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Exploring Trophic Cascades

Launch Interactive
Trophic cascade thumbnail
Topic
  • Anatomy & Physiology
  • Animal Behavior
  • Ecology
  • Communities
  • Matter & Energy
Resource Type
  • Interactive Media
  • Click & Learn
Level
High School — GeneralHigh School — AP/IBCollege
Used In
2 BioInteractive Playlists
Favorited By
92 Users
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Description

This interactive module explores examples of how changes in one species can affect species at other trophic levels and ultimately the entire ecosystem.

Trophic cascades refer to impacts that reach beyond adjacent trophic levels. This Click & Learn first walks students through a classic trophic cascade triggered by the loss of sea otters from a kelp forest ecosystem. Students then test their understanding of trophic cascades in four other case studies, where they predict the relationships among different species and the consequences of ecosystem changes. The case studies demonstrate how indirect effects mediated by changes in one species can broadly alter many aspects of community function.

 

Student Learning Targets
  • Predict whether different organisms in an ecosystem have positive or negative effects on other organisms in that ecosystem.
  • Predict how an ecosystem may change when a particular organism is introduced or removed, based on the evidence provided.
Details
Estimated Time
One to two 50-minute class periods.
Key Terms

consumer, direct effect, food web, indirect effect, jungle, lake, producer, savanna, trophic pyramid, tundra

Terms of Use

Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.

Accessibility Level

This resource complies with accessibility standards in accordance with the final rule for Section 508 of the National Rehabilitation Act.
Version History
Date Published 09.13.16
Date Updated 09.13.16
Curriculum Connections
NGSS (2013)

HS-LS2.A, HS-LS2.B, HS-LS2.C; SEP2

AP Biology (2019)

ENE-1.M, ENE-1.N, ENE-1.O, ENE-4.B, SYI-1.G, SYI-1.H; SP2

IB Biology (2016)

4.1, C.2

AP Environmental Science (2013)

II.A, II.B

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)

2.2

Vision and Change (2009)

CC5; DP3

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Trophic Cascades
Tim Guilfoyle describes how he uses the BioInteractive short film "Some Animals Are More Equal than Others" and a claim-evidence-reasoning activity to have his students examine Robert Paine's starfish exclusion experiment.
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