Lesson modified and adapted from National Marine Sanctuaries
Learning objective:
Students will learn how organisms are connected through the marine food web. Students will learn how small changes in the food web may have large-scale effects
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
Common Core ELA Standards
Reading: Informational Text Grades 4-8: 1 – Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text 4 – Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text 7 – Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears. Writing Standards Grades 4-8: 1 – Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with resons and information 2 – Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly 4 – Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Common Core Math Standards
Mathematical Practices: Reason abstractly and quantitatively Construct viable arguments
Next Generation Science Standards
4 Structure, Function, and Information Processing 4-LS1-1 Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction
Science and Engineering Practices: Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Crosscutting Concepts:
Cause and Effect Systems and System Models 3-5 Engineering Design 3-5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
Science and Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Crosscutting Concepts:
Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World MS Human Impacts MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment
Science and Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Crosscutting Concepts:
Cause and Effect Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
K.6A use the senses to explore different forms of energy such as light, thermal, and sound
K.9B examine evidence that living organisms have basic needs such as food, water, and shelter for animals and air, water, nutrients, sunlight, and space for plants
K10B identify basic parts of plants and animals
1.6(A) identify and discuss how different forms of energy such as light, thermal, and sound are important to everyday life
1.10(A) investigate how the external characteristics of an animal are related to where it lives, how it moves, and what it eats
2.9(A) identify the basic needs of plants and animals
2.9(B) identify factors in the environment, including temperature and precipitation, that affect growth and behavior such as migration, hibernation, and dormancy of living things
2.9(C) compare the ways living organisms depend on each other and on their environments such as through food chains
3.9(A) observe and describe the physical characteristics of environments and how they support populations and communities of plants and animals within an ecosystem
5.9(A) observe the way organisms live and survive in their ecosystem by interacting with the living and nonliving components.
5.9(B) describe the flow of energy within a food web, including the roles of the sun, producers, consumers, and decomposers
5.9(C) predict the effects of changes in ecosystems caused by living organisms including humans, such as the overpopulation of grazers or the building of highways
5.9(D) identify fossils as evidence of past living organisms and the nature of the environment at the time using models
Overview
Baleen whales feed on crustaceans such as amphipods, copepods, and krill, as well as small fish. With changes in ocean temperature, up-welling, acidification and other urban influences, whales can be impacted through the food web. This game demonstrates the relationship between the trophic levels of a food web in the ocean and the potential impact of humans on that food web. Everything is connected. If the balance on one level is disturbed too much by climate change, the other levels will be affected as well.
At the base of the marine food web are phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are microscopic algae. Phytoplankton are the lowest trophic level, using the sun to photosynthesize and produce their own energy. They are ingested by zooplankton (animal plankton) and other planktivores (such as anchovies, sardines, filter feeding invertebrates, jellies, baleen whales, and filter feeding sharks such as whale sharks and basking sharks). Zooplankton are animals that are not capable of swimming against the current. Most zooplankton are microscopic, although some larger organisms such as sea jellies are also considered zooplankton. Some zooplankton spend their whole life in the planktonic state (holoplankton). Others are zooplankton during their larval form, then leave the plankton when morphing into their adult stage (these are called meroplankton). Examples of these organisms are sea stars, barnacles, and crabs. Ocean acidification is a process in which carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean. Burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gas by humans produce rampant amounts of carbon dioxide.
Twenty-five percent of the carbon dioxide created by the burning of fossil fuels is absorbed by the ocean. When carbon dioxide and water combine the reaction forms carbonic acid and hydrogen ions. The carbonic acid decreases the pH of the ocean which makes it more acidic. In turn the hydrogen ions react with calcium carbonate depleting the amount of calcium carbonate available in the oceans. Many organisms, such as molluscs, crustaceans, and corals, utilize calcium carbonate to produce their shells. Acidity eats away at materials such as calcium carbonate shells. As the ocean continues to absorb carbon dioxide the water will become more acidic, breaking down existing calcium carbonate shells, and the reduction of available calcium carbonate will inhibit organisms’ shell production. Both processes may have significant negative impacts on these organisms. By reducing our burning of fossil fuels for energy and shifting toward renewable energy resources, we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere and the ocean.
Materials:
- 1 set of Jenga blocks
- 1 stack of playing cards
- green, blue, purple, and red markers/paint
Advanced Prep:
- Paint (or use markers) 21 jenga blocks green. Glue image of the phytoplankton on the ends.
- Paint (or use markers) 12 jenga blocks blue. Glue image of the zooplankton on the ends.
- Paint (or use markers) 21 jenga blocks red. Glue image of the krill on the ends.
- Hot glue 3 blocks together and paint purple. These are the whales
- Print out the playing cards from this site. Glue the cards onto the playing cards
Procedure:
Directions Preparing the game:
- Color the ends of Jenga blocks as specified above.
- Glue images of the organisms on the sides of the blocks to match.
- Print out playing cards and informational whale cards.
- Print whale food web card.
Game set up:
- Place three green blocks side by side with pictures facing out. Place three more green blocks on top of the first layer cross-ways. Continue to stack green blocks this way until all are used up.
- Stack blue followed by red blocks on top of the green base until all blocks are used up.
- Place the purple block on the very top. The stacked up blocks represent the food web for Baleen whales in the ocean.
- Shuffle the playing cards and stack them upside down.
Playing the game:
- The first player picks a card, reads it aloud and follows the instructions written on the card. Only the block being removed or returned may be touched. (You are not allowed to hold the rest of the stack together while removing the blocks.)
- Put the used cards into a discard pile.
- Place removed wood blocks into a discard pile off to the side.
- Continue to take turns adding or removing blocks (depending on the card instructions) until the tower falls and the food web collapses or all cards are used up.
- Reset to play again using the directions above
Questions to Ask:
Pre-experiment
- What do whales eat?
- If the ocean is so large, why do small changes make a difference?
- How can something as large as a whale be impacted by changes in the ocean?
Post-experiment
- What surprised you in playing this game?
- What did you discover about human influences on the environment?
- What questions would you like to investigate further?
Extensions:
- Create additional cards for the game.
- Look for local impacts on the ocean that could influence the food web and find solutions you can facilitate.
- Students will write an explanation of what happened while they were playing the game and how that correlates to what is going on in the ocean.
Evaluation:
Have students write informational text about ocean acidification and its effects on various marine organisms and the food web.