AP BIOLOGY
Restoring Ecosystems Project
This is a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) small group project. That means you will
have several options for learning. You will be doing college level work.
The purpose of this project is that you learn the AP Bio standards (concepts and
science and engineering practices) through investigating a real-world problem and a
viable solution.
You will have to do a considerable amount of work on the project outside of class. In
class I will guide you on your group projects, answer questions about concepts you may
have and introduce material everyone will need to successfully complete the project.
You will work in a group of 4 or 5. It is crucial that everyone contributes. If you look at
the expectations for the project, you can see that it’s a lot of work, on purpose, so that
no one can do everything, and everybody has to do something. Besides that, there’s a
lot you have to learn. If someone slacks off, the whole group will suffer. Please let me
know immediately if there are issues. There are norms for group work that will be
discussed below.
WHAT YOU WILL TURN IN:
1. A research paper on an ecosystem restoration effort that is currently in progress.
You could also research a project that is finding solutions to a specific degraded
environment. The paper should include a description of how the degraded
ecosystem contributes to global climate change, and how the project is reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.
This will require a conversation with the teacher about strategies you group will
use to find information
2. A physical poster with visuals and written explanations of how the healthy
ecosystem you have chosen works. This will include trophic levels, cycling of
matter and energy, populations and communities.
3. A model of the ecosystem restoration project that includes an explanation of why
and how it works. This can be either a physical 3-D model or on an online
platform such as Minecraft for Education.
4. Your group will conduct a laboratory investigation related to your project to
demonstrate to the class. Consult me for guidance on this. I will help you figure
out a question, materials needed, and lab equipment.
5. A Google Slides presentation of #1-4
6. There will be an individual multiple choice/essay unit test on this material on
September 23.
Each part of the project has a rubric and be graded separately.
VOCABULARY FOR THIS UNIT
In the course of creating your project you will incorporate the scientific vocabulary that is
relevant.
climate
biome
climatograph
terrestrial biomes
aquatic biomes
dispersal
biotic
abiotic
population density immigration
emigration
life tables
survivorship
demography
intrinsic rate of increase
carrying capacity
logistic population growth
life-history traits
density-dependent population regulation metapopulation
exponential growth
competition exploitation predation
herbivore
mutualism
competitive exclusion
commensalism
parasitism
ecological niches
species diversity
species richness
relative abundance
trophic structure
food chains
food webs
foundation species
keystone species
bottom-up model
top-down model
ecological disturbance
ecological succession
species-area curve `
species-area richness
NORMS FOR GROUP WORK:
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Pay attention to what other group members need. Each person is responsible for
the whole project.
No one is done until everyone is done. Ditto. I don’t want to hear, “I’m done. I did
my part.” On the other hand, everyone is responsible for putting in effort.
Play your role in the group. This is to help you divide the labor evenly.
o Roles: Facilitator, Recorder, Reporter, Materials Manager, Resource
Person. In a group of 4, one person should be Materials Manager and
Resource Person.
o Note that the Recorder and Reporter jobs are crucial to the group
functioning. Make sure you look at the responsibilities.
Help group members do things for themselves. Doing someone’s work for them
does not help them.
Listen and pay attention to what others are saying. This is especially crucial
when the group is talking together about ideas. It’s the facilitator’s specific role to
make sure this happens. But everyone needs to self-monitor and speak up when
they have ideas, and also self-monitor to make sure others have a chance to
speak. A Round Robin format for small group discussion is helpful sometimes.
Another strategy is to have a rule that no one can speak a second time unless
everyone has had a first time. We will model.
Explain by telling how/why.
Be concise. Get to the point. Don’t just talk to hear yourself talk.
Rephrase and add on to others' ideas.
Everyone in the group participates.
Everybody helps.
These norms were developed for eighth graders, but tweaked a little they will still work
for us.
DAY 1 (TUESDAY 9/10):
1. Teacher explains the project (10 min)
2. Choose roles. (5 min or less)
3. Decide on the ecosystem project you will investigate. This must be approved by
the teacher. How to do it:
a. Find an ecosystem restoration project. (It could also be an agriculture
improvement project. Have you ever thought that a farm field is an
ecosystem?)
i. https://drawdown.org/sectors (20 min)
1. Facilitator asks group to decide who is going to look at what
sector. Sectors to look at are
a. Food, Agriculture and Land Use
b. Land Sinks
c. Coastal and Ocean Sinks
2. Recorder creates a google doc and makes sure everyone in
the group is shared on it. The recorder is the “owner” of the
document. A big responsibility. Share with the teacher.
3. All Group Members write brief notes (1 or 2 sentences) on
projects they find interesting to investigate, stating why.
Include your name with your notes.
ii. (10 min) Facilitator leads a discussion in which each person
shares what they found and explains why it might be a good choice.
Recorder takes notes and puts them on the shared google
doc. Sharing images from the website might be good. Facilitator
leads the group to consensus.
iii. (10 min) Reporter tells the class and the teacher the project the
group has chosen.
b. Homework for Day 2.
i. Each person finds one reliable website on ecosystem restoration.
Some links for you to choose from. Decide as a group who will do
which one.
1. https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/what-ecosystemrestoration (This one is too easy. Everyone should read it.)
2. https://iucn.org/resources/conservation-tool/iucn-globalecosystem-typology Make sure to look at the links to
documents. (What is typology? Resource person?)
a. https://iucn.org/resources/conservation-tool/iucnglobal-ecosystem-typology
b. https://iucn.org/resources/conservation-tool/iucn-redlist-ecosystems (What is the red list? )
c. https://iucn.org/resources/publication/toolsmeasuring-modelling-and-valuing-ecosystem-services
3. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/beginnersguide-ecosystem-restoration
4. https://www.wri.org/insights/ecosystem-restoration-questions
DAY 2 (
WEDNESDAY 9/11)
1. (5 min) Reporter polls the group to find out what each person has done.
2. Reporter reports to the class and the teacher what the group will be working on
next.
3. Recorder makes sure Google doc is organized and that people have put their
name by what they contributed, and have included the url, the title of the article,
the name of the website from which it was downloaded, the author (if known), the
name of the website or publication, and the DOI if it is a research article.
Recorder puts references into MLA format. (Teacher will help with this if
needed.)
4. (5 min) Resource Person collects questions groups may have and the teacher
answers, either to the whole class or the individual group.
5. (10 min) Each Group Member takes notes on an additional website or research
article about restoring theecosystem. Many of the websites have links to
research. You can also go to www.scholar.google.com and search for peerreviewed articles on ecosystem restoration.
6. (10 min) Facilitator leads the group in sharing out what they have learned.
Recorder takes notes.
7. Homework for day 3
a. Each Group Member finishes taking notes and adds to the Google doc.
Come to class THURSDAY with notes on the article completed.
b. Each Group Member Write 2-3 paragraphs about what ecosystem
restoration is, and why it is important. How does what you found out about
ecosystem restoration relate to the project you have chosen? (A rough
draft) Upload to the google doc with your name.
c. Each Group Member complete the Population Practice Problems
assigned on Monday and due THURSDAY.
DAY 3 (THURSDAY 9/12)
1. (15 min) Reporter polls the group and gathers questions about the homework
problems. If no one in the group can figure out the answer, save the question for
the teacher.
2. (15 min) Teacher reviews the questions about the population practice problems.
3. (20 min) Teacher gives a lesson on how to find the details about the ecosystem
you are investigating, and answer your questions. I will present an example
about rice farming. https://drawdown.org/solutions/improved-rice-production
4. (10 min) Facilitator leads group in discussion about the homework to decide
how to split up the research homework. We are using the Campbell textbook as a
research source.
5. Homework Write 2-3 paragraphs (rough draft) about one of the
a. What are the populations of organisms in your ecosystem? What is the
food web when the ecosystem is healthy or restored? What is the food
web that exists in the current degraded state? You may have to make
inferences from the research article rather than copying one from the
internet. Choose one specific location rather than a generic one. (Use
Campbell Chapter 40.)
i. Project Drawdown has links to research articles about specific
projects
b. Use Campbell Chapter 41 as a framework for discussing niches,
biodiversity and trophic levels in your ecosystem. (Suggest you split this
chapter up.)
DAY 4 (FRIDAY 9/13)
1. (5 min) Reporter polls the group to find out what each person has done.
2. Reporter reports to the class and the teacher what the group will be working on
next.
3. Recorder makes sure Google doc is organized and that people have put their
name by what they contributed, and have included the url, the title of the article,
the name of the website from which it was downloaded, the author (if known), the
name of the website or publication, and the DOI if it is a research article.
Recorder puts references into MLA format. (Teacher will help with this if
needed.)
4. (5 min) Resource Person collects questions groups may have and the teacher
answers, either to the whole class or the individual group.
5. (40 min) Recorder leads the group in crafting a rough draft of the research
paper. It should be at least one page single-spaced.
6. Facilitator makes sure every voice is heard.
7. Group Members contribute to the document. The group also begins sketching
out ideas for the undisturbed ecosystem poster based on the research paper.
8. Homework. Each Group Member does AP College Board Practice assignment
on the Ecology Unit.
DAYS 5-7 (MONDAY 9/16 through 9/18)
1. (5 min) Reporter polls the group to find out what each person has done.
2. Reporter reports to the class and the teacher what the group will be working on
next.
3. Recorder makes sure Google doc is organized and that people have put their
name by what they contributed, and have included the url, the title of the article,
the name of the website from which it was downloaded, the author (if known), the
name of the website or publication, and the DOI if it is a research article.
Recorder puts references into MLA format. (Teacher will help with this if
needed.)
4. (5 min) Resource Person collects questions groups may have and the teacher
answers, either to the whole class or the individual group.
5. Use Campbell Chapter 42 and the information from your websites to discuss the
importance of restoring this particular ecosystem. How does it contribute to
mitigating (making less harmful) climate change?
6. Start the model of your ecosystem.
7. Finish the poster of your ecosystem
8. Use the research paper to create a Google slide presentation:
a. Slide 1: Title, Names of Group Members
b. Slide2: Image of the ecosystem in question. No more than 25 words on
the slides. Make notes that explain what is on the slide.
c. Slide 3: What are the details of the ecosystem? How will it be changed by
the restoration project? Images, no more than 25 words.
d. Slide 4: How it will contribute to climate change mitigation. 25 words or
less.
e. Slide 5: References
Project is due Thursday 9/19. Presentations in class.
DAY 8 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Review for test.
DAY 9 Unit test.