Web of Life

Download & Print – WEB – Grade 1 Standards

Life Science:

Students develop an understanding that Earth has supported, and continues to support, a large variety of organisms. These organisms can be distinguished by their physical characteristics, life cycles, and their different resource needs for survival. Different types of organisms live where there are different earth resources such as food, air, and water.

Core Ideas:

• • L1: Organisms are organized on a cellular basis and have a finite life span.
• • L2: Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they often depend on, or compete with, other organisms.
• • L3: Genetic information is passed down from one generation of organisms to another.
• • L4: The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.

Standards:

• 1.L1U1.6 – Observe, describe, and predict life cycles of animals and plants.
• 1.L2U1.7 – Develop and use models about how living things use resources to grow and survive; design and evaluate habitats for organisms using earth materials.
• 1.L2U1.8 – Construct and explanation describing how organisms obtain resources from the environment including materials that are used again by other organisms.
• 1.L3U1.9 – Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to support an evidence-based explanation that plants and animals produce offspring of the same kind, but offspring are generally not identical to each other or their parents.
• 1.L4U3.11 – Ask questions and explain how factors can cause species to go extinct.

Earth and Space Science:

Students develop an understanding that earth materials are essential for organism’s survival.

Core Ideas:

• • E1: The composition of the Earth and its atmosphere and the natural and human processes occurring within them shape the Earth’s surface and its climate.

Standards:

• 1.E1U1.5 – Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the properties of Earth materials and investigate how humans use natural resources in everyday life.

Social Studies:

The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.

Standards:

• 1.SP3.5 – Ask and answer questions about explanations given.
• 1.C1.2 – Follow agreed upon rules for discussions when responding to others and making decisions including consensus building procedures.
• 1.C1.3 – Compare one’s own thoughts and opinions with others’ perspectives.
• 1.G2.1 – Compare how human activities affect culture and the environment now and in the past.

Download & Print – WEB – Grade 2 Standards

Life Science:

Students develop and understanding that life on Earth depends on energy from the Sun or energy from other organisms to survive.

Core Ideas:

• L1: Organisms are organized on a cellular basis and have a finite life span.
• L2: Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they often depend on, or compete with, other organisms
• L3: Genetic information is passed down from one generation of organisms to another.
• L4: The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.

Standards:

• 2.L2U1.9 – Obtain, analyze, and communicate evidence that organisms need a source of energy, air, water, and certain temperature conditions to survive.
• 2.L2U1.10 – Develop a model representing how life on Earth depends on energy from the Sun and energy from other organisms.

Earth and Space Science:

Students develop an understanding of the distribution and role of water and wind in weather, shaping the land, and where organisms live.  Wind and water can also change environments, and students learn humans and other organisms can change environments too.

Core Ideas:

• E1: The composition of the Earth and its atmosphere and the natural and human processes occurring within them shape the Earth’s surface and its climate.

Standards:

• • 2.E1U1.4  –

  Observe and investigate how wind and water change the shape of the land resulting in a variety of landforms.

• 2.E1U3.7 – Construct an argument from evidence regarding positive and negative changes in water and land systems that impact humans and the environment.

Social Studies:

The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.

Standards:

• 2.SP3.5 – Ask and answer questions about explanations and arguments.
• 2.SP4.1 –  Generate possible reasons for an event or development.
• 2.SP4.2 – Select which reasons might be more likely than others to explain an event or development.
• 2.G2.2 – Describe how human activities affect the communities and the environment of places or regions.

Download & Print – WEB – Grade 3 Standards

Life Science:

Students develop an understanding of the flow of energy in a system beginning with the Sun to and among organisms. They also understand that plants and animals (including humans) have specialized internal and external structures and can respond to stimuli to increase survival.

Core Ideas:

• • L1: Organisms are organized on a cellular basis and have a finite life span.
• • L2: Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they often depend on, or compete with, other organisms.
• • L3: Genetic information is passed down from one generation of organisms to another.
• • L4: The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.

Standards:

• 3.L1U1.5 – Develop and use models to explain that plants and animals (including humans) have internal and external structures that serve various functions that aid in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
• 3.L2U1.6 – Plan and carry out investigations to demonstrate ways plants and animals react to stimuli.
• 3.L2U1.7 – Develop and use system models to describe the flow of energy from the Sun to and among living organisms.
• 3.L2U1.8 – Construct and argument from evidence that organisms are interdependent.

Earth and Space Science:

Students develop an understanding of how the Sun provides light and energy for Earth systems.

Core Ideas:

• • E1: The composition of the Earth and its atmosphere and the natural and human processes occurring within them shape the Earth’s surface and its climate.

Standards:

• 3.E1U1.4 – Construct and explanation describing how the Sun is the primary source of energy impacting Earth systems.

Social Studies:

The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.

Standards:

• 3.SP4.1 – Explain probable causes and effects of events.

Download & Print – WEB – Grade 4 Standards

Life Science:

Students develop an understanding of the diversity of past and present organisms, factors impacting organism diversity, and evidence of change of organisms over time.

Core Ideas:

• • L1: Organisms are organized on a cellular basis and have a finite life span.
• • L2: Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they often depend on, or compete with, other organisms.
• • L3: Genetic information is passed down from one generation of organisms to another.
• • L4: The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.

Standards:

• 4.L4U.11 – Analyze and interpret environmental data to demonstrate that species either adapt and survive or go extinct over time.

Earth and Space Science:

Students develop an understanding of how the Sun provides light and energy for Earth systems.

Core Ideas:

• • E1: The composition of the Earth and its atmosphere and the natural and human processes occurring within them shape the Earth’s surface and its climate.

Standards:

• 4.E1U3.9 – Construct and support an evidence-based argument about the availability of water and its impact on life.</li>

Physical Science:

Students develop an understanding of how Earth’s resources can be transformed into different forms of energy.

Core Ideas:

• • P1: All matter in the Universe is made of very small particles.
• • P2: Objects can affect other objects at a distance.
• • P3: Changing the movement of an object requires a net force to be acting on it.
• • P4: The total amount of energy in a closed system is always the same but can be transferred from one energy store to another during an event.

Standards:

• 4.P4U1.1 – Develop and use a model to demonstrate how a system transfers energy from one object to another even when the objects are not touching.

Social Studies:

The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.

Standards:

• 4.SP4.1 – Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments.

Download & Print – WEB – Grade 5 Standards

Life Science:

Students develop an understanding of patterns and how genetic information is passed from generation to generation. They also develop the understanding of how genetic information and environmental features impact the survival of an organism.

Core Ideas:

• • L1: Organisms are organized on a cellular basis and have a finite life span.
• • L2: Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they often depend on, or compete with, other organisms.
• • L3: Genetic information is passed down from one generation of organisms to another.
• • L4: The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.

Standards:

• 5.L3U1.10 – Construct an explanation based on evidence that the changes in an environment can affect the traits in a population of organisms.
• 5.L4U3.11 – Obtain, evaluate, and communicate evidence about how natural and human-caused changes to habitats or climate can impact populations.
• 5.L4U3.1 – Construct an argument based on evidence that inherited characteristics can be affected by behavior and/or environmental conditions.

Physical Science:

Students develop an understanding that changes can occur to matter/objects on Earth or in space, but both energy and matter follow the pattern of being conserved during those changes.

Core Ideas:

• • P4: The total amount of energy in a closed system is always the same but can be transferred from one energy store to another during an event.

Standards:

5.P4U1.6 – Analyze and Interpret data to determine how and where energy is transferred when objects move.

Social Studies:

The content areas of civics, economics, geography, history, and disciplinary skills and processes.

Standards:

• 5.G2.1 – Describe how natural and human-caused changes to habitats or climate can impact our world.

The Web of Life activity is designed to introduce and explain the “balance of nature”. Students will learn how plants and animals are constantly interacting with each other and if these interactions and/or relationships are in balance, the natural world remains healthy. It is stressed that we are also part of the web and have a responsibility to take care of it so that we and all other living creatures can continue to enjoy a healthy environment. This activity is usually taught to older students although the material can be modified for younger ones as well. The students will experience many hands-on activities to facilitate this understanding.

The Web of Life is introduced to the students with an explanation on the transfer of energy. All living things need energy from the sun to survive. Plants and some other organisms are able to produce their own energy using photosynthesis to change the sun’s energy into chemical energy (food) they can use. These plants and organisms are called producers, ex: grass, plants, trees and cacti. Animals are not able to make their own energy through photosynthesis, but instead rely on plants or other animals to obtain energy. They are called consumers. Animals that eat producers (plants) directly are called herbivores. Carnivores and omnivores are discussed and how each contributes to the balance of nature.

The activity contains many animal skulls, skins, foot impressions and scat. All of the animals represented are found in Sabino Canyon. Skulls, foot and leg samples, scat and skins help explain how the structure of each animal enables it to survive. How do they use their various body parts for defense, foraging, predation, digging, padding, protection, hunting, etc.?

The physical representation of a web enables the students to understand how each strand supports the entire ecological community. They learn that a problem with one part of the web affects the entire community.

Energy Transfer

The sun provides energy to the earth. Plants, producers, use sunlight in a process called photosynthesis to make their own food. Animals, consumers, receive energy by eating plants. Animals that eat or consume plants are herbivores. Animals that eat or consume both plants and animals are omnivores. Animals that eat other animals are carnivores.
Scavengers are animals that feed on dead plants and animals. They help to clean up the environment. Decomposers turn dead matter into material that can be used by producers (plants).

Predator-Prey

Predators are animals that hunt and eat other animals and prey are animals that are hunted and eaten by other animals.

• Predators often have good vision, a keen sense of smell and excellent hearing. Owls, hawks, mountain lions and bobcats have front facing eyes and binocular vision that helps them better judge distance. “Eyes in front…I can hunt”. Their sharp claws or talons help them grip prey. They use sharp, curved beaks or canine teeth to “scissor-cut” food. Their forward-facing ears increase their hearing. Owls have dish-shaped faces that act as sound collectors.
• Prey have large eyes on the sides of their head to give them wider views of surroundings. This enables them to better detect predators in many directions without turning their head. “Eyes on side…I will hide”. Their ears are often large and swivel to detect sounds better, ex: rabbit, squirrel, and deer. Prey often use camouflage to disguise themselves. Their colors of tans and grays blend with grasses and shadows making it more difficult to be seen.

Balance of Nature is the interdependency between plants and animals form the strands of the Web of Life with a tendency toward balance of producer-consumer, predator-prey relationships. Drought years reduce plant growth, which then reduces rabbit and deer populations, which reduce bobcat, mountain lion and coyote populations. Removing predators will increase rabbit and deer populations. Over population of herbivores can lead to their starvation.

Nature, if undisturbed, will always move towards a balance of predator and prey as seasons and plant growth permit. Nature’s recovery from natural causes such as fire, flood, or hurricane, begin immediately from the simplest organism to the final complete ecosystem.

Sabino Canyon, when automobiles were allowed, had oil, anti-freeze and gas drippings. Broken glass in streams and picnic areas caused injury. Native wildlife was rarely seen. Human-created pollution needs cleanup and remediation for nature to return to a balance.