Category: Investigations

{ Ecosystem Change Contents } { All GSS Books } Design your own miniature ecosystem in a clear plastic or glass container and observe it for at least one month.  In the following laboratory investigation, you will design a small model ecosystem in a terrarium and follow the changes in the living and non-living components […]

Chapter 1 { Ecosystem Change Contents } Imagine you are an astronaut viewing planet earth from a space shuttle 160 miles above the surface. Changing patterns of clouds and reflections from water and snow fields create the illusion of a colossal spherical organism. Many human cultures have believed that Earth is alive; many have attributed […]

ECOSYSTEM CHANGE is about the interdependence of all living things and the nonliving environment. It is also about how human activities are changing ecosystems around the world. See Overview. Contents Chapters Investigations Stay Current 1. Earth Alive! 1.1 Make a Model Ecosystem Chapter 1 2. Energy Through the System Chapter 2 3. Studying Desert Ecosystems […]

Chapter 7 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } “It is early morning. I am alone on the deck of the research ship Calypso. “The sea is flat and grayish-blue. The air is hot and sultry. There is hardly any breeze. Overhead, heavy dark clouds are silently piling up into billowing pyramids… “What is it about the […]

{ Losing Biodiversity Contents } { All GSS Books } Plants are essential to the development of soil. Their dead leaves and fruits are broken down into humus by hundreds of different kinds of soil organisms. Humus is an organic mixture that is constantly broken down further by fungi and bacteria. These decomposers reuse the […]

Chapter 5 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } Imagine you are standing barefoot in a grassy meadow. Beneath your feet countless earthworms, insect larvae, crustaceans, and roots are sheltered by the tough fabric of the grass.  Fungi and bacteria are dissolving away the dead bodies of tiny creatures, releasing nutrients for the plants.  The hidden world […]

Chapter 4 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } How did millions of different kinds of organisms evolve?  Question 4.1  Looking for human variation.  Choose an easily visible trait like shape of face, nose, or mouth, and make a tally of all the different shapes you see on a TV news program that zooms in on people around […]

Chapter 3 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } If you have seen science fiction movies like Jurassic Park, you may be able to imagine what Earth was like during the time of the dinosaurs—before human societies existed.  In the 1800s, however, most people couldn’t imagine a time before the Biblical descriptions of life on Earth.  Shell […]

Chapter 2 { Losing Biodiversity Contents } Imagine you are sitting on a hill looking out over prairie grassland that stretches as far as your eyes can see. The time is the spring of 1492, and you, an Omaha Indian, eagerly await the return of the buffalo. On the southern horizon, a black tide moves […]

{ Losing Biodiversity Contents } { All GSS Books } The “green patches” found in school gardens, city parks, backyards, and travel corridors are potential habitats for native species of plants and animals. In this activity, you will record evidence of species diversity for an urban habitat that has vegetation. Your habitat study will provide […]