UP:SC15.ES.3

Vocabulary

  • interpolation
  • extrapolation
  • anthropogenic
  • limiting factors
  • biodiversity index
  • species richness
  • species evenness
  • population
  • graphic models
  • population pyramid
  • doubling time
  • growth rate
  • slope
  • exponential growth
  • population curve
  • logistic growth model
  • linear growth model
  • constant growth
  • density-dependent limiting factors
  • density-independent limiting factors
  • carrying capacity
  • Biodiversity Treaty
  • demographic transition
  • correlation
  • endangered species
  • extinction
  • survivorship
  • sustainability
  • population properties
  • density and dispersion
  • reproductive potential

Knowledge

Students know:
  • The carrying capacity of an ecosystem results from such factors as availability of living and nonliving resources and from such challenges as predation, competition, and disease.
  • Anthropogenic changes in the environment, including habitat destruction, pollution, introduction of invasive species, overexploitation, and climate change, can disrupt an ecosystem and threaten the survival of some species.
  • Examples of mathematical representations include finding the average, determining trends, and using graphical comparisons of multiple sets of data.
  • The difference between density-dependent and density-independent limiting factors, examples of each, and how each affects populations and biodiversity within an ecosystem.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Differentiate between constant and exponential growth.
  • Use graphs to compare multiple sets of data.
  • Determine trends in data sets.
  • Use a variety of graphs and charts, including: (e.g., scatterplots, tables, line graphs, bar graphs, histograms) to evaluate the impact of factors on populations and biodiversity.
  • Utilize interpolation, extrapolation and statistical analyses to determine relationships between biodiversity and population numbers.
  • Make inferences and justify conclusions from sample surveys, experiments, and observational studies. (ALCOS Mathematics S-IC)
  • Choose a scale and the origins in graphs (ALCOS Mathematics ALGI. 4.2) in order to accurately compare graphical data.
  • Determine an appropriate graphic model to display relationships comparing populations by biodiversity.
  • Describe how factors affecting ecosystems at one scale can cause observable changes in ecosystems at a different scale.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • The number of populations in a given area reflects the biodiversity of that area.
  • Ecosystems can exist in the same location on a variety of scales, and these populations can interact in ways that may, or may not, significantly alter the ecosystems.
  • Using the concept of orders of magnitude, a model at one scale relates to a model at another scale.

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

Crosscutting Concepts

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
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