Island Biodiversity Past to Future

Introduction

National Middle School Science Standards

Earth Science, Life Science

National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies

Key Terms

archaeology, biodiversity, coastal ecosystem, Native American, climate change, Holocene period

Key Concepts

• Human impacts on island and coastal biodiversity 
• Changes in ecosystems over time
• Shifting baselines of biodiversity 
• Impacts of human activities on ecology 
• Technology used by archaeologists 

Resource Types

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

The Island Biodiversity teaching resources support students in meeting the following middle school NGSS Performance Expectations.

Earth Science

MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

• MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
• MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.

Life Science

MS-LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• MS-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
• MS-LS2-2 Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
• MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

National Curriculum Standards For Social Studies (NCSS)

The Island Biodiversity resources align with the following Social Studies standards listed below that integrate anthropology concepts with anthropology skills.

People, Places, and Environments

• The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.
• During their studies, learners develop an understanding of spatial perspectives, and examine changes in the relationship between peoples, places and environments.