Unit 4 — December: Natural Resource Use and Sustainable Systems
Description
This unit examines human impacts on natural resources and introduces sustainable agricultural technologies. Students investigate causes of extinction through an overfishing simulation using popcorn as fish, analyzing how harvest rates affect ecosystem stability. The unit explores how technology and society have transformed natural resource use from pre-industrial times through the industrial revolution to today. Students examine Native American agricultural practices and sustainable island agriculture as alternative models. The unit concludes with hands-on creation and monitoring of hydroponics and aquaponics systems, learning how these technologies allow food production with minimal water and land use.
Essential Questions
- How do human activities impact natural resources?
- What causes species extinction and ecosystem collapse?
- How has technology changed our relationship with natural resources?
- What are sustainable alternatives to traditional agriculture?
Learning Objectives
- Analyze causes of extinction and overharvesting
- Compare pre-industrial and modern resource use
- Evaluate sustainability of different agricultural systems
- Design and maintain hydroponic systems
- Design and maintain aquaponic systems
- Understand nutrient cycling in closed systems
Supplemental Resources
- Markers and construction paper for historical timeline creation
- Graph paper for data collection and system monitoring charts
- Sticky notes for organizing research on sustainable practices
- Lined journals for daily system observations
- Index cards for comparing agricultural systems
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Crosscutting Concepts
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Science and Engineering Practices
Students engage in reading, writing, speaking, and listening tasks throughout all units. They conduct research on agricultural topics using informational texts, write blog posts and project reports, present findings to peers, and engage in collaborative discussions. Students summarize information from diverse media, quote from sources to support claims, and produce informative and opinion writing aligned to agricultural themes such as food systems, animal science, and natural resource management.
Students apply mathematical concepts across all units. They use measurement and unit conversions when testing water chemistry, calculating feed amounts, and designing chicken coops. Students collect and graph data from macroinvertebrate studies and plant experiments, calculate percentages for hatch rates and cost analysis, use area and volume formulas when designing agricultural structures, and apply operations with fractions and decimals in food science and agribusiness contexts.
Students apply scientific practices throughout the curriculum by conducting experiments, collecting and analyzing data, developing models, and constructing explanations. Topics including plant biology, animal systems, water chemistry, genetics, ecology, and food chemistry directly align with life science and earth science disciplinary core ideas. Students engage in engineering design when creating hydroponics systems and chicken coop structures, and they use crosscutting concepts such as cause and effect, systems and system models, and structure and function.
Students examine the history of agriculture, food production policies across cultures, the impact of natural resource use on communities, and economic principles of agribusiness. They investigate how geographic factors influence agricultural production and distribution, compare food systems across regions and nations, analyze the economic interdependence created by trade in agricultural products, and evaluate how cultural practices shape food identity. The agribusiness unit directly addresses economic concepts including supply and demand, entrepreneurship, and the role of resources in shaping economic opportunity.
Career readiness, financial literacy, and 21st century life skills are embedded throughout all units. Students explore careers in agriculture, food science, natural resource management, veterinary science, and agribusiness. They develop personal and entrepreneurial financial skills through agribusiness simulations, plant sales, and grocery cost analysis. Students use digital tools for research, collaboration, and data visualization, and they practice critical thinking, creativity, and communication in team-based agricultural challenges.
Formative Assessments
- Observations of overfishing simulation and student reasoning
- Discussions on historical agricultural practices
- Journals documenting system monitoring and maintenance
- Group work on sustainable agriculture research
- Question and answer on technology impacts
Summative Assessment
Google Slides presentations on sustainable systems, projects documenting hydroponic/aquaponic performance, portfolio updates, blog posts on resource sustainability
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through a guided oral discussion with the teacher about causes of extinction and sustainable practices, or by creating a labeled diagram with teacher support instead of a written presentation. Visual aids such as picture cards showing pre-industrial versus modern farming methods may be provided to support comparison activities.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
For this unit's hands-on investigations and system monitoring, provide graphic organizers and visual diagrams that support students in recording observations about resource use and ecosystem changes without relying solely on written output. Oral responses or dictated journal entries can be accepted in place of written reflections when documenting hydroponic or aquaponic system performance. Directions for multi-step processes, such as setting up or maintaining a living system, should be broken into numbered steps with visual cues to support sequencing and independent follow-through. Pre-teaching key vocabulary related to sustainability and nutrient cycling will help students access discussion and comparison tasks throughout the unit.
Section 504
Students in this unit benefit from extended time when completing system-monitoring journals or preparing presentation materials that document sustainable agriculture findings. Preferential seating during simulation activities and whole-class discussions supports focus during high-engagement, multi-sensory lessons. Printed copies of any directions or notes displayed digitally should be made available so students can reference steps at their own pace during hands-on work with living systems.
ELL / MLL
Visual supports such as labeled diagrams of hydroponic and aquaponic systems, photo-supported vocabulary cards for terms like nutrient cycling, sustainability, and overharvesting, and graphic organizers with sentence frames will help students access the unit's content and participate in discussions. Directions for simulation activities and system maintenance should be given in short, clear steps with a visual demonstration before students are expected to work independently. Where possible, connecting unit concepts to agricultural practices from students' home cultures or regions — such as traditional farming methods or water conservation — can build meaningful background knowledge and affirm students' prior experience.
At Risk (RTI)
Connecting this unit's concepts to familiar, concrete experiences — such as fishing, gardening, or water use at home — provides accessible entry points into the more abstract ideas of sustainability and ecosystem balance. The overfishing simulation and hands-on system building offer natural scaffolds for students who engage more readily with experiential tasks than text-based ones; prioritize these as primary learning contexts. Reducing the complexity of journal prompts by offering sentence starters or focus questions helps students document their observations without being blocked by open-ended writing demands. Frequent check-ins during system monitoring and group research tasks allow for early support and help students stay connected to the unit's core concepts.
Gifted & Talented
Students who demonstrate strong understanding of basic sustainability concepts early in the unit can be invited to investigate the economic, political, or global dimensions of resource management — examining, for example, how international fishing agreements or water rights policies connect to the ecological principles explored in the overfishing simulation. Designing an original variation or improvement to the hydroponic or aquaponic system, supported by research into real-world agricultural engineering, offers meaningful depth beyond standard maintenance and monitoring tasks. Students can also analyze comparative data across agricultural systems — such as yield efficiency, water consumption, or carbon impact — and develop evidence-based arguments about which systems are most viable at local, regional, or global scales.