In Stage 6 you can go beyond simple illustration to develop a deeper understanding of concepts. This can be a differentiation activity. A good example is food pyramids. Typically, an energy pyramid is used to show the different trophic levels in an ecological system and the loss of energy from the primary productivity level (the producers) to the top tropic level (the tertiary consumers). This can be further investigated through a pyramid of numbers (species at each trophic level) and pyramid of biomass (total biomass at each level). The decrease from the base to the apex of each pyramid is linked to the loss of energy through ecological processes such as respiration and digestion at each level. The examples here are in the Forest Systems case study coverage of ecological systems. Interestingly in a mature forest of very large trees there are a smaller number of species supporting a larger number of primary consumers. When teaching ecological succession, it is important to relate the concept to different environments or ecosystems and to include, when possible, the changes in wildlife that accompany changes in vegetation over time. Visualise This 5 contains illustrations for ecological succession including a primary succession following glaciation (link this to land cover change) and a secondary succession following a tornado. In Boreal Forests you can examine a succession of plants and wildlife on a new sandbank that formed along a river running through an Alaskan forest. In year 11 you are preparing your students for the HSC examination. At Powerful Geography we believe that building conceptual understanding is very important for student success and visual representations can help with that.
It has been exciting for our authors to create new illustrations for concepts taught in Earth’s Natural Systems. In the Visualise This 5 and the Forest Systems case study there are several new diagrams to illustrate ecological succession. Using a variety of stimulus for each concept will help reinforce understanding and prepare students for ‘unseen’ stimulus in an examination … the type of question increasingly apparent in the HSC examination.
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