SMED 729 A: Ecology
2 credit hours
USC Course Description, SMED 729 A: Special Topics in Science for Teachers. (1-3)
Topics not likely to be incorporated into regular offerings, offered as seminars, workshops, and formal courses. Variable credit, depending on contact hours. May be taken more than once.
Instructor :
Dr. Robert J. Feller, Professor, Marine and Biological Sciences, and Director, Center for
Science Education, College of Science and Mathematics, USC; feller@biol.sc.edu
Office: Sumwalt 341 (777-3937) also Sumwalt 311 (777-6920)
Course Learning Objectives :
This course is designed to help middle school life science teachers master the contents of an IQWST unit entitled “Struggle in Natural Environments: What Will Survive?” This unit was developed as a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of
Michigan, Northwestern University, and various teachers. It is a standards-based, project-based science unit with eight lesson plans for 7 th
grade science.
Because current science education reform calls for students to understand science as a process and to develop scientific skills through inquiry, we will engage teachers in standards-based learning activities that they can use in their own classrooms. By the end of this class, teachers (students) will
1.
become more familiar and comfortable with using inquiry-based teaching and learning skills in their classroom
2.
learn how to use process skills of data collection and data analysis in the context of inquiry-based learning
3.
practice both qualitative and quantitative methods of assessment
4.
become proficient at using IQWST units.
5.
become aware that there are many different ways to “teach to the standards”
6.
become aware that higher-ed faculty are colleagues who can provide resources and ideas
7.
develop self-confidence in teaching new scientific subject material
8.
learn more about scientific literacy and that science is a way of knowing
Grading Scheme : Performance in this course will be assessed by evaluating a.
Daily journal entries as evidence of classroom engagement (30%) b.
Driving Question Board artifacts (10%) c.
Homework assignments (20%) d.
Final Exam, content-based (15%) e.
Reflection paper (2-3 pp., details TBA) (15%) f. Discussion of assigned readings (10%)
100-88 = A 87-85 = B+ 84-80 = B 79-75 = C+ 74-70 = C 69-60 = D 59-0 = F

Date
16 June
Tentative Topics Standards
Big Idea: Connecting standards longitudinally across grade levels.
Activity: Constructing hierarchies – what does nature teach us? How do we become
“ecologically aware”? An overview of IQWST. Constructivism! I.A.a,d,e1. B.1.
II.D.1.d. Pre-test.
Big Idea: Defining a population in the biological sense and distinguishing it from a community. Understanding why variance must be present in order for selection to work.
Activity: Learning variance and population attributes by measuring grasshopper femur lengths. How populations change through time. Factors that cause changes in community structure and changes in morphological traits: physical (disturbance), chemical (pollution?), biological (competition) and mutations. I.A.1.a,c1,2.
II.D.1.a,b,c,d. 2.b. 3.c.
17 June Big Idea: What’s an invasion? (IQWST Lesson Plan #1 –
Invasive Species: Friend or Foe?) What things are affected by an invasion? Great Lakes geomorphology – tracing the route of attack by sea lampreys. Activity: how organisms expand their distribution. Who cares? Standards I.A.1.a1,2. II.D.2.a,b,c. 3.a,b,c.
Big Idea: The concept of a niche. Activity: Birds and Beaks (IQWST Lesson Plan #3) to illustrate form and function. How knowledge of an organism’s morphology gives clues about its behavior and ecological role (niche) in a community.
II.D.1.c, 2
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18 June Big Idea: Morphology provides clues about niches. Activity: Perch and sea lamprey dissections (IQWST Lesson Plan #4). Fish morphology and feeding biology: jaws or not; Illustrations and examples of external and internal structures using yellow perch and sea lampreys – dissections as objects for inquiry about how fish swim, feed, digest, and reproduce. II.D.2.b,c.
Big Idea: Food webs illustrate trophic connections between community members.
Activity: Making the links with yarn (IQWST Lesson Plan #5). Deconstructing food webs: their essential elements, how connections are made between predator and prey; the message of trophic (feeding) levels: what they mean and what they don’t mean; from producers to consumers: using food webs to understand how organic (living) matter and the energy it contains moves among and is lost from organisms in an ecosystem.
II.D.2.a,b,c.
19 June Big Idea: Invasive species disrupt food webs. Activity: Direct and indirect effects caused by changes in number of links or disappearance of food web components – the damage we do! II.D.2.a,b,c. 3.b.
Big Idea: How to construct a model. Activity: Practicing with rabbits and foxes at
JOMA. The modeling runway – from conceptual to practical applications. Why models are useful learning (and teaching) tools; making and testing predictions; extrapolating

from the individual level to the population level. What are population cycles? I.A.2.e.
7.a,b,c,d. II.D.1.a,b,c,d. 2.a,b,c. 3.a.
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20 June Big Idea: Using math to model nature. Activity: Using NetLogo, a dynamic and graphic mathematical model of a simple terrestrial food chain, to illustrate how an invasive species affects native populations (IQWST Lesson Plan #6).
Establishing stable population fluctuations or cycles. I.A.3.b. II.D.3.a,b,c.
23 June Big Idea: Getting more comfortable with NetLogo. Activity: Learning about why models have limitations – just when you finally feel comfortable, everything changes! I.A.1.a. 3.a. 5.a,b. 7.d. II. D.3.a,b,c.
24 June Big Idea: Graphs communicate data better than words. Activity: How to improve your graph reading skills. How to recognize when data are misrepresented.
Back to the Great Lakes for data interpretation about changes in its aquatic community
(IQWST Lesson Plan #7). I.A.2.d.g.7.c. II.D.3.a,b.
25 June Big Idea: Making the unfamiliar more familiar by using comparisons and analogies. Activity: Exploring common features of (and differences between) terrestrial and aquatic habitats and food webs. Reconnecting to the grade 7 standards.
II.D.1.a,b,c,d. 2.a,b,c.
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26 June Big Idea: Human interventions in natural systems often yield unanticipated results. Activity: Some case studies and an overview of solutions that have been attempted. Is ecosystem management even possible? Strategies for getting the situation back under control. I.A.2.b,c. II.D.3.a. Also discussion on place-based studies of population ecology and natural selection concepts.
Big Idea: Smokey Bear as metaphor – you can help prevent future invasions!
Challenging students to find a solution for the sea lamprey problem (IQWST Lesson Plan
#8). Activity: Brainstorming as a cooperative venture for eradicating other invasive species. II.D.3.b. Also discussion of current literature on population ecology and natural selection.
27 June Big Idea: Now add zebra mussels to the equation: multiple invasions.
I.A.5. II.D.3.b. Activity: Search the Web to answer - How many invasive species are in
South Carolina?
Deconstructing IQWST: a final assessment. Challenges for implementation and checking availability of critical resources. FINAL EXAM. Post-test.
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Homework Assignments :
Week 1: View Sea Lamprey video and bring a list of at least 3 questions concerning things you did not understand. Be prepared to cue the tape to the problem area(s). Bring an example of a graph that is difficult to understand – share it with the class and suggest ways to make it less complicated. Due Wednesday, 18 June, start of class.

Week 2: Bring physical evidence of a food web connection to class. Be prepared to tell the class how you were able to identify the connection. Bring some kudzu to class with a suggestion as to how it could be eradicated but also with what environmental problems your suggested method might cause. Due Wednesday, 25 June, start of class.
Driving Question Board and Artifacts: Taking turns each day, a student (teacher) selected by the Instructor will bring an item (document, photos, physical objects, a cool web site, etc.) to share with the class that is relevant to both the driving question and the big idea or focus question from the previous day’s class. It will be posted on the DQ
Board for all to see and to refer back to during the rest of the class.
Class Materials : all necessary materials will be supplied
Required Readings : IQWST unit (provided): Investigating and Questioning our World through Science and Technology (funded by the National Science Foundation, Grant #
ESI-0101780, Principal Investigators: J. Krajcik, Univ. Michigan & B.J. Reiser,
Northwestern Univ, 2004)
Additional Readings (not required during 2-wk SI) that promote critical thinking on the above topics:
Aldhous, P. 2004. The toads are coming! Nature 432:796-798.
Aquatic Plant Management Society, Inc. ( www.apms.org
) Understanding Invasive
Aquatic Weeds. Classroom & Homework Activities, 16 pp.
Atkinson, N. 2005. Precision extinction. Eradicating a species when you want to isn’t that easy. The Scientist 19(22):16-18. November 21, 2005.
Berryman, A.A. 2003. On principles, laws and theory in population ecology. OIKOS
103:695-701.
Bright, C. 1999. Invasive species: pathogens of globalization. Foreign Policy, Fall issue: 50-64. Reprinted in Environment 04/05 Annual Editions, 23 rd
ed. J.L. Allen, ed.
McGraw-Hill/Dushkin
Callaway, R.M., G.C. Thelen, A. Rodriguez, and W.E. Holben. 2004. Soil biota and exotic plant invasion. Nature 427:731-733.
Courtenay, W.R., Jr., and J. D. Williams. 2004. SNAKEHEADS (Pisces, Channidae) –
A Biological Synopsis and Risk Assessment. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1251, 143 pp. QL653.N8D64 2004 ISBN 0-607-93720
Crawley, M.J. 2005. Learning from the aliens. Science 310:623-624. book review of
Sax et al (see below)

Croll, D.A., J.L. Maron, J.A. Estes, E.M. Danner, and G.V. Byrd. 2005. Introduced predators transform subarctic islands from grassland to tundra. Science 307:1959-1961.
Dermott, R., and M. Munawar. 1993. Invasion of Lake Erie offshore sediments by
Dreissena , and its ecological implications. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 50:2298-2304.
Gallagher, R. 2005. Curiosity won’t kill science classes. (editorial) The Scientist, 28
March, p. 6.
Falkner, M. 2005. Stopping potential invaders: managing ballast water in California
NOAA, Coastal Services. 8(2):4-5.
Ginsburg, J. 2004. Dinner, pets, and plagues by the bucketful. The Scientist 18(7):28-
29.
Gozlan, R.E., S. St-Hilaire, S.W. Feist, P. Martin, and M.L. Kent. 2005. Disease threat to European fish. Nature 435:1046.
Green, A.J. et al. 2005 Dispersal of invasive and native brine shrimps Artemia
(Anostraca) via waterbirds. Limnology and Oceanography 50(2):737-742.
Grosholz, E. 2002. Ecological and evolutionary consequences of coastal invasions.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17:22-27. http://www.joma.org/offsite.html?page=http://cauchy.math.colostate.edu/Applets/Predato rPrey/predatorprey.htm&content_id=13536
Isard, S.A., S.H. Gage, P. Comtois, and J.M. Russo. 2005. Principles of the atmospheric pathway for invasive species applied to soybean rust. BioScience 55(10):851-861.
Koning, Ross E. 1994. Food Web and Trophic Pyramid. Plant Physiology Information
Website . http://koning.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/Plant_Biology/trophic.html. (6-2-2004).
Krajick, K. 2004. All downhill from here? Science 303:1600-1602.
Krajick, K. 2005. Winning the war against island invaders. Science 310:1410-1413.
Lima, S.L. 2002. Putting predators back into behavioral predator-prey interactions.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17:70-75.
Lovett, G.M., et al. 2006. Forest ecosystem responses to exotic pests and pathogens in eastern North America. BioScience 56:395-405.
Mack, R.N., D. Simberlof, W.M. Lonsdale, H. Evans, M. Clout, and F. Bazzaz. 2000.
Biotic invasions: causes, epidemiology, global consequences and control. Ecological
Society of America. Issues in Ecology, No. 5, 20 pp. see URL to order ($3.00 ea.) http://www.esa.org/science/Issues/TextIssues/issue5.php
McGrath, S. 2005. Attack of the alien invaders. National Geographic 207(3):93-117
(March 2005)

McNeeley, J.A. 2004. Strangers in our midst: the problem of invasive alien species.
Environment (July/August): 17-31. Reprinted (pp. 117-126) in Annual Editions,
Environment 05/06, 24 th
ed. J.L. Allen, ed. McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, Dubuque, IA
Moran, V.C., J.H. Hoffmann, and H.G. Zimmermann. 2005. Biological control of invasive alien plants in South Africa: necessity, circumspection, and success. Frontiers in
Ecology and the Environment 3(2):77-83. www.frontiersinecology.org
Neuenschwander, P. 2004. Harnessing nature in Africa. Nature 432:801-802.
Polomski, B. 2005. ‘Supervine’ here to stay. Living in South Carolina. August issue from Mid-Carolina Electric Coop. www.livinginsc.org
Polis, G. 1999. Why are parts of the world green? Multiple factors control productivity and the distribution of biomass. OIKOS 86:3-15.
Post, D.M. 2002. The long and short of food-chain length. Trends in Ecology and
Evolution 17:269-277.
Pringle, R.M. 2005. The origins of the Nile perch in Lake Victoria. BioScience
55(9):780-787.
Reichard, S. et al. 2005 Forum. The tragedy of the commons revisited: invasive species.
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 3(2):84-90. www.frontiersinecology.org
Sax, D.F., J.J. Stachowicz, and S.D. Gaines, eds. 2005. Species Invasions. Insights into
Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeography. Sinauer, Sunderland, MA 509 pp. ISBN 0-
87893-811-7 (paper, $49.95); ISBN 0-87893-821-4 $74.95
Schiermeier, Q. 2005. Pall hangs over desert’s future as alien weeds fuel wildfires.
Nature 435:724.
Schoener, T.W., J.B. Losos, and D.A. Spiller. 2005. Island biogeography of populations: an introduced species transforms survival patterns. Science 310 (5755):1807-1809.
Science, Vol. 303 (5659) Special section, “Mathematics in Biology”, pp.781-805.
Shea, K., and P. Chesson. 2002. Community ecology theory as a framework for biological invasions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17:170-176.
Udovic, D., D. Morris, A. Dickman, J. Postlethwait, and P. Wethwewax. 2002.
Workshop biology: demonstrating the effectiveness of active learning in an introductory biology course. BioScience 52:272-281.