Engage:
First, the teacher will ask the students to make a list of all factors that can affect a large population of organisms in their notebook. Next, the teacher will write the words Abiotic and Biotic on the board and ask various students to write their examples on a sticky note and go up and stick under the appropriate category.
Next, students will look up the definition to Density-Independent and Density-Dependent Factors. Once they have read the definition, as a class, the students and teacher will create these two new categories on the board and place their examples under the correct category using participation from the class.
Explore/Explain:
Next students will take 5 minutes to read the article named YELLOW PERCH IN LAKE WINNIPEG which is available in the attachments and through Alabama Science in Motion.
After reading the article, they are to assign each density-independent and density-dependent example under the right category. This activity is to be completed individually by each student. Once everyone is completed the activity, then the examples should be discussed as a whole class.
Extend/Elaborate:
During the extend part of this lesson, students will get together in groups and play a board game (directions located in the attachments) that deals with the limiting factors on fish in a lake. They will roll a dice to determine how many spaces to move. And as they move, they will land on different limiting factors. They are to decide if that factor is a density-independent or dependent factor and why it would fall under that category. They will also discuss the effect that each factor has on the environmental system as a whole. These responses will be written in their science notebooks and then once everyone is finished they will be read out loud to the rest of the class.
There are also extending post lab questions that come with the Science In Motion lab sheet which is in the attachments.
