Virginia SOL LS.9.b
The Standard
disruptions in ecosystems can change species competition
Virginia Standards of Learning for Science · The student will investigate and understand that relationships exist between ecosystem dynamics and human activity. Key ideas include
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how events such as drought, fire, pollution, or habitat loss change available resources. They predict how those changes affect competition and species populations.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given an ecosystem disruption, students identify the limiting resource and the species competing for it. They make a supported prediction about which population may increase or decrease.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think every disruption affects all species equally. They may confuse competition with predation or believe competition always involves direct fighting. They may overlook competition for space, light, water, or mates.
How to Assess It
- Use this exit prompt: “A drought reduces soil water where deep-rooted shrubs and shallow-rooted grasses grow. How will competition change, and which population may decline more?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have students use spoons to collect beans, then remove half the beans to model drought and compare each species’ results.
Ask students to explain how a wildfire could reduce one kind of competition while increasing another.
Give teams disruption cards and ecosystem cards, then award points for identifying the limiting resource and predicting a population change.
Examine a local construction project and map how lost food, water, or space could change competition among nearby species.
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