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Welcome to Mr. Miller's Wikispace for 7th Grade Science at Chadwick International!

Getting Started

 * Click on **Projects** on the left, then click your __group name​s__ to begin working on your Ecosystem Project.

Need Help?

 * Click on the help link above to learn more about how to use your wiki.

__ Ecosystem Project __
Your job is to work with a group of 2-3 people that live near you to create an ecosystem showing the interactions of living and non-living things. You will be randomly assigned one type of ecosystem to research. You will be given several choices of how you can create your ecosystem. In order to complete the assignment, you must do the following:

10. You will give a short presentation about the ecosystem you created. 11. All pictures, videos and information needs to be cited in MLA format.
 * 1) Create at least four producers, three herbivores, two omnivores, two carnivores and two decomposers.
 * 2) Label all organisms as producers, herbivores, etc.
 * 3) Write one paragraph (4-6 sentences) about your ecosystem’s abiotic factors. You must include amount of sunlight, precipitation (rain and snow), temperature ranges, soil.
 * 4) Create a food web including arrows that show the flow of energy through the ecosystem. (The arrow points toward the organism doing the eating.)
 * 5) Write ONE PARAGRAPH explaining one predator/prey relationship shown in your ecosystem. Who is the predator and prey? What physical or behavioral adaptations does the predator have that allows it to catch its prey? How does the prey avoid being eaten?
 * 6) Describe the niche (job) of one of the organisms on your food web in one paragraph. This must be a different organism than the ones chosen in the predator/prey relationship (#5).
 * 7) Choose one of the populations in your ecosystem. Describe a problem that wiped out that population. What happened? On the same page as question #6, write two paragraphs that describe what happened and how that might affect the other organisms in the ecosystem.
 * 8) Create a realistic pollution problem in your ecosystem. What is the pollution problem and how is it affecting the real-life ecosystem?
 * 9) Ask a science question about your ecosystem that you are interested in answering. Create a mini-lab about that question. Your mini-lab must have:
 * Question
 * Background Information (3-4 sentences)
 * Hypothesis
 * Experimental Design (Materials List and Procedure)


 * Choices for Creating an Ecosystem**


 * 1) Build a real physical model of your ecosystem.
 * 2) Create a 3D model of your ecosystem using software like Trimble (Google) Sketchup (I can show you this) http://sketchup.google.com/download/ (High Difficulty)
 * 3) Make an educational documentary video of your ecosystem. You must have team members seen and heard in the video and not just cut and pasted video from the internet. You will need to submit video to Vimeo or YouTube and provide the link.
 * 4) Create a play (skit) about your ecosystem and act out parts 1-8 above. Use props, costumes and simple sets to recreate the ecosystems in different scenes. You will need to video each scene and submit to Vimeo or YouTube and provide the link.


 * List of Possible Ecosystems**
 * Tropical Rainforest
 * Tropical Savanna
 * Desert
 * Chaparral
 * Grassland
 * Temperate Deciduous Forest
 * Temperate Boreal Forest (Also called Taiga)
 * Tundra
 * Alpine (if we have 9 groups)


 * Helpful Resources**

Biome.Ecosystem Project Keynote under Resources --> Students A biome is just a group of similar ecosystems. For example Deserts are a type of biome but there are many deserts like the Gobi Desert, Sahara Desert, Sonoran Desert, etc.

__**Life Science eBook**__

__**Chadwick Library Resources**__ Encyclopedia Britannica (http://school.eb.com/) username: chadschools password: chadschools World Book Online At school: (http://www.worldbookonline.com/?subacct=KO09282011) At home: (http://www.worldbookonline.com/) username: chadwick1 password: schools

__**Websites:**__ www.blueplanetbiomes.org (favorite) http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/ecosystems.htm www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes www.nationalgeographic.com/coloringbook/archive

Your project will be graded based on the following qualities:
 * Ecosystem Project Scoring Guide**


 * 1) You have the required number of different organisms correctly labeled.
 * 2) Your food web is realistic with multiple connections between organisms
 * 3) Required information is complete and accurate. Paragraphs have a clear title and are together in a Page called Ecosystem Requirements on your Wikispaces Team Page.
 * 4) For a model: The ecosystem is accurately created with realistic biotic and abiotic factors.
 * 5) Your documentary or skit clearly represents all the required interactions in your ecosystem (#1-9) and includes at least the voices of all your group members.
 * 6) Your presentation to the class is creative, innovative, engaging and includes audience participation. You only need to discuss the Question from your Mini-lab. Remember you need to teach us about the important parts of your Ecosystem so the class can learn about the ecosystems they didn't study.

30-39 somewhat accurate, complete and organized, 20-29 incomplete, inaccurate and unorganized ||  || 30-39 somewhat accurate, complete and organized, 20-29 incomplete, inaccurate and unorganized ||  ||
 * ===Ecosystem Requirement=== || ===Points Possible=== || ===Points Earned=== ||
 * Correct and Labeled Organisms (13) || 2 points each organism = 26 ||  ||
 * Abiotic Factors || 5 point each factor = 20 ||  ||
 * Food Web (15 organisms) || 2 points each organism = 30 ||  ||
 * Predator/Prey Paragraph (1) || 10 ||  ||
 * Niche Paragraph (1) || 10 ||  ||
 * Population Extinction Problem Paragraphs (2) || 20 ||  ||
 * Pollution Problem and Solution Paragraphs (2) || 20 ||  ||
 * Mini-Lab Experiment || 10 points each part = 40 ||  ||
 * Accurate, High Quality Model, Documentary or Skit || 50 = Complete, accurate and well organized, 40-49 mostly complete, accurate and organized,
 * Group Participation Grade || 0-30 (Groups of 3 have 60 points to divide. Groups of 2 have 40 points to divide. No student can have more than 30 points) ||  ||
 * Class Presentation || 50 = Complete, accurate and well organized, 40-49 mostly complete, accurate and organized,
 * Total Points || 276 ||  ||