Human Impact on Planet Earth: Protectors or Destroyers?

           In furthering our knowledge about finding texts that best suits our students, subject matter is one of the most crucial things to consider when determining which text is best for our students to use. When Pearl and I were talking about which topic to work on we concluded that we should pick a topic where wanted to focus on ecosystems and food webs. This topic is one that is first introduced to in middle school and is further elaborated on in high school. For instance, in middle school, we are first introduced to the food web as the primary producer serves as the food source for the primary consumer. The primary consumer then feeds the secondary consumer and it keeps going in this cycle until the top predator has been accounted for. When our students are in the high school biology class, they are then introduced to the different environmental factors that give rise to the different food webs we see in the world. The hope of presenting this article to my future students is the goal that they will not turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the information they have read but to internalize what they know now and use it to help make a better world.

            In my initial findings, I enjoyed reading the overall message presented within the article. The article written by presenting a problem and a need for this problem to be resolved before catastrophic events take place (Buehl, 2014). For this piece, the problem is that global warming has disrupted the Arctic food web and if it continues, it can leave many organisms of aquatic life helpless for habitats and access to resources. The article first opens talking about the buoy named Peggy that is placed along the Bering sea to measure the water for temperature, salinity, and other components (Gramling, 2019). Within increasing concern for the severe increases in temperature, the article goes into the next section talking about how the feeding schedules are shifted due to global warming. For instance, the article discusses the idea that the increased temperatures have melted the sea ice and has caused for the nutrients to remain at the surface of the water instead of trickling down to each layer of water (from top to bottom). This in turn leads to the algae also remaining on the top surface of the water and is less of a viable and reachable food source for various aquatic life. These conditions result in an increase in competition and a decrease in the survival rates of many organisms that may live closer to the ocean floor and do not possess the necessary traits to be able to swim up to the top and obtain food. For instance, the phytoplankton can float on the water and thus can obtain a food source in algae. However, the organisms that live on the bottom layer are negatively impacted by this change in dynamic. This heavily impacts the bottom feeders that live along the ocean floor due to their dependence on dead algae dropping down to the ocean floor as a source of food. One thing that Carolyn brought up in the article that really resonated with me was when she said, “Not every Bering sea dweller can quickly adjust to the those delays in the food web” (Gramling, 2019). I felt as though this further drives home the idea of how the world may look if a place living organisms call home become compromised by the things we do to contribute to global warming.

            After discussing the article with Pearl, we both concluded that this article is suitable for both middle and high school biology students. Since the group of students, I aim to work with are high schoolers, the article we selected bets fits with the high school life science two which reads as, “ Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.” (Guilford, 2017).  One of the things I liked about this article is the great integration of text and images to get the main idea across. I feel that the incorporation of images allows for students to be able to visualize the scenario the author is talking about and can from connections with the text while increasing their comprehension. Another thing I felt that made this article beneficial to our student was the inclusion of the vocabulary sheet located at the very end of the article. I think this will serve my students well in terms of filling in the gap between concepts and words they are familiar with and ones in which they are encountering for the first time. If I was to give my students this article to read, I would provide them with the vocabulary sheet prior to giving them the article so that they can follow along with ease and be able to relate to the text better.

            The task at hand this week was to read the text initially using the preparatory analysis of text (PAT) to determine the text structure, purpose, and complexity. I found that this article was written to inform and educate the public about the damages that we are happening in our world and how that impacts us. In the second part of this assignment, Pearl provided a ‘It says. I say. and So’ chart for me to fill out where I was able to ask questions from the student’s perspective. The three questions I wrote were how does the arctic food web impact us? How is the Arctic Ocean impacted by global warming and pollutants? And How do the nutrients in the sea change the further down you are from sea level? Regarding my first question, I cited the text where the author talked about the there is are algal blooms that are closely related to the algae found along the coasts of Florida. In addition, the authors mentioned that fish die of algal poisonings and this can cause brain damage in human beings. This reminded me of when my mom always used to tell me to not eat too much tuna fish due to the increased risk of mercury poisoning. When I combined this information together, I brought up the point that some individuals either identify as pescatarians or consume fish. It is important to be aware of the environmental factors that can give rise to the condition of the food we consume to supply our nutrients and support our metabolisms.

            In the second question I formed about the impact global warming has on the Arctic Ocean, I found evidence in the text talking about the Arctic Ocean being, “The most land-dominated ocean in the world and is a dumping ground for everything” (Gramling, 2019, p. 6). This made me think about the water cycle of how land has run offs that will take what is on the ground and wash it into the ocean. After combining the textual evidence with my knowledge on the topic I formed that answer that All of the pollutants we put into the air and the grounds we walk on is only further destroying the ecosystems that make up our environment. When we are burning all that carbon dioxide, we are emitted harmful greenhouse gases that will take in sunlight resulting in planet Earth to experience global warming. Between this and the waste we produce in both trash and litter, we are destroying the habitats and the food sources of various artic marine life. This disturbance impacts if any the type of nutrients that will be available to feed different aquatic organisms such as plankton, and copepods.

            For the last question about how nutrients in the sea changes and you are further away from sea level, I used a piece of the text  where the author talks about how global warming has resulted in the ice to melt causing the nutrients to remain on the top layer of water. In reflecting back on my past biology courses, I thought about how primary consumers depend on algae as a source of food. If these organisms do not obtain the resources they need to survive, then the species could be at risk for extinction. In my final answer I wrote that it is crucial that the sea ice is in the condition that it needs to be in order to provide a viable food source for our primary producers. If this does not happen, the primary producers will not have the nutrients they need to survive. A decline in primary producers will heavily impacts the survival of primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers. Primary producers act as the core of the food web; without them the food web would fall apart and become nonexistent.

References

Buehl, D. (2014). Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning (4^th ed.). Newark, DE:

          International Reading Association.

Gramling, C. (2019, March 14). Disappearing sea ice could disrupt Arctic’s food web. Science

          News for Students. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/disappearing-sea-ice-could-disrupt-arctics-food-web

Guilford, J., Bustamante, A., Mackura, K., Hirsch, S., Lyon, E., & Estrada, K. (2017). Text

           Savvy. The Science Teacher, 84 (1), 49-56.