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Gizmos Student Exploration: Forest Ecosystem Answer Key
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Gizmos Student Exploration: Forest Ecosystem Answer Key
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Student Exploration: Forest EcosystemDirections: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions andprompts in
the orange boxes.
Vocabulary: consumer, decomposer, inorganic, organic, organism, population, producer
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. When a rancher puts cattle in a pasture, what happens to the amount of grass in it?
There will be less grass.
2. If someone adds thousands of small fish to a lake, how would the number of big fish change?
It would change drastically because the fish will grow and have another baby fish.
Gizmo Warm-up
The Forest Ecosystem Gizmo shows you the effects of adding organisms to, or
taking them from, a forest. An organism is any livingthing. To start, do the
following:
● Click Advance year a couple times to see two years of growth.
● Remove all Deer from the forest by clicking the minus (-) buttonuntil
none remain.
● Click Advance year a couple more times.
1. Select the DATA tab. Select Pictograph and click the Tree to show the size of the tree population for thepast
several years.
A. How did removing deer affect the tree population? When the deer was removed the tree
population grew.
B. Why do you think this happened? The deer ate the tree leaves.
2. Under Choose organism, select the Mushroom.
A. How did losing deer affect the mushrooms? When deer were removed, the mushroom
population grew.
B. Explain why this may have happened. The deer ate mushrooms.
, Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
● Click Reset.
Trees
● Select the FOREST tab.
Question: What role do trees play in the forest?
1. Form hypothesis: Where do you think trees get the nutrients they need to grow?
I think they get the nutrients from the water on the soil.
2. Predict: Based on your hypothesis, how will the tree population change if ALL other organisms (deer,bears,
and mushrooms) are removed from the forest?
In the first years, the tree population will be huge but then it will be so big, there will be no
more water resulting in the trees dying.
3. Analyze: Remove ALL organisms except trees. Click Advance year a few times and select the DATAtab. Was
your prediction correct? Explain what you found.
The tree population grew but it didn’t get so big there would be no more water.
4. Draw conclusions: Substances that contain carbon and are produced by living things are called organic.
Examples of organic materials are sugar, blood, protein, and fat. Other materials, like water, carbon dioxide,
oxygen, and ammonia, are called inorganic.Some living things, called producers, canproduce the organic
materials they need (like food) from inorganic matter. All other organisms are consumers; they consume organic
matter since they cannot make it themselves.
Do your results show you that trees are producers or consumers? Explain.
My results show me that trees are producers, green plants make their food by taking
sunlight and using the energy to make sugar.
5. Analyze: Click the FOREST tab. Click the plus (+) button for mushrooms several times. Click
Advance year a few times. Select the DATA tab. How did adding mushrooms affect trees?
It didn’t. They co-existed.
6. Extend: The mushrooms thrived without hurting trees. How could this happen? Try for two possible
explanations. Write your ideas in the space below.
● They need different sources of nutrients.
● They need a small amount of nutrients, so there is enough for both of them.
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