{"id":1582,"date":"2018-01-02T11:29:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-02T16:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/ASSET\/?page_id=1582"},"modified":"2025-10-29T19:29:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T23:29:54","slug":"the-mystery-at-sunrise-farm-pond-part-one","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/ASSET\/getting-started-interdependence\/driving-question-pathway-the-mystery-at-sunrise-farm-pond\/the-mystery-at-sunrise-farm-pond-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mystery at Sunrise Farm Pond (Part One: Producers)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"producers\"<\/a>
\nPrint<\/a>\n

Navigating this Part of the Pathway<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This part of the pathway provides students with experiences that allow them to begin to piece together an answer to the overall driving question: Why are the fish dying in Sunrise Farm Pond? Prior to beginning Part One of the mystery, teachers will have already set up the experiments that require time for growth.\u00a0 Students have recorded daily observations of growth for about three weeks (except for weekends), but will not discuss their observations until instructed to in Part One.<\/p>\n

After this preliminary growth period, the pathway starts with students considering which organisms <\/a>are likely to be in a farm pond.\u00a0 Then students are introduced to the problem with the pond, which they will use as a basis for exploring interdependence in ecosystems.\u00a0 Students make initial models using a cross-sectional pond template to make predictions about what causes the fish in the pond to die.\u00a0 Using the experiments set up in advance of the unit and their observations,\u00a0 students compare growth of algae in jars of pond water with different amounts of nutrients <\/a>and monitor growth of seedlings in different conditions (or engage with a simulation) to investigate what plants need to grow. \u00a0Finally, students revisit their cross-sectional models and make revisions using their emerging understanding of how abiotic factors (i.e., non-living factors such as oxygen, water, or nutrients) affect the growth of producers and how producers <\/a>influence their environments.<\/p>\n

Disciplinary Core Ideas<\/div>
Click on the links to view the K-12 progression for each listed DCI in a new tab.
\n5.LS2.A<\/strong> (Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems)<\/a>
\n The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants.\u00a0 Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants.\u00a0<\/b> Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as \u201cdecomposers.\u201d\u00a0 Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.\u00a0 A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life.\u00a0 Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem.<\/div><\/div>\n
\n5.PS3.D<\/strong> (Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life)<\/a>
\nThe energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water). <\/div><\/div>\n
\n5.LS1.C<\/strong> (Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms)<\/a>
\nPlants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water.
\n<\/div><\/div>\n

(NGSS Lead States, 2013)<\/div><\/div>\n

Connections to Other Pathway Parts<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part One of the pathway lays the foundation for the other two parts, and, much like the relationships that tie together organisms within an ecosystem<\/a>, this part of the pathway is linked by cause and effect to the other two parts.\u00a0 The three pathway parts together represent the natural sequence of events that occurs when a pond is overloaded with nutrients.\u00a0 Therefore, all pathway parts should be included in instruction and done in order<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Teacher Content Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n