Focus Plan
Texarkana Independent School District
GRADING
PERIOD:
WRITER:
Biology – 4th six weeks
Chemistry – 1st six weeks
L. Petty
PLAN CODE:
COURSE/SUBJECT:
10th grade science
GRADE(S):
10th
TIME ALLOTTED
FOR INSTRUCTION:
1 – 1½ hours
TITLE:
Don’t Eat Me
LESSON TOPIC:
Interactions among organisms in an environment.
TAKS OBJECTIVE:
Objective 3
The student will demonstrate an understanding of the interdependence of
organisms and the environment.
10.12 The student knows that interdependence and interactions occur within an
ecosystem. The student is expected to:
(B) interpret interactions among organisms exhibiting predation,
parasitism, commensalisms, and mutualism.
Objective 1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the nature of
science.
10.2 The student uses scientific methods during field and laboratory
investigations. The student is expected to:
(C) organize, analyze, evaluate, make inferences, and predict trends from
data
(D) communicate valid conclusions
FOCUS TEKS AND STUDENT
EXPECTATION:
SUPPORTING TEKS AND
STUDENT EXPECTATIONS:
CONCEPTS
Relationships
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS/GENERALIZATIONS/PRINCIPLES
The student will understand that
Organisms interact with their environment and with each other in very specific
ways.
Organisms react with each other in many complex relationships.
Parasitism
A relationship where one organism benefits and one is harmed.
Commensalism
Mutualism
A relationship where one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor
harmed.
A relationship where both organisms benefit.
Predation
A relationship where one organism eats the other.
Ecosystem
I.
SEQUENCE OF ACTIVITIES (INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES)
A.
Focus/connections/anticipatory set
Once students are seated, show a brief clip of a video with a sea anemone and clown fish.
B.
Instructional activities
(demonstrations, lectures, examples, hands-on experiences, role play, active learning experience, art,
music, modeling, discussion, reading, listening, viewing, etc.)
1.
Lecture
Go over vocabulary list.
C.
Guided activity or strategy
Give students the following scenario: a clown fish lives in a sea anemone where it cleans the anemone and
prevents certain predators from eating it. What type of relationship is this? Obviously the anemone benefits
since it is cleaned and protected. Try to get students to remember the video clip to realize that the sea
anemone also catches fish that might be after the clown fish. They should be able to determine that this is a
mutualistic relationship.
D.
Accommodations/modifications
Students requiring accommodations may be given a completed copy of the vocabulary.
E.
Enrichment
Students requiring enrichment may be assigned the vocabulary prior to the activity.
II.
STUDENT PERFORMANCE
A.
Description
Complete Activity – Don’t Eat Me
B.
Accommodations/modifications
Students requiring accommodations should be assigned a peer tutor.
C.
Enrichment
Students requiring enrichments should be peer tutors.
III.
ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVITIES
A.
Description
Grade Activity Worksheet – Don’t Eat Me.
B.
Rubrics/grading criteria
Each answer in the data table should be graded at 3 points each. Incorrectly answered answers or boxes left
blank should have these points deducted.
C.
Accommodations/modifications
Since students may work with peer tutors, no accommodations should be needed.
D.
Enrichment
Students may be given an assignment to provide an additional example for each type of symbiotic
relationship.
E.
Sample discussion questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
IV.
What type of relationship has one organism benefiting and one being harmed? Parasitism
What type of relationship has both organisms benefiting? Mutualism
What type of relationship has one organism benefiting and one being neither harmed nor helped?
Commensalisms
What type of relationship has one organism killing and eating the other? Predation
What is the difference between parasitism and predation since both have one organism benefiting and
one being harmed? In parasitism, the parasite usually does not want to kill the host since this would kill
the parasite also.
TAKS PREPARATION
A.
Transition to TAKS context
1. Many different types of interaction take place between organisms in an ecosystem. Which of the following
statements provides the best description of a predator-prey relationship within an ecosystem?
(a) The predator feeds on the prey. The predator is helped and the prey is harmed.
(b) The prey feeds on the predator. The prey is helped and the predator is harmed.
(c) The predator feeds on the prey. The predator is harmed and the prey is helped.
(d) The prey feeds on the predator. The prey is harmed and the predator is helped.
2. Certain fungi and green algae live together as lichens in some ecosystem niches. The algae provide food
for the fungi, and the fungi provide water conservation and protection for the algae. What term describes
this interaction that benefits both organisms?
(a) amensalism
(b) mutualism
(c) parasitism
(d) commensalisms
3. There are numerous interactions between organisms in freshwater lake ecosystems. What interactions
should be notices by a careful observer?
(a) Aquatic plants and snails compete for sunlight while fish and birds compete for snails.
(b) Aquatic plants and snails have a symbiotic relationship while fish and birds have a predator-prey
relationship.
(c) Aquatic plants are eaten by snails, snails are prey for fish, and fish are prey for birds.
(d) Aquatic plants and snails have a parasitic relationship while fish and birds have a symbiotic
relationship.
B.
Sample TAKS questions
Spring 2004
1. An oakworm caterpillar feeds on the leaves of an oak tree. This type of interaction is _____.
(a) mutualistic
(b) commensalistic
(c) competitive
(d) parasitic
2. After being introduced in the 1930s, the fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) became established throughout much
of the southern United States. One biological way to control fire ants might be to introduce organisms that
are ____.
(a) mutualistic with fire ant queens
(b) nurtured by fire ant workers
(c) preyed on by fire ant drones
(d) parasitic to fire ant larvae
3. A hummingbird feeds on the nectar of a flowering plant. In this process the bird gains nutrition while
spreading the plant’s pollen to other flowers. The relationship between hummingbirds and flowering
plants can be described as ____.
(a) commensal
(b) predatory
(c) parasitic
(d) mutualistic
V.
KEY VOCABULARY
commensalisms
competition
host
mutualism
parasite
VI.
parasitism
predation
predator
prey
symbiosis
RESOURCES
A.
Textbook
None needed
B.
Supplementary materials/equipment
Transparency master – Vocabulary
Instructor’s Copy – Vocabulary
Activity Worksheet – Don’t Eat Me
Instructor’s Copy – Don’t Eat Me
C.
VII.
Technology
FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
(reteaching, cross-curricular support, technology activities, next lesson in sequence, etc.)
A. Reteaching
Go over graded worksheet.
B. Next lesson in sequence
Biology – 12C – compare variations, tolerances, and adaptations of plants and animals in different biomes
Chemistry – 12E – investigate and explain the interactions in an ecosystem including food chains, food webs, and
food pyramids
VIII.
TEACHER NOTES
Before activity:
1. Make transparency master of vocabulary
2. Run off worksheets so that every student has one.