Name:  Peter Nelson    

Subject: Biology I (Ecology)

Period: 3rd

Approximate Time: 50 minutes

Objectives:

The student will identify and explain human effects on the environment (Biology,  

Materials:

 Whiteboard, whiteboard markers, writing utensil, blank paper, colored pencils.  

Bell work:

 Madagascar has a very high level of biodiversity. What is biodiversity, and how could it be threatened by people? What are some possible solutions to this in the case of Madagascar? (basically review the worksheet from the day before, let them keep it for the bell work).

Set:  

 When you are out and about you probably see lots of things having to do with human effects on the environment, but many of us don’t think twice about what we are seeing. Sometimes you might see a piece of garbage on the ground. What is going to happen to that piece of garbage? You see tractors fertilizing the fields outside, what happens to that fertilizer? You see a factory operating, where is it getting the energy? What effect does the factory’s operation have on the environment? Sometimes we don’t think about it and sometimes we just don’t know. Today we will find out the answers to these questions as we continue to talk about human impact on the environment.

Procedure:  

    Before starting you should put four categories on the board (technology, natural resources, ozone, and global warming.

 1. First lets think about technology and its impact on the environment, what are some ways that technology might have affected our environment over the years? Think about Madagascar. What were the first people like?  How did they live? How did that change and what changes did it have? (3-4 min)

2. We have already touched on the progression of people from hunters and gatherers to  people living together and farming. Need to clear the land for farming.

3. With advancements in agriculture, water supplies are used for irrigation, chemical fertilizers are added to the soil and chemical pesticides are added to the crops.

4. What are some possible consequences of these actions?

    - run-off from fertilizers increases growth of algae when algae is decomposed, it decreases the amount of oxygen in the water which hurts plants and fish.

    - chemical pesticides cause problems as well. Some pesticides are actually banned (DDT) because of the effects it has on wildlife. DDT is transferred in higher amounts as it flows through a food cycle. If pesticides ran off into a lake, think of how this might look. (2 min).      Talk about its relation to the near extinction of the bald eagle.

5. Natural Resources Column: As the world becomes more industrialized, we need to find sources of energy to operate the equipment. People began using natural resources for energy. Classified into two groups,

    - Non-renewable: take millions of years to form (coal, oil, natural gas) Most energy from fossil fuels.

    - Renewable resources: can be replenished more quickly but are not available in unlimited amounts. (water, trees).  

    - Products or waste products made by these factories and machines are also easily decomposed.

    - Natural products like banana peels, cotton clothing, and most paper is biodegradable (can be decomposed in days, weeks, or months.

    - Other products like metal, rubber, and plastic make take hundreds of years or longer to decompose.

World wide concerns:

6. Thinning ozone.

    - Take a few minutes to think about what the ozone might be and why it is important.

    - The ozone is made up of oxygen in the form of O3, at ground level this is bad but the ozone layer is very important because it protects us from ultraviolet rays or UV rays.  What might some of the effects of UV rays be? (sunburn, damaged eyes, cancer, damages plant tissues.

    - The reason the ozone is a topic of concern is because in some areas it is deteriorating. Initially noticed above antarctica but by 1995 the hole was large enough that it affected the US.  This problem was caused by the release of compounds called CFCs that are released in aerosol cans, refrigerators, and freezers. Not used as much, ozone layer won’t recover for awhile.

7. Global Warming

    -  increase in global temperature. what might be some negative effects of this? 3 min

    - CO2 levels

8. Ask the students to draw one example of human effects on the environment with colored pencils and describe what they are drawing.  

Closure:

Great job today, we have now gotten through pretty much all of the material that we will be able to cover in ecology. What are some of the main impacts of humans on the evironment? (technology, ozone, global warming, use of natural resources, urban development) Tomorrow we will hopefully get a chance to review some of the main things we have covered so far and we will re-take the pre-test to judge how far you have come in the last few weeks.

Assessment/Evaluation:

Objective: The student will identify and explain human effects on the environment (Biology, 7.e)

Informal: The teacher will observe student progress throughout the class period

Formal: The teacher will assign student to draw an example of human effects in the environment. The assignment will be collected and recorded in the grade book.

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