This simple model allows students to analyze how two factors, snow depth and insect activity, could affect the population of caribou in the Arctic. This activity will show students one example of how climate change impacts different species. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
MS-LS2-2 Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
MS-LS4-6 Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.
Common Core Math Standards (CCSS.MATH)
Ratios & Proportional Relationships (6-7)
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.2 Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.
Statistics & Probability (6-8)
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.B.5 Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context.
