Unit: Ecology, Pollution, and Energy

Course: Biology Unit: Ecology, Pollution, and Energy Assignment Exploring the Prairie Ecosystem : Project Expectations and Instructions: Projects are 30% of the overall grade. Completing and doing well on projects is important for your unit and overall grade. For this project, you will be using Gizmos simulations through ExploreLearning. Please log in to your Gizmos account (Gizmos Login) and open the “Prairie Ecosystems” simulation. This document will walk you through how to use the Gizmos simulation. Please answer all questions in the Answer boxes in complete sentences. Make sure to include units on all numbers. Leave the rest of the document intact. Your teacher will include notes in the document and add points in the “Points Earned” column. The videos below give tips for completing projects successfully. Writing Hypotheses: https://youtu.be/T9BoeNanqCY Writing Conclusions: https://youtu.be/O815ejDzamo How To Take Screenshots: ** Please review your teache’sr comments after the report is submitted and graded. ** Prairie Ecosystem STUDENT NAME: DATE: NAME OF GRADER (TEACHER’S NAME): Kennedi 9/11/2025 Goals: ●​ Examine the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in the carbon cycle. ●​ Investigate the interdependence of the organisms in an ecosystem by looking at their feeding dependencies. ●​ Explore the long-term effects of changes to the ecosystem. Laying the Foundation: Created for Connection – Exploring Roles in God’s Ecosystem In this lab, you’ll explore the essential roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem. You’ll investigate how these organisms depend on one another through feeding relationships and energy flow, and you’ll examine how natural or human-caused changes can impact life's delicate balance over time. God designed creation with incredible order and purpose. Every organism plays a role in sustaining life, from the smallest decomposer breaking down waste to the largest predator maintaining population balance. This interdependence reflects a more profound truth: we were created not to live in isolation, but in relationship with creation, with others, and with God. Romans 1:20 tells us, "God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” As you study ecosystems, you’re not just learning science—you’re glimpsing the wisdom and creativity of the Creator. As you begin this lab, consider: ●​ How does the balance of producers, consumers, and decomposers reflect God’s design for harmony and order? ●​ What can the interdependence of organisms teach us about our need for community and cooperation? ●​ How might understanding ecosystems help us become better stewards of God’s creation? Let this lab open your eyes to the beauty of God’s world, deepen your appreciation for His design, and inspire you to live in a way that honors His call to care for all He has made. Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) An ecosystem consists of all organisms (living things) in an area, plus the natural landscape. A prairie is a flat or gently rolling grassland with few trees, such as parts of the central United States and Canada. Organisms often found in a prairie ecosystem include prairie dogs, swift foxes, black-footed ferrets, and, of course, the grass itself. ​ ​ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Question Which organism (grass, prairie dog, ferret, or fox) do you think is a producer (does not depend on other organisms for its food)? Organisms that depend on other organisms for food are consumers. Which consumer do you think is a herbivore (eats plants only)? Which consumers are carnivores (eat meat)? Draw conclusions: An organism that breaks down organic matter into simpler materials (like carbon dioxide) is called a decomposer. Decomposers absorb nutrients from living things or the organic matter they leave behind. They do not need to kill to get their food. Are any of these organisms decomposers? Explain your answer. Reflect on it: What role do producers, consumers, and decomposers play in maintaining balance in an ecosystem? How does this reflect God’s design for order and purpose in creation? Explain. Answer Grass makes its own food since the grass is using sunlight and water. Possible Earned 1 The herbivore only eats grasses and seeds and prairie dog 1 They eat more meat than other animals so they can live. Ferret and fox None of these decompose because it does not break down dead material. 1 Producers and consumers and decomposers have to keep a balance.This shows that God designed everything perfectly and with a purpose, we all have to work together in his creation. 3 1 Gizmo Warm-up 1. 2. ​ Question The population of prairie dogs is all the prairie dogs living in the village. In the Gizmo, what are the starting numbers of each population? Click Advance year 10 times (Counter in upper right-hand corner should say Year: 10). On the DATA tab, look at the Bar and Line graphs. Do the populations change very much, or are they in equilibrium (stable)? Explain. Answer Grass 4,000 tones Ferrets 80 Ferrets Prairie 25,000 prairie dogs dogs Foxes 10 Foxs The prairde dogs go down first when one of the things decrease and it messes with the others too. They are finding the balance. ​ Possible Earned 1 1 Get the Gizmo ready: Activity A: Grass ●​ Click Reset. ●​ Make sure you are on the PRAIRIE tab ●​ Be sure Show populations is selected. 1. b. Question Observe: Remove ALL animals from the prairie by clicking the minus (–) button next to each animal many times. Click Advance year 20 times (Counter in upper right-hand corner should say Year: 20). Does grass survive by itself? What population does it reach? Why can grass survive without any of the other populations? Answer Yes It getting energy from the sun. It makes its own food using water, and sunlight with a process. It keeps on growing just with sunlight and water and air Possible Earned 1 1 2.​ Using the camera tool in Gizmo, take a screenshot of the Prairie Ecosystem at year 20. If the image is too big, resize it to 40% by right clicking on the image, selecting “Size and Position”, and under scale type 40% in height or width. Possible 1 ​ ​ Earned 3. 4. 5. Question Predict: Click Reset. If half of the grass were removed, what would happen to the prairie dogs, ferrets, and foxes? Write “increase” or “decrease” in each box to indicate your predictions. Experiment: Click the minus button to remove about half of the grass. There should now be about 2,000 tons of grass. Click Advance year twice (the Counter in the upper right-hand corner should say Year: 2) and look at the Bar graph or the Line graph. What happened to each population—increase or decrease? Note: You have to choose each organism to see its individual graph. Think about it: What will happen if you continue advancing years? Explain your answer. Make sure you discuss the effect on all of the organisms. Answer Prairie dogs Decrease Ferrets Foxes Decrease Decrease Prairie dogs Decrease Ferrets Decrease Foxes Decrease What would have happened is that it would keep on decreasing. Possible Earned 1.5 1.5 2 6.​ Experiment: Test your prediction (question 4) by clicking Advance year until 20 years have passed (Counter in upper right-hand corner should say Year: 20). Look at the Bar graph or the Line graph tab. Note: You have to choose each organism to see its individual graphs. Question Answer Possible Earned A. What happened to each population as The Ratios of prairie dogs started to 2 you continued to advance the years? go out which means the other amils Make sure you address what are out of Luck since the grass was happened throughout the simulation. growing so tall none of the animals were eating it so it keeps on growing since ther sunlight and water. B. Does the ecosystem return to No, it does not return because the 2 equilibrium? animals population keeps on going How did you know? down And possibly go out since it doesn't equal, they don't level out it shows in the graphs 7.​ Using the camera tool in Gizmo, take a screenshot of the LINE GRAPH of the Prairie Ecosystem at year 20. If the image is too big, resize it to 40% by right clicking on the image, selecting “Size and Position”, and under scale type 40% in height or width. ​ ​ Possible Earned 2 8. Question Extend your thinking: Suppose a fire swept through the prairie. The animals ran away, but about half the grass was burned. What would be the long-term results of this natural event? Explain your answer. Make sure you address how each organism will be affected. Activity B: Making a food chain Answer If the fire burned half of the grass, they would only have less food in which has caused the animals to Decrease but at the end of the day, the grass would grow back and sometime Possible Earned 3 Prairie dogs and foxs,Ferrets Get the Gizmo ready: ●​ Click Reset. Question: How do animals affect the prairie ecosystem? 1.​ What do you think each animal in the food chain eats? (Experiment with the Gizmo by increasing and/or decreasing populations to help you with your answer.) ​ ​ A. Question Prairie dogs eat _______. Answer grass Possible Earned 1 B. Ferrets eat __________. Prairie dogs 1 C. Foxes eat __________. Ferrets 1 2.​ Predict: Based on your hypotheses, predict how the changes below will affect the other animals. Write either “increase”, “decrease”, or “no change” next to each “P” (for “prediction”) in the table. Change Add prairie dogs Add ferrets Add foxes Grass Prairie dogs Ferrets Foxes P: increase P: decrease P: increase _________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ A: decrease A: increase ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____ A: increase P: increase P: increase P: decrease _________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ A: increase A: decrease P: decrease P: increase P: decrease _________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ A: decrease A: increase A: decrease ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____ A: No change Possible Earned 5 3.​ Test: Click Reset. Add as many prairie dogs as the Gizmo allows. Click Advance year once. Record the effects on the other three organisms in the table by writing either “increase”, “decrease”, or “no change” next to each “A” (for “actual”). Then click Reset, do the same with ferrets, and then again with foxes. 4.​ Verify: Indicate the maximum number for each organism you were able to add in question 3, in the chart below: ORGANISM MAXIMUM NUMBER OF ORGANISMS YOU WERE ABLE TO ADD Prairie Dogs Ferrets Foxes 1 1 1 POINTS POSSIBLE EARNED 1 1 1 5.​ Analyze: In a food chain, each animal eats only one other animal or plant. Based on your experiments, what is the food that each animal eats? Explain how you know using the data from your experiments. ​ ​ A. Question Prairie dogs eat _______. Explain your answer based on the experiments that you conducted. B. Ferrets eat __________. Explain your answer based on the experiments that you conducted. C. Foxes eat __________. Explain your answer based on the experiments that you conducted. Answer and Explanation Prairie dogs eat Grass because the amount of grass that goes down shows us that they are eating it and so they can survive. Ferrets eat prairide dogs.When I added it on the chart the number of the prairie dogs started to decrease which means they are eating them to survive. Foxes to prairie dogs. When I added them on the chart the number of the prairie dogs went down. Possible Earned 2 2 2 6.​ Apply: Now, complete the Prairie Ecosystem food chain. Arrows point toward the animal that is eating. For example, “Mouse → Hawk” would mean that the mouse is eaten by the hawk. grass Prairie Dogs Ferrets Foxs Possible Earned 2 7. Reflect on it: Ecosystems are delicate and can be disrupted by small changes. How does this inspire you to take the biblical call to care for creation seriously? What are practical ways you can be a faithful steward of the environment? Answer in 2-3 sentences. Activity C: Long-term changes Learning how things change and can mess up the ecosystem like how God tells us to take care of things. We can teach others not to litter. 3 Get the Gizmo ready: ●​ Click Reset. Introduction: Once common, the black-footed ferret is now an endangered animal. In 1986, only 18 black-footed ferrets were alive; today, there are almost 800. 400-500 are thought to be living in the wild, and about 300 are living in captivity. Hypothesis: A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a scientific problem that can be tested by experimentation. The general form is “If this variable is changed, then this is the predicted result.” For each lab question, the hypothesis frame is started for you. Predict what will happen in this scenario by filling in the blank in the 3rd column. You will come back to these hypotheses at the end of this Activity. ​ ​ 1. Lab Question What would happen to the ecosystem, long-term, with no black-footed ferrets? Hypothesis If there are no black-footed ferrets in the Prairie Ecosystem, then _____. Fill in the Blank Prairie dog Possible Earned 2 Re-read your hypothesis, is it specific and testable? 2. Question Answer Explain your hypothesis: Based on what you have seen so far, what will happen if black-footed ferrets die out, or go extinct? I think that the population of prairie dogs will grow since there will not be that much hunting around. Then the other animals might struggle too because they eat that too. There are so many there might not be enough grass for them it would not be Equal. Explain in detail by discussing the impact on each organism in the ecosystem. Possible Earned 3 Gather Data: Click Reset, and remove all the ferrets from the prairie dog town. Record the number of grass, prairie dogs, and foxes below. 3. Click Advance year for 3,6 and 12 years, filling in the data table at 3 years, 6 years and 12 years. ORGANISM Grass Prairie Dogs Ferrets Foxes NUMBER AT BEGINNING (YEAR 0) NUMBER AT YEAR 3 NUMBER AT YEAR 6 NUMBER AT YEAR 12 0 0 0 0 Possible Earned 6 5. Using the camera tool in Gizmo, take a screenshot of the Prairie Ecosystem at year 12 and paste it in the box below. If the image is too big, resize it to 40% by right clicking on the image, selecting “Size and Position”, and under scale type 40% in height or width. ​ ​ Possible Earned 2 6. 7 Question Analyze: What happens to each of the other populations after the ferrets are removed? Explain WHAT happened in the ecosystem based on the data you observed in the Gizmo; you do not need to explain WHY. Analyze: Why did removing ferrets have such a powerful effect on the prairie ecosystem? Answer They Took over/controlled the Population of the animals Possible Earned 1 3 Explain in detail. Activity C Conclusion: Review your Activity C Hypothesis. Restate the full hypothesis in the table below. Were you correct? Use data to explain why or why not. Use the answers you gave in the last questions to help you write a strong conclusion. Minimum 3 sentences in your hypothesis explanation. Full Hypothesis Explanation – with data 8. Possible 4 Earned 5. On your own: Investigate other major changes to the prairie ecosystem by removing ½ of or all of each of the different populations separately. Run each experiment for 20 years to see the long term results, and complete the chart below. CHANGE MADE ​ Results after 20 years - Record the numbers below ​ Grass population Prairie Dog population Ferret population Fox population Remove ½ of the grass Remove ½ of the prairie dogs Remove ½ of the ferrets Remove ½ of the foxes Possible Earned 4 CHANGE MADE Results after 20 years - Record the numbers below Grass population Prairie Dog population Ferret population Fox population Remove ALL of the grass Remove ALL of the prairie dogs Remove ALL of the ferrets Remove ALL of the foxes Possible Earned 4 A. ​ Question Choose one of the populations that you made changes to and compare the results from removing ½ vs ALL of the population. Make sure you address how ALL of the populations Answer ​ Possible Earned 4 are affected as a result of the change. In your response, you MUST include your data to support your claim. Conclusion: Answer the following reflections in 5-7 sentences, including a scripture reference and an example from this gizmo. Question 1. 2. Answer Possi Ear ble ned 4 What does observing the roles and interactions of the organisms in the prairie ecosystem in the Gizmo show you about God’s order and design for the earth and universe, and our role in being good stewards of it? Please explain. Make sure you provide specific examples from your observations in the Gizmo. Human actions—like pollution, deforestation, or climate change—disrupt the balance of ecosystems. What responsibility do we have as Christians to respond to these issues? Explain. 4 Discuss the Goals: Form a summary statement to show that you understand and have met each of the goals of this lab. Be sure to explain in detail all major concepts and relationships presented in this lab. (Minimum 3-5 sentences each.) Question Goal 1: Examine the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in the carbon cycle. Explain the specific organisms in the simulation that fulfilled each of these roles. If there wasn’t an organism that fulfilled a role, you must also indicate that. Goal 2: Investigate the interdependence of the organisms in an ecosystem by looking at their feeding dependencies. Explain the food chain in the prairie ecosystem based on the interdependent relationships you observed in the Gizmo when conducting your experiments. Answer In the living they depend on each other for food so if something happens it will mess up the whole food chain. Points Earned: Units/Spell Check/etc. ​ Possible 3 3 +5 ​ Earned Units are included for numerical values; Responses are written in complete sentences; Correct spelling throughout the project. Points Possible Total Score: Areas of Strength: Areas for Growth: ​ 100