Teacher: Taylor Scruggs

10/1/15
School:
Rocky Mountain High School
Content Area: Biology

Date:
Grade Level: 9th

Title: Bioaccumulation/Biomagnification
of 1

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

directly from the standard)

Lesson #: 1

(Write Content Standards

Standard 2.1: Matter tends to be cycled within an ecosystem, while energy is

transformed and eventually exits an ecosystem
2.1 a: Analyze how energy flows through trophic levels (DOK 1-2)
Understandings: (Big Ideas)
Students will understand that organisms are organized into different trophic levels
based on their feeding relationships.
Students will understand that organisms in an ecosystem are affected by abiotic
factors, such as toxins that are present. These toxins increase in concentration as
you move up the food chain.
Students will understand that human actions impact ecosystems, and that there are
actions that can be taken to minimize these effects.
Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of
instruction, select applicable questions from standard)
How can the actions of humans impact the organisms in an ecosystem?
Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets)
Every student will be able to:
1. I can identify the direction of energy flow through an ecosystem and construct a
food chain of four different trophic levels when provided with several organisms.
2. I can explain how biomagnification affects an ecosystem based on a data table
that shows the amount of toxins in each organism of a food chain to a partner.
List of Assessments: (Write the number of the learning target associated with
each assessment)
Students will be informally assessed during the role-play, as I will walk around
during the activity and ask questions to check for understanding on predator and
prey interactions. This will assess learning target 1. Formal formative assessment
will be given through several questions that students will write answers to in order
to reflect on the activity. These questions will ask students to define
biomagnification in their own words and think about the consequences of toxins on

organisms in an ecosystem. This will assess learning target 2.

List of Significant Vocabulary: bioaccumulation, biomagnification, trophic levels,
producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, predator,
prey, toxins, ecosystem

Planned Lesson Activities

Name and
Purpose
of Lesson
Approx.
Time and
Materials

Biomagnification of Toxins: How Human Activity can Impact

Ecosystems

PreAssessme
nt

Students will be provided with five organisms and they will have to
place them in order to form a food chain. They will then have to
identify the trophic level of each organism.

Anticipat
ory Set
(Hook)

Ask students to consider how toxins/chemicals can affect an

ecosystem, and where these toxins come from?
Have students brainstorm these ideas in their groups and then one
person from each group will write them on the white board.

Procedur
es

Input: Students need to understand that living organisms can be

organized into trophic levels depending on how they get their energy.
They can be classified as producers, consumers, or decomposers.
Organisms within a community depend on one another for food to
create energy for survival. A food chain shows the feeding relationship
of organisms in a community. Bioaccumulation, or the buildup of toxic
substances in an organism, can have negative impacts on an
ecosystem. Top predators will consume prey with toxins in them,
resulting in a movement of toxins up through a food chain in
increasing accumulation. This is known as biomagnification. (10
minutes)
Guided practice: Students will engage in a role-play activity to further
understand bioaccumulation after brainstorming their ideas of how
toxins affect an ecosystem. Students will be given a paper cup with 40
pieces of dried pasta inside to represent food. Four of these pieces will
be colored to represent toxins.

Time: 45 minutes
Materials: Paper cups, plain pasta, colored pasta, name tags
I will need to create the organism nametags ahead of time to give to
each student, specifying whether they are a prey or predator. I will
also need to create the worksheets containing a data table and follow
up questions for the activity.

Each student will be assigned to be a predator or prey and given a

card with zooplankton, sea mullet, tuna, or human written on it.
The food will be scattered around, and for the first round the
students with cards that say zooplankton will be allowed to gather the
pieces of pasta and place them in their paper cups for one minute.
The second round will consist of the students with the sea mullet cards
being allowed to gather pasts or capture the zooplankton for 3
minutes. To eat the zooplankton, then the students with the sea mullet
card must beat the student with the perch card at rock paper scissors.
If the sea mullet wins, then they can take the pasta pieces from the
zooplankton and place them in their own cup. If the sea mullet loses,
then the zooplankton can keep their food.
Next, students designated as tuna will be allowed to collect food from
the sea mullets if they win at rock paper scissors.
For the final round, students that are designated human will then be
released to go fishing and collect food from the prey species by
winning rock paper scissors for 3 minutes.
At the end of the game, students will return to their seats and count
the number of colored pasta in their cup, as these represent toxins
that would be in their organisms body.
Students will make a chart of how much toxin each prey and predator
consumed to demonstrate that the toxin has moved up the food chain.
(10 minutes)
The finding of the chart will then be discussed as students should
understand that predators that have consumed the most will have
higher amounts of the toxin in their bodies than prey. (10 minutes)
Independent Practice: Students will complete follow up questions
based on the data that they collected from the activity. (15 minutes)
Closure

Students will finish the follow-up questions based on the

biomagnification activity. The last few minutes of class will be used to
do a pair review. Students will be asked several questions and switch
back and forth answering the question and telling their partner. For the
first question, student A of the pair will answer and tell student B and
for question 2 then student B will tell the answer to student A. For
each question, a couple of students will be randomly called on to share
what they came up with to the class.
Questions:
1. Define bioaccumulation in your own words (Level 1)
2. Explain how bioaccumulation affects the highest trophic levels
of a food chain (Level 2)
3. What conclusions can you draw about how toxins get into the
environment? (Level 4)

Differenti
ation

Assessme
nt

Resourc
es

4. Propose a way to minimize the amount of toxins that enter an

ecosystem. (Level 5)
To modify: Students that need extra support will be provided with the
opportunity to work with another student to answer the follow-up
questions, as well as have an already completed food chain to refer to.
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a student, then I will provide
them with more in-depth questions that require them to read about a
contaminant and reflect on the hazards that come with it specifically.
This will be available if students complete the worksheet ahead of
time.
Students will be informally assessed during the role-play, as I will walk
around during the activity and ask questions to check for
understanding. Students should understand the role of each organism
in the role play- if they are a prey or predator.
Further assessment will be given through the form of formal formative.
This assessment will involve several questions that students will write
answers to in order to reflect on the activity. These questions will ask
students to define bioaccumulation in their own words and think about
the consequences of toxins on organisms in an ecosystem.

http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/crystal/Grade
%2010/Cluster%201/S2-1-03%20-%20Bioaccumulation
%20-%20Lesson.pdf
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/contaminantsonline/pages/toolsteachers/ttfiles/lesson2/activity
%202_foodweb_key.pdf
http://ecocasting.northwestern.edu/assets/EcoCastingInvestigation-3-Bioaccumulation.pdf

Name

Bioaccumulation: Toxins in an Ecosystem

Fill in the following table using class data collected from the activity.
Group

Number of Plain Pasta

(Food)

Number of Colored
Pasta (Toxins)

Zooplankton (Primary
Consumers)
Sea mullet (Secondary
Consumers)
Tuna (Tertiary
Consumers)
Humans (Quaternary
Consumers)
After completing the chart, answer the following questions.
1. Which trophic level contained the highest levels of toxins?

2. Why do predators that have consumed the most have higher amounts of
toxins in their bodies than prey organisms do?

3. Based on this information, define bioaccumulation in your own words.

4. Explain one consequence that the presence of toxins can have on an

ecosystem.

5. Describe one action that could be taken to reduce bioaccumulation from

occurring locally.

Post Lesson Reflection

For my first lesson, I had the opportunity to teach two different classes.
This allowed me to modify the lesson for the second class to see if the
outcome improved at all. The first time that I taught the lesson, the group
was well behaved and attentive. We completed a short activity inside and
then transitioned to assigning roles for the outside activity. Students lined up
after instructions were given and then we went to the courtyard. I continued
to give instructions as needed and make sure that everyone was
participating when necessary. After completing the activity, we returned to
the classroom to discuss what had occurred and analyze the data that
different groups collected. The data did not demonstrate the process of
biomagnification, as it should have. Therefore, I had to discuss what should
have happened and have students reflect on what could have gone wrong to
produce inaccurate results. Students then had time to answer the follow-up
questions on the provided sheet. To close, students were asked to do a pair
review. This is where questions are asked to the class and each pair of
students discusses the answer and their thoughts with their partner. For the
second period that I taught, I modified the number of people in each group
for the outdoor activity so that hopefully the results would reflect the process
of biomagnification. I opened the activity the same way and proceeded with
the activity as planned. The results still were not what was desired, but I
handled it a different way with the second class period. I created an ideal
column of results so that students could visualize what the data should have
shown, and use this data to answer the questions.

The lesson objectives were achieved for the most part. Students were
able to complete the follow-up questions based on the activity and
participate in a discussion about the activity and the concepts that were
being covered. However, the data that was collected did not illustrate
biomagnification accurately, so this had to be explained for the content to be
understood. Students seemed to enjoy the activity itself, as they had the
opportunity to move around and role-play to understand a concept. This got
students engaged and interested in the topic. Based on the discussion at the
end of the class, students were able to understand bioaccumulation and give
examples of the problems that this could cause in an ecosystem.
If I were to teach again, then I would change some of the rules of the
activity to make sure that students demonstrate appropriate behavior and
participate fully. I would also stress the importance of doing what is asked
through the activity so that the expected results are achieved. By doing the
lesson twice already, I was able to modify some for the second class. To
modify, I provided clearer and more direct instructions and asked students to
repeat them back to ensure understanding. I also made an addition to the
lesson by having ideal data that students could use to better comprehend
the concept that was being illustrated.
For the next lesson, I would envision students to engage in continued
practice through a small group project. Students would work in groups of 2-3
and pick a toxin that results in bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Each
group would have to research the toxin, the hazards that are associated with
it, and how it affects the environment. They would need to include specific
organisms that are affected by the presence of the toxin. Students would
have the full period to complete the research and then create a presentation.
The presentation could be in the form of a PowerPoint or poster. Students
would then present their findings to the class in the next few class periods. I
believe that this would allow students to gain a deeper understanding of the
concept and be able to relate it to an ecosystem or organisms that they are
familiar with that the process affects.