Anchored Science Unit 6.6: Population Growth and Ecological Interactions Teacher 3 Year License

Anchored Science by Mi-STAR is a comprehensive middle school science curriculum driven by a bold vision for the future, where science isn’t just a subject but a powerful, integrated body of knowledge that equips students to tackle today’s pressing societal challenges. This curriculum harnesses the full potential of the Next Generation Science Standards, empowering students to actively engage with science and engineering practices. They’ll move beyond the classroom, using their skills to solve real-world problems, making learning both impactful and deeply relevant to their lives and the world around them.

Each unit delivers a NGSS-aligned assessment package that fully integrates tools to measure student progress and deepen their engagement with science. The Professional Learning program provides a dynamic range of flexible, ongoing opportunities, enabling teachers to not only master the unit content but also continually enhance their skills, while motivating and challenging their students.

Unit 6.6: Population Growth and Ecological Interactions "Failing Fishermen"
Unit Challenge Question: What is the most likely cause of the sportfish decline in the Illinois River?

In this unit, students confront the problem of invasive species by learning about interactions and relationships between organisms and their environments, making predictions about how an invasive species may affect organisms and ecosystems, and identifying appropriate management strategies to support sportfish populations.

To help students predict the impact of the invasive species, students first learn about bigheaded carps, various sportfish, and their place in the environment. Students learn about the resources the organisms require, and how access to resources limits individual and population growth. Students learn about abiotic disruptions to ecosystems, like climate and water level changes, as well as biotic disruptions, like invasive species. They identify and describe patterns of interactions across ecosystems like predation, competition, and mutualism. Finally, students choose among competing management strategies to increase sportfish population and prioritize this management solution using a decision matrix.

Included with this purchase is a 3 year license to access the Teacher Edition eBook and digital resources through our online platform, Flourish.