In this unit students will build and construct an understanding of how matter and organisms interact creating change in our biosphere and in turn affect all types of ecosystems. Then using these skills and content they will be able to communicate, model and create solutions to phenomena, environmental emergencies or concerns. environmental concerns or endangered organisms.

AP Biology AP Biology Ecology. Ecology. Ecology Population Ecology Community Ecology Ecosystems Conservation AP Biology Lab 10 Energy Dynamics Module WrapUp Final Assessment

AP Environmental Science APES Biodiversity. Biodiversity. Biodiversity Fragile Ecosystems and Endangered Species Biodiversity Loss Conservation Extinction Introduction to Biodiversity Biodiversity Patterns Evolution and Natural selection Natural Ecosystem Changes Relationships between Species Module WrapUp

AP Environmental Science APES Course Intro. Course Introduction. Course Introduction About APES Review the Scientific Method Problems Facing Our Environment and Their Causes Math in AP Environmental Science Current National and International Environmental Issues How have anthropogenic actions affected our ecosystems in America What is an environmentally sustainable society Module WrapUp Final Assessments

AP Environmental Science APES Worldview Ethics Sustainability. Environmental Worldviews Ethics and Sustainability. Environmental Worldviews Ethics and Sustainability Natural Capital Ecosystem Services and Environmental Worldviews Global Issues Bearing the Costs and Living Sustainably How do we Acheive a Goal Environmental Policy The Economic Importance of the Environment Module WrapUp

This video follows biologist Gretchen Hofmann as she studies the effects of ocean acidification on sea urchin larvae.

An alternative introduction to the chapter "Adapting and Living Together" - explained with Vamipres! It sits within the Ecology and Environment topic of the virtual school GCSE Biology. Teachers can choose which engagement video is better for their own uses and students.

Students will plan and design an imaginary organism that lives in the Temperate Deciduous Forest, Tropical Rainforest, or Desert. Students will then identify three adaptations of this animal, and determine how the adaptations of that animal may respond to a change in the ecosystem.

An introduction to the chapter "Adapting and Living Together" within the Ecology and Environment topic of the virtual school GCSE Biology.

An introduction to the chapter "Adapting and Living Together" within the Ecology and Environment topic of the virtual school GCSE Biology.

A short video that discusses how changing climate is affecting the population of AdÃlie penguins.

Our human society consists of many intertwined Large Scale Socio-Technical Systems (LSSTS), such as infrastructures, industrial networks, the financial systems etc. Environmental pressures created by these systems on Earth‰ŰŞs carrying capacity are leading to exhaustion of natural resources, loss of habitats and biodiversity, and are causing a resource and climate crisis. To avoid this sustainability crisis, we urgently need to transform our production and consumption patterns. Given that we, as inhabitants of this planet, are part of a complex and integrated global system, where and how should we begin this transformation? And how can we also ensure that our transformation efforts will lead to a sustainable world? LSSTS and the ecosystems that they are embedded in are known to be Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). According to John Holland CAS are "...a dynamic network of many agents (which may represent cells, species, individuals, firms, nations) acting in parallel, constantly acting and reacting to what the other agents are doing. The control of a CAS tends to be highly dispersed and decentralized. If there is to be any coherent behavior in the system, it will have to to arise from competition and cooperation among the agents themselves. The overall behavior of the system is the result of a huge number of decisions made every moment" by many individual agents. Understanding Complex Adaptive Systems requires tools that themselves are complex to create and understand. Shalizi defines Agent Based Modeling as "An agent is a persistent thing which has some state we find worth representing, and which interacts with other agents, mutually modifying each other‰ŰŞs states. The components of an agent-based model are a collection of agents and their states, the rules governing the interactions of the agents and the environment within which they live." This course will explore the theory of CAS and their main properties. It will also teach you how to work with Agent Based Models in order to model and understand CAS.

As the world population increases and urbanization continues, food security has become pivotal in the sustainability agenda. Countries around the globe are looking for long-term solutions to provide sufficient food sources without over-exploiting the ecosystems. Agroforestry is advocated as one possible land management approaches that could form part of the solution in tackling the issues.
While some places use agroforestry to increase the yield of open farmland, there are places that use it as a conservation approach and replace the traditional slash-and-burn agricultural practices to conserve the ecological value of forests. This e-study introduces the concepts of agroforestry in several case studies. Readers could gain a holistic understanding of the opportunities and challenges of implementing agroforestry around the world.

During World War Two, a fierce battle between American and Japanese forces on Kwajalein atoll left a trail of debris on the deep lagoon floor. This lagoon now has one of the largest collections of well-preserved aircraft in the world. In this video, as part of the first ever film crew allowed onto this secret military base, Jonathan explores a B-25, F4-U Corsair and Dauntless dive bomber still sitting on the bottom of the ocean, as if ready to take off. Please see the accompanying study guide for educational objectives and discussion points.

Bycatch, the unintended capture of animals in commercial fishing gear, is a hot topic in marine conservation today. The surprisingly high level of bycatch about 25% of the entire global catch is responsible for the decline of hundreds of thousands of dolphins, whales, porpoises, seabirds and sea turtles each year. Through this curricular unit, students analyze the significance of bycatch in the global ecosystem and propose solutions to help reduce bycatch. They become familiar with current attempts to reduce the fishing mortality of these animals. Through the associated activities, the challenges faced today are reinforced and students are stimulated to brainstorm about possible engineering designs or policy changes that could reduce the magnitude of bycatch.

In this activity, students explore how the timing of color change and leaf drop of New England's deciduous trees is changing.

The Anchoring Phenomenon Routine is the launch to student investigation around the anchoring phenomenon. This phenomenon will be the one that students will describe and explain, using disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts in investigations. The Anchoring Phenomenon Routine will encourage thoughtful consideration of the phenomenon, initial models, connections to related phenomenon, discussions about the phenomenon and the creation of the KLEWS chart used for documenting student learning.
In an Anchoring Phenomenon Routine, ​students​:
● Are presented with a phenomenon or design problem
● Write and discuss what they notice and wonder about from the initial presentation
● Create and compare initial models of the phenomenon or problem
● Identify related experiences and knowledge that they could draw upon to explain the phenomenon or solve the problem
● Construct a KLEWS Chart
● Identify potential investigations to answer the questions on the KLEWS Chart, adding the questions to the chart

In this lesson, students will participate in classroom discussions and visit a website to learn more about animals and how well (or poorly) theyve adapted to satisfying their needs in their natural habitats. This will help move them toward the goal, in later grades, of understanding ecosystems.The Kratts' Creatures website used in this lesson provides students with a simple, visual means for familiarizing themselves with basic world ecosystems as well as some examples of the animals that occupy them.

This site is a searchable encyclopedia of thousands of photos, descriptions, sound recordings, and other information about individual animal species. Find out about amphibians, arthropods, birds, fishes, insects, mammals, mollusks, reptiles, and sharks. Explore special features on mammals, skulls, and frog calls. Students are invited to contribute.

Students are introduced to the classification of animals and animal interactions. Students also learn why engineers need to know about animals and how they use that knowledge to design technologies that help other animals and/or humans. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

Applied ecology is a framework for the application of knowledge about ecosystems so that actions can be taken to create a better balance and harmony between people and nature in order to reduce human impact on other beings and their habitats.

Learn about the effects of a changing climate on the Arctic ecosystem and four of its well-known mammals: the polar bear, the walrus, the Arctic fox and the beluga whale.

This video segment from Wild Europe: "Wild Arctic" explores the struggle for survival in one of Earth's most extreme environments.

In this activity, students explore the web-based U.S. Forest Service Climate Change Atlas to learn about projected climate changes in their state and how suitable habitat for tree and bird species is projected to change by 2100.

5th grade students work together in teams to create an ecosystem to support Pacific Northwest pollinators.

BI 101 is an introductory lab science course intended for majors in disciplines other than the biological sciences. This course is designed to help you discover the applications of science to your everyday life, as well as provide elements of critical thinking. This course has four Credit Units that emphasize a variety of topics including ecological principles, biodiversity, and impact of human activities on the environment.

Course Outcomes:
1. Discuss biological community interactions.
2. Explain how changes in human population and/or actions impact natural ecosystems.
3. Describe the movement of energy & nutrients through trophic levels.
4. Recognize the appropriate taxonomic level of an organism based on key characteristics or traits.

In the open ocean around the Bahamas, pods of wild Spotted Dolphins frolic in the sunshine. Sometimes, they get bored and approach boats. In this educational video, Jonathan joins dolphin expert Wayne Scott Smith to learn how dolphins interact with each other. Jonathan learns how to play the Bandana Game, a game of -keep away- that the dolphins invented and like to play with Scott. Please see the accompanying study guide for educational objectives and discussion points.

In forested areas, students are often intrigued by mysterious sticks covered in carved tunnels–but students often think the patterns were made by human artists or termites. After students complete this activity, they’ll have the skills to identify bark beetle galleries, to make explanations about the patterns of beetle galleries, and to interpret what these tracks tell us about the life history of the organisms that made them.

In an optional discussion, students can consider outbreak levels of bark beetles that cause the death of many trees, make arguments based on evidence about possible effects on ecosystems, then brainstorm and critique possible management strategies. An optional extension for investigating student questions about bark beetles is also included.

In this 7 day unit, students study bats and their important role in our ecosystem, research the need for conservation efforts, and design and build a bat house.

This video segment from the Nevada Department of Wildlife looks at various species of bats and how they impact the environment.

This Nature video segment focuses on the four foods most important to the grizzly bears' survival, and it describes the threats to the supply of each of them.

In this video segment from Nature, learn about the problems bears are creating on ranch land surrounding Yellowstone National Park.

This video segment explores the world of the beaver, including the biology of the species and, more importantly, its ability to transform an ecosystem for its own benefit.

Design of shoreline protection along rivers, canals and the sea; load on bed and shoreline by currents, wind waves and ship motion; stability of elements under current and wave conditions; stability of shore protection elements; design methods, construction methods. Flow: recapitulation of basics from fluid mechanics (flow, turbulence), stability of individual grains (sand, but also rock) in different type of flow conditions (weirs, jets), scour and erosion. Porous Media: basic equation, pressures and velocities on the stability on the boundary layer; groundwater flow with impermeable and semi-impermeable structures; granular filters and geotextiles. Waves: recapitulation of the basics of waves, focus on wave forces on the land-water boundary, specific aspects of ship induced waves, stability of elements under wave action (loose rock, placed blocks, impermeable layers) Design: overview of the various types of protections, construction and maintenance; design requirements, deterministic and probabilistic design; case studies, examples Materials and environment: overview of materials to be used, interaction with the aquatic environment, role of the land-water boundary as part of the ecosystem; environmentally sound shoreline design.

In this lesson students will learn about the different types of bees, the bee life cycle, and the importance of bees for our local ecosystems. Includes some background information about bees and instructions for the pollination simulation activity.

Time: 45-50 minutes

Materials: "The Honeybee Man" or other book about bees and pollination, small bag of cheetos, pip cleaners, various colors of construction paper, pompoms (small and medium), small dixie cups for water, straws (15 per group), jewerly bags, and yarn

The study of biomimicry and sustainable design promises great benefits in design applications, offering cost-effective, resourceful, non-polluting avenues for new enterprise. An important final caveat for students to understand is that once copied, species are not expendable. Biomimicry is intended to help people by identifying natural functions from which to pattern human-driven services. Biomimicry was never intended to replace species. Ecosystems remain in critical need of ongoing protection and biodiversity must be preserved for the overall health of the planet. This activity addresses the negative ramifications of species decline. For example, pollinators such as bees are a vital work force in agriculture. They perform an irreplaceable task in ensuring the harvest of most fruit and vegetable crops. In the face of the unexplained colony collapse disorder, we are only now beginning to understand how invaluable these insects are in keeping food costs down and even making the existence of these foods possible for humans.

This interactive shows the extent of the killing of lodgepole pine trees in western Canada. The spread of pine beetle throughout British Columbia has devastated the lodgepole pine forests there. This animation shows the spread of the beetle and the increasing numbers of trees affected from 1999-2008 and predicts the spread up until 2015.

Learners research the effects of melting sea ice in the Bering Sea Ecosystem. They create research proposals to earn a place on the scientific research vessel Healy and present their findings and proposals to a Research Board committee.

If you’re a coastal engineer, ecologist or planner, then this is the course for you. You already know that engineering and ecological principles are not enough to realize nature-friendly solutions in practice. You need people on your side!

In this course you will learn how to build a relevant coalition of stakeholders to support the design and implementation of ecosystem-based hydraulic infrastructures. After learning basic stakeholder mapping and game theory techniques, you will apply Social Design Principles to a Building with Nature ecosystem-based design case. This will equip you to identify promising collaborative arrangements for your engineering or planning practice.

The course builds on the previous Building with Nature MOOC, which explored the use of natural materials and ecological processes in achieving effective and sustainable hydraulic infrastructure designs, distilling Engineering and Ecological Design Principles. In this course, the missing element of Social Design Principles are developed and taught.

You’ll learn from renowned Dutch engineers and international environmental scientists, who work at the technical- governance interface. Iconic examples such as the Maasvlakte II expansion to Rotterdam Harbor and the Delfland Sand Engine Mega-nourishment serve as study material. The challenges in designing and implementing these nature-friendly hydraulic infrastructures are explored by the eminent professors who were responsible for their genesis.

Join us in becoming one of the new generation of engineers, ecologists and planners who see the Building with Nature integrated design approach as critical to hydraulic engineering, nature and society.

This is a collection of five short videos that show how climate change is affecting fishing, native populations and access for the oil and gas industry in the Arctic. The videos include personal reflections by writers Andrew C. Revkin and Simon Romero, scientists, and residents about their experience of the impacts of the climate change in the Arctic.