Lesson Plan Template
COURSE/Grade:
Grade 9 Applied Science
Suggested Time:
80 minutes
SUBJECT /Unit:
Biology: Sustainable Ecosystems and Human Activity
LESSON TITLE :
How can resources limit the carrying capacity of an ecosystem?
(written as critical challenge)
LESSON Description: Students will determine how resources can affect the carrying capacity of an
ecosystem by applying their knowledge to a variety of tasks that will
deepen their understanding of carrying capacity.
Planning Information:
Curriculum Connections
Big Ideas:

The sustainability of ecosystems depends on balanced interactions between their components
Overall Expectation(s):

Demonstrate an understanding of characteristics of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the
interdependence within and between ecosystems, and the impact humans have on the
sustainability of these ecosystems
Specific Expectation(s):

Identify the major limiting factors of ecosystems (e.g., nutrients, space, water, predators), and
explain how these factors are related to the carrying capacity of an ecosystem (e.g., how an
increase in the moose population in an ecosystem affects the wolf population in the same
ecosystem)

Use appropriate terminology related to sustainable ecosystems and human activity, including,
but not limited to: biodiversity, biotic, ecosystem, equilibrium, species diversity, sustainability, and
watershed
Learning Goal(s) or Enduring Understandings:

Understand the concept of carrying capacity.

Identify and relate the limiting factors of an ecosystem to the carrying capacity.
Prior Knowledge Required (the knowledge/concepts and skills students must possess to be successful in this lesson)

Identify similarities and differences between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and describe
these similarities and differences using diagrams. (Done last class)

Investigate the characteristics and interactions of biotic and abiotic components of a terrestrial or
aquatic ecosystem, and describe the importance of these components in a sustainable ecosystem.
(Done last class)
Lesson Differentiation, Materials and Chalkboard Notes
 How will you differentiate your lesson? Provide details
Knowledge of Students
Differentiation based on student:
 Readiness  Interests  Learner Profile:
 Styles
Need to Know
 Students’ learning styles.
How to Find Out
 During the first day of class, students took a learning styles quiz to determine their learning style.
Differentiated Instruction Response
Stations will be developed to appeal to different learning styles.
Materials
Chalkboard Notes
- 6 large papers for placemat activity.
- 2 printed articles for Station 1.
Agenda
(http://www.bcca.org/ief/sustapedia/spcapacity.htm)
- 2 large papers folded in half for Station 2.
- 2 sets of biotic/abiotic examples. (Cut ahead of time
with scissors)
- 2 laptops for Station 3.
(http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0078757134/383928/
BL_04.html)
- 2 print outs of tabulated and graphed results for
Station 3.
- Photocopied station activity worksheets for all
students.
1. Our classroom as an ecosystem placemat activity
2. Stations
3. Creative ecosystem assignment
4. Reflection
Learning Goals
1. Understand the concept of carrying capacity.
2. Identify and relate the limiting factors of an
ecosystem to the carrying capacity.
Minds On (Hook)
Connections
 Establishing a positive learning environment
 Connecting to prior learning and/or experiences
 Setting the context for learning
L: Literacy
AfL, AoL: Assessment
for/of Learning
Groups of 4  Placemat and Class Discussion(C.D.) (10 min)
Description
AfL: Strategy/Assessment
Tool
- How many students do you think can learn in this classroom? Write it down at top
corner of the placemat. (1 min)
- In your group, write down on your placemat the factors that determine how many
students can learn in this class. (2 min)
- What are the three major factors that would determine how many students would learn
in this classroom? Circle those answers on your placemat. (1 min)
- Class Discussion on what they have deduced to be the major factors. (2 min)
- What would happen if we had forty students learning in this classroom? (C.D)(1 min)
- Would they all do well in the class? (C.D.) (1 min)
- In your group, make a definition for the maximum number of students who can learn
effectively in this classroom. Write your answer on the back of your placemat(2 min)
- The term we will use for this definition is carrying capacity.
(collect group placemats)
AfL: Placemats are
collected.
Action
 Introducing new learning or extending/reinforcing prior learning
 Providing opportunities for practice and application of learning (guided > independent)
Groups of 3  Stations (50 min)
Description
- There will be four stations in the classroom. Each station will have two miniature
stations, so that two groups can be working on the same station at the same time. 10 min
per station, ring bell/ blow whistle when it is time to move on to next station.
- Before starting the stations activity, demonstrate briefly what is to be done at each
station (5 min).
- Give students 5 min after all stations are completed to finish incomplete answers.(5 min)
Station 1: Carrying Capacity Article (10min)
Read the passage and develop a definition for each of the following words: carrying
capacity, limiting factors, sustainability, and population growth.
http://www.bcca.org/ief/sustapedia/spcapacity.htm
Station 2: Biotic or Abiotic Pictures (10min)
Paste the cut out pictures onto the Biotic or Abiotic sheet and answer the questions.
Station 3: Virtual Lab (10min)
Predict what will happen in the lab, observe what happens, and explain what did
happen.
http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0078757134/383928/BL_04.html
Station 4: Graphed Data (10min)
Analyze the graphed data and determine what is happening to the population by
answering the stated questions.
(collect activity answer sheets)
AfL: Strategy/Assessment
Tool
AaL: Students can
check their answers
with adjacent group
at the same station.
AfL: Activity answer
sheets are collected.
NOTE: Students
who have not
finished answering
the activity
questions can finish
the questions during
exit ticket time or
they can hand in
their activity sheet
the next day.
Consolidation and Connection
 Helping students demonstrate what they have learned
 Providing opportunities for consolidation and reflection
Groups of 4  Creative Case Study Ecosystem Assignment (10 min)
Description
Students will choose and research a specific ecosystem as their case study. Students must
describe the limiting resources of the ecosystem, determine if those factors are biotic or
abiotic, and describe how those factors affect the carrying capacity of the ecosystem.
Students can choose how they would like to present this information. (eg. Skit, essay,
powerpoint presentation, storybook, movie, etc.). At this time, students will find a group
of four in which all of the group members have the same learning style/ presentation
preference. In their group, students will choose their ecosystem (eg. Coral reef, Sahara
desert, Amazon Rainforest etc.). This assignment is due in one week.
Individually  Exit Ticket Reflection (10 min)
Description
How can human activity affect your case study ecosystem? Justify your answer by using
terms such as ecosystems, carrying capacity, limiting factors, sustainability, and
population growth.
(collect reflection at end of class/ beginning of next class)
--Students can choose to finish their activity questions at this time.
AfL or AoL:
Strategy/Assessment Tool
AoL: Creative Case
Study Ecosystem
Assignment will be
evaluated.
AoL: Exit ticket
reflection will also
be evaluated. This
reflection is also AfL
for next class.
Station 1: Carrying Capacity Article
Carrying capacity refers to how many organisms can live sustainably in a particular
environment without destroying its resources. Many things can be limiting factors, such as food or
water supply, amount of shelter, capacity to absorb wastes, or predation, and different factors can be the
limit that determines carrying capacity at different times and places.
The planet's carrying capacity is the number of people that can live on it without dangerously
threatening its future. Given rapid population growth on a planet that is ultimately finite, and our
present inability to meet even the basic needs of much of the world's population, the human carrying
capacity of the Earth has become a significant issue. The planet could support many more people living
a simple rural village life than an American suburban lifestyle. One measure that has been developed to
estimate carrying capacity and the share of each person is the ecological footprint.
The idea of carrying capacity relates closely to that of sustainable development, because both
refer to the need to live off of interest rather than capital. If we cut down forests faster than they can
grow back, intensify agriculture until it robs the soil of its fertility, and make profligate use of nonrenewable resources such as minerals and fossil fuels, we can increase our standard of living and/or the
number of people living on the planet, but we reduce its capacity to support people in the future. The
success of development in the West has come partly from diminishing stocks of non-renewable
resources, and partly from the import of cheap primary commodities often produced by overexploitation in developing countries, just as the empires of earlier times flourished through colonial
exploitation.
It is difficult to estimate the carrying capacity of the planet, since this depends on the
technologies available, our efficiency in the use of resources, and the acceptable standard of living. Since
the richest one-fifth of the population today uses about four-fifths of the world's resources, the existing
world population could not be brought up to European living standards using present technologies and
consumption levels. Pessimists will say that the world is already over-populated, and that the future
population must be reduced to achieve sustainability. Optimists assume that science and technology will
find solutions to all our problems so that growth can go on for ever. Earlier predictions of limits to
growth and a decline in civilization have not yet been realized, but we may already be beyond the
limits, cushioned only by the time lags between cause and effect (Meadows et al. 2004). Common sense
shows that the present situation of rapid population growth in some regions, massive overexploitation
of resources and steady accumulation of pollution and wastes cannot continue. The question is how and
by what means change will come, and how much damage to the natural capital and carrying capacity of
the planet we shall do in the process (Dahl, 1996).
There are already signs that we are exceeding the carrying capacity of many parts of the
planet. Some of the worst humanitarian crises since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, in countries like Haiti,
Rwanda and Somalia, share as underlying causes, behind obvious political and ethnic divisions, a high
and rapidly increasing density of population, extreme poverty, and a shortage of essential
environmental resources, in particular a drop in per capita food production. These may be some of the
first illustrations of the consequences of exceeding the environmental capacity of a country or region
(Mathews, 1994; Atwood, 1994). The increase in environmental refugees who leave their homes because
local resources can no longer support them is another symptom of this problem. The International
Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994 recognized the need to integrate
population, environmental and poverty eradication factors in sustainable development policies, plans
and programmes (UN, 1994).
Station 1: Carrying Capacity Article
Read the passage and develop a definition and example for each of the following words:
Carrying capacity:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Limiting factors:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Sustainability:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Population growth:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Station 2: Biotic or Abiotic Pictures
Place the cut out pictures onto the Biotic or Abiotic Sheet accordingly.
Station 2: Biotic or Abiotic Pictures
How could each of these factors contribute to the carrying capacity of the ecosystem?
Light availability:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Competition:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Parasitism:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Water availability:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Nutrient availability:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Commensalism:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Temperature:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Station 3: Virtual Lab
In this virtual lab, you will be comparing the population growth of two different strands of paramecium,
P. caudatum and P. aurelia. You will also investigate how these species of protozoan grow together.
It is important to note that there is rice in the test tubes for the bacteria to feed on, and these two species
do not prey on each other.
Predict what will happen in each of the test tubes:
Test tube 1:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Test tube 2:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Test tube 3:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Click once on the pipette to fill the pipette then click and drag the pipette into the test tube.
a. Test tube 1: P. caudatum
b. Test tube 2: P. aurelia
c. Test tube 3: P. caudatum and P. Aurelia
Click on the microscope
Click on the clean microscope slides.
Click on the test tube rack to make a wet mount slide.
Click on the slide and drag the slide to the microscope. Repeat for each slide.
Click clear slides then click on the calendar pad to change the date.
Repeat steps 3 to 6 until you have completed day 16. Examine the change in the number of
individuals on each slide.
Make some observations pertaining to what happened in each test tube:
Test tube 1:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Test tube 2:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Test tube 3:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
*You may now flip over the tabulated and graphed results of this experiment.
Explain your observations and the results provided by referring to the carrying capacity of the
ecosystem, limiting factors of the ecosystem, and the population growth of the two species.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Station 3: Virtual Lab
Here are tabulated and graphed results of the same experiment.
DAY 0
DAY 2
DAY 4
DAY 6
DAY 8
DAY 10
DAY 12
DAY 14
DAY 16
Test tube 1:
P. caudatum
Test tube 2:
P. aurelia
Test tube 3:
P. caudatum
Test tube 3:
P. aurelia
1
6
13
23
32
30
28
32
29
1
5
28
45
50
49
46
50
50
1
5
10
11
7
5
1
0
0
1
3
16
35
40
44
54
48
47
Station 4: Graphed Data
Analyze the graphed data and answer the following questions.
Describe the population growth from year one to year seven.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Why is there a change in population growth at year seven?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the carrying capacity of this population? Explain. Draw a dotted line at the carrying capacity.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Suppose this graph represents the number of brown bears in a Canadian boreal forest. List 3 limiting
factors, state if the factor is abiotic or biotic, and explain how these factors would affect the carrying
capacity.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Between year seven and year fourteen, there are several fluctuations in the number of brown bears
present. Hypothesize a possible explanation as to why the number of brown bears first overshoots the
carrying capacity, and then the population falls under carrying capacity.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________