Surviving Winter in the Dust Bowl

Mindy PearsonOTG Science Coach

HCPS Secondary Education

Keeping the End in Mind…

After reading scientific text, analyzing data, collecting evidence, and engaging in scientific discourse, discuss water as limiting factor in an ecological system and evaluate how its scarcity would impact producers (at the physiological & metabolic level: transpiration, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration) and the subsequent transfer of energy (trophic levels) and cycling of matter (water cycle and carbon cycle) through an ecosystem.

At the end of Biological Unit of Instruction #1 (BUOI #1), which covers ecology, plant anatomy & physiology, energetics, and energy cycling, students should be able to write on the following LDC prompt:

BUOI 1: Ecology Component

The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the interdependence of organisms, food chains, the interactions and flow of energy between trophic levels in food chains, the dietary requirements for and functions of macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins), and how human practices affect sustainability, the environment, and policy decisions.

Day 1Introduction to the Dust Bowl

Show one of the following to provide students with a historical context of the Dust Bowl in the United States Great Plains1. PBS American Experience-- Surviving the Dust Bowl)2. Dust Bowl Photograph Slide Show3. Dust Bowl Video Clip—The Black Blizzardhttp://www.history.com/topics/dust-bowl/videos/black-blizzard

Day 2Surviving Winter in the Dust Bowl

You have 500 gallons of potable waterYou have 500 bushels of wheat.You have a cow. You have a bull.Your family of four must survive the winter.

Given this information and the data provided, what do you do?

Construct a paper whiteboard template, indicating your group’s claim, evidence, & justification.

Day 2: Some Data Provided…

Day 3Whiteboards & Carousel Review

Students will transfer the information on their paper whiteboard templates to actual whiteboards.

Students will communicate their claim, evidence, and justification to other student researchers during a carousel review.

Day 4The Dust Bowl Informational Text & Reflection

Students will read the supplementary informational text, “The Dust Bowl” and answer reflection questions 1 and 2 on the Dust Bowl Reflection Questions and Some Just in Time Teaching Student Worksheet in order to:a) Discuss how human practices affected the

sustainability of wheat crops and contributed to the Dust Bowl

b) Discuss how United States policy decisions were shaped by lessons learned during the Dust Bowl.

Day 5Food Chain Gizmo Data Set, CEJ Template, & Reflection

Questions

Students will analyze the Food Chain Gizmo Data Set to:(a)determine how energy is transferred within an energy

pyramid(b)apply how the Law of Conservation of Energy applies

to a living system(c) how disease, a limiting factor, at each trophic level

impacts the food chain.

Students will apply their learning on the Dust Bowl Reflection Sheet and discuss how the loss of organisms at the first trophic level is devastating to an ecosystem.

Day 6- Part 1 Finding the Right Mix of Carbs, Proteins, & Fats

Informational Text

Students will read the supplementary informational text, “Finding the Right Mix of Carbs, Proteins, and Fats,” to analyze their resource management plan and determine what nutritional deficits and health concerns their Dust Bowl family might face.

Day 6- Part 2Succession Diagrams, Great Plains Photos, and

Temperate Grasslands Informational Text

Students will read the supplementary informational text, “Succession Diagrams, Photographs of United States Great Plains During the Dust Bowl & Today, and Some Interesting Facts About Temperate Grasslands,” to determine:a) what type of succession occurred in the United

States Great Plains during the Dust Bowlb) what accounts for the discrepancy in the

climax community described in the diagrams of succession and the one that exists presently in the Great Plains.

Day 7Rabbit Population By Season Gizmo Data Set, CEJ, &

Reflection Questions

Students will analyze the Rabbit Population By Season Gizmo Data Set to:(a)identify causes of seasonal variation in

rabbit population size(b)determine which factor(s) determine the

ecosystem’s carrying capacity for rabbits(c)discuss a scenario that might result in

the rabbits’ community to undergo secondary succession.

Day 8Dust Bowl Summative Assessment

Students will respond to the following writing prompt:Discuss how water acted as a limiting factor in the United States Great Plains during the Dust Bowl and how its scarcity impacted the transfer of energy through the trophic levels in this farm food chain.