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.

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Define ecology and the four levels of ecological researchDescribe examples of the ways in which ecology requires the integration of different scientific disciplinesDistinguish between abiotic and biotic components of the environmentRecognize the relationship between abiotic and biotic components of the environment

In this lesson, students find their location on a map using Latitude and Longitudinal coordinates. They determine where they should go to be rescued and how best to get there.

This video segment from NOVA: A Desert Place describes the physical characteristics and organisms that define the desert biome.

Before they are grouped together, I will display the WebQuest on the projector screen and discuss the roles and responsibilities of the scientists, explain the rubric and expectations, and answer any question students may have. Some members may have to play more than one scientist or the members may work together to complete a scientist’s responsibilities. Each team will be randomly assigned an ecosystem and follow the process and tasks outlined in the WebQuest.

This free, online article, developed for elementary teachers, describes a Kindergarten polar science, standards aligned, unit centered on The Polar Express developing literacy, math, and science skills.

Studying life on the seafloor beneath Antarctica's thick ice is a major challenge for ecologists. Learn about a new device that can reach those icy depths in this video segment adapted from WomenInAntarctica.com.

In this lesson students create a model beaver dam and demonstrate changes in the ecosystem community pre- and post-dam. Students hypothesize about changes that they would expect to see to the ecosystem after the beaver dam is built.

NGSS: 5-ESS2-1, 3-5-ETS1-3

Time: one or two 50-minute class periods

Materials: ecosystem cards (included), seed trays or long Tupperware containers, wood/popsicle sticks, sand, rocks, and clay

Student teams investigate the migration of small-particle plastic pollution by exposing invertebrates found in water samples from a local lake or river to fluorescent bead fragments in a controlled environment of their own designs. Students begin by reviewing the composition of food webs and considering the ethics of studies on live organisms. In their model microcosms, they set up a food web so as to trace the microbead migration from one invertebrate species to another. Students use blacklights and microscopes to observe and quantify their experimental results. They develop diagrams that explain their investigations—modeling the ecological impacts of microplastics.

A variety of symbiotic relationships exist between sharks and other marine species in this segment from Nature.

Using actual wildlife injury data from a local wildlife rescue center, students learn what animal species have been injured and the causes of injury. Students use spreadsheet software to sort, organize, and evaluate their findings for recommendations to reduce human-caused injury to wildlife. Students prepare and present a summary of their findings and recommendations to the local Audubon Society, The Humane Society, neighborhood associations, and other interested groups. At the end of each public presentation, students gather public reaction to the data and collect ideas on how to reduce injury to wildlife. These recommendations are compiled into a newsletter and wiki for dissemination to a wider audience.

This unit plan was originally developed by the Intel® Teach program as an exemplary unit plan demonstrating some of the best attributes of teaching with technology.