Learning Goals
Students will be able to identify and classify producers, consumers, decomposers, and abiotic factors in the school forest ecosystem to explain organism roles in a food web.
Students will be able to model energy flow and food web relationships in the school forest to show how matter and energy move through interconnected species.
Students will be able to investigate disturbances such as species loss, weather shifts, or habitat changes in the school forest to determine how ripple effects influence survival across the ecosystem.
Students will be able to collect, document, and analyze field evidence in journals and annotated observation boards to support claims about forest interactions and ecosystem function.
Students will be able to justify revised ecosystem models and conclusions using evidence from repeated observations while evaluating limitations and uncertainty in their data.
Products
School Forest Investigation Notebook
A dated research notebook that documents each student's questions, observation methods, field notes, sketches, disturbance evidence, and personal analysis of ecosystem interactions. It demonstrates individual mastery of forest roles, energy flow, and evidence-based reasoning.
What We Get From the Woods Ecosystem Investigation Report and Gallery Presentation
A team report and live presentation that synthesize members' evidence into a clear explanation of the school forest ecosystem, including a shared model, data patterns, limitations, and ripple effects from a disturbance. The product depends on individual evidence contributions and requires the team to address conflicting observations and unanswered questions.
No rubric has been generated yet.