Objective: Students will be able to evaluate how wolves, as an apex predator, fit within the troposphere of Yellowstone National Park.
1. Compare/contrast the conditions of Yellowstone National Park in both the absence and reintroduction of the gray wolf.
2. Explain the tropic cascade that occurred in YELL
3. Analyze data on the wolf, elk, and plant populations in YELL and describe how the populations are interdependent.
4. Evaluate the impact of the delisting of gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the Greater Yellowstone area
*Rubric is found below the 20-50-80 Model table
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20-50-80 Model---Choice Activities: Trophic Cascade |
Points |
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20 Points: Knowledge and Comprehension |
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Create a game that is a vocabulary guide. Make sure to the game “teaches” terminology. |
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Create a flow chart of how the elk population decreased when the wolf was returned to Yellowstone National Park. |
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50 Points: Application and Analysis |
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Create a children’s book that explains the environmental impact of wolves being introduced into Yellowstone National Park. Fully illustrated. Bound. 21 pages (front/back cover, title page, body) |
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Create a poetry book that explains tropic cascade through the perspective of species in Yellowstone National Park (i.e. wolves, elk, beaver, plants, bear, etc). Minimum of 15 poems in various formats (limerick, haiku, free verse, sonnets, etc) |
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Design a poster that illustrates how the Yellowstone ecosystem was like before and after wolves were reintroduced into the park. |
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Develop 9 interview questions to ask our guest park ranger for the Skype event on Thursday. Questions should be specifically about Yellowstone wolves and the impact on the ecosystem. Questions need to be typed with answers recorded from the Skype event. |
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Create a CNN news report addresses the successes of reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park. Address the who, what, where, why, and how from an environmental scientist’s/biologist’s point of view. |
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80 Points: Synthesis and Evaluation |
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Develop a management plan on how to protect wolves outside the Yellowstone National Park boundaries. Include in the plan conservation efforts on public lands, rules for ranchers, and tourism. Include at least 3 illustrations in your plan of how your plan balances the carrying capacity of the greater Yellowstone area. |
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Choose one of the wolf packs in Yellowstone. Create a multimedia project (no PPTs) that explains the wolf packs’s range (both hunting and denning areas), hierarchy, decedents, scientific data from radio collars, timeline, etc. The project should include illustrations, scientific data from academic journals, and graphs. A polished piece is expected. |
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Total Points |
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