexity as the numbers and interactions between organisms increase, shown in the population, biological community, ecosystem, and biome until reaching the most complex level of the biosphere.

    Scientific and Engineering Practices

    Developing and Using Models

    Crosscutting Concepts

    Systems and System Models
    Link to Resource

    CR Resource Type

    Lesson/Unit Plan

    Resource Provider

    Institute for Systems Biology
    Accessibility

    Accessibility

    Text Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings
    License

    License Type

    Attribution Non-Commercial
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