In this jigsaw, students will graph various Bald Eagle population numbers and determine the impact humans have had on the eagle. Specifically, they will investigate why the Bald Eagle was listed as endangered, the affects of DDT on eagles, and the affects of lead. Based on an original activity titled "Bald Eagle Population Graphing" from The Raptor Center, University of Minnesota http://www.cvm.umn.edu/raptor/prod/groups/cvm/@pub/@cvm/documents/asset/cvm_66866.pdf

This lesson is about the flow of energy in ecosystems. The setting is Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA, where students will learn about the first Thanksgiving meal in America, celebrated in 1621 by early American settlers and Wampanoag Indians. By examining this meal and comparing it to a modern day Thanksgiving celebration, students will be able to explore the way in which food energy moves and is transformed in an ecosystem. The learning goals focus on the movement of energy from one feeding level to the next within a food web, the way in which energy changes form, and the inefficiency of energy transfer, which in turn affects the availability of food energy for organisms at the highest feeding level. The lesson is directed at high school level biology students. Students should be familiar already with food webs, food chains, and trophic (feeding) levels. They should also be familiar with the general equations for photosynthesis (CO2 + H2O => C6H12O6) and cell respiration (C6H12O6 => CO2 + H2O), and understand the basic purpose of these processes in nature. This lesson can be completed during one long classroom period, or can be divided over two or more class meetings. The duration of the lesson will depend on prior knowledge of the students and on the amount of time allotted for student discussion. There are no supplies required for this lesson other than the downloadable worksheets (accessed on this BLOSSOMS site), paper and some glue or tape.

Communities are dynamic and change over time, and we can observe this process with particular clarity after a disturbance or on new land. Learn about primary and secondary succession, as well as pioneer species. Created by Sal Khan.

This video focuses on the conifer forest in Alaska to explore the carbon cycle and how the forest responds to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. Topics addressed in the video include wildfires, reflectivity, and the role of permafrost in the global carbon cycle.

This activity is an open-ended inquiry investigation in which students analyze and predict how an environmental change will affect the visitation rates of insects. Students will ask a question, develop multiple hypotheses, run a scientific investigation, and report their findings to their "colleagues".

Students will explore and create a healthy ecosystem, once established they will then introduce additional variables which may harm the ecosystem and determine which hazards should be avoided.

This open textbook covers the most salient environmental issues, from a biological perspective. The text is designed for an introductory-level college science course. Topics include the fundamentals of ecology, biodiversity, pollution, climate change, food production, and human population growth.

This is a field investigation of how a natural system is organized and the interconnectedness of an ecosystem.

Learn about population growth rates and how they can be modeled by exponential and logistic equations.

This activity is a guided inquiry by students into balancing ecosystems through food chains and webs.

 Learn about the greater impact of wildlife patients at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. Every patient is offered state-of-the-art veterinary medical care; some are treated and released, while others may be too seriously injured to recover. Every single animal has a story to share, a story that illustrates the wider problems wildlife face—litter, pesticides, free-roaming domestic animals, habitat loss, and diseases. Even patients that don’t make it live on by helping us shape our conservation education and research as we challenge people of all ages to take action to protect wildlife. More About This Resource  For more information and classroom activities, please visit The Wildlife Center of Virginia and VPM UNTAMED  websites.

This video describes the effect of a warming climate on the tundra biome and specifically the impacts of changing climate on the Rocky Mountain Pika, a small rodent that struggles with summer heat.

Learn about diurnal birds of prey -- a diverse group of birds across the globe which includes hawks, falcons, osprey, eagles, and kites. While these different families of birds have a variety of physical and behavioral traits, they are all specially adapted for daytime hunting. Today, most of these birds of prey are widely appreciated by the public, but they still face many dangers. Learn more about these amazing raptors and how to help.UNTAMED looks at the wild and often perilous world of wildlife, as seen through the eyes of the patients of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, a non-profit teaching and research hospital for native wildlife.

We hear the word ecosystems in the news and at school but just what are ecosystems? It turns out there are lots of ecosystems. You might even learn you have some inside you! Also in: French | Spanish

This is a five-activity module that explores the evidence for and impacts of melting glacial ice, with resources from major institutions and scientists who study glaciers -- primarily in Arctic areas. The suite of activities includes both glaciers and melting ice, as well as the impact of melt water downstream. Each activity follows the 5E model of Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation.

Students are presented with an engineering challenge: To design a sustainable guest village within the Saguaro National Park in Arizona. Through four lessons and six associated activities, they study ecological relationships with an emphasis on the Sonoran Desert. They examine species adaptations. They come to appreciate the complexity and balance that supports the exchange of energy and matter within food webs. Then students apply what they have learned about these natural relationships to the study of biomimicry and sustainable design. They study the flight patterns of birds and relate their functional design to aeronautical engineering. A computer simulation model is also incorporated into this unit and students use this program to examine perturbations within a simple ecosystem. The solution rests within the lessons and applications of this unit.

Learn about the many types of interspecific interactions: competition, predation, herbivory, symbiosis, parasitism, mutualism, commensalism. Created by Sal Khan.

This field activity asks students to examine and interpret a given environmental site where a disturbance (fallen tree, beaver dam etc.) has taken place.