OpenSciEd Biology + Earth & Space Unit 1: Ecosystems Interactions & Dynamics Student Edition

OpenSciEd High School addresses all high school NGSS standards. This comprehensive science curriculum empowers students to question, design, investigate, and solve the world around them. 

• Phenomenon Based - Centered around exploring phenomena or solving problems
• Driven by Student Questions - Storyline based on students’ questions and ideas 
• Grounded in Evidence - Incremental building and revision of ideas based on evidence 
• Collaborative - class and teacher figure out ideas together
• Equitable - Builds a classroom culture that values ideas and learning of all

The OpenSciEd model uses a storyline approach, introducing phenomena that anchors storylines developing disciplinary core ideas, concepts, and science/engineering practices. Students are encouraged to dive deep into key points and solve problems through five activities. 

B.1 Ecosystem Interactions & Dynamics: How do ecosystems work, and how can understanding them help us protect them?

In this unit, students investigate the 30 by 30 initiative, a proposal to protect 30% of US lands and waters by 2030, and the reasons humans engage in conservation. Students use the Serengeti National Park as a case study to figure out ecosystem and conservation principles and apply those understandings to conservation dilemmas in the US.

Through investigations with complex data sets and hands-on simulations, students figure out how limiting factors impact carrying capacity, how group behavior impacts survival, and how biodiversity supports ecosystem resilience. By engaging with real-world conservation dilemmas and exploring various interest-holder perspectives, students identify the trade-offs humans make as they manage natural resources to support human society as well as the natural systems we live in.