1. Matter Cycles

2. Doodle Box A: What is interdependence? Think about our 4 ecosystems
They ARE interdependent

3. BOX B
What would happen if we take one of the organisms out of the ecosphere? Will the others survive?
If we remove the algae? Why or why not?
If we remove the bacteria? Why or why not?
If we remove the shrimp? Why or why not?
TEACHER NOTES:
The students with work individually and/or in groups to use their model to make predictions about what might happen to the ecosphere if an organism were removed. On the next slides, students will apply this understanding to Isle Royale and consider the impact removal of an organism might have on the moose. Ultimately we want students to see that the ecosphere could survive without the shrimp! [MC Doodle Sheet J]
Questions you might want to follow-up with include:
Considering the needs of the algae and the bacteria, why would they not need the shrimp?
Why have the shrimp in there to begin with?

4. How might we apply these same ideas to Isle Royale?
BOX C
How might we apply these same ideas to Isle Royale?
Let’s take a look at what’s happening now:
As of Summer 2017, two wolves remained: a male (9 years) and a female (7 years)
Both surpassed the average age of 4 years
As of December 5, 2017: only the female remained
Unless a wolf immigrates to the island (which isn’t likely), the wolf population will become locally extinct.
In other words, an organism has been removed from the ecosystem.
What will happen to the moose and how does this relate to matter cycles?
TEACHER NOTES: Make sure the students understand that they’ve been examining an idealized, very simple ecosystem, and now they are going to take that understanding and apply it to something real and more complex. On this slide, students will apply their understanding of disruptions in cycles of matter to make sense of what’s happening on Isle Royale. They will first take a look at an update on the wolves, recognizing that an organism is being “removed” from the ecosystem. Given what they know about the ecosphere, what will happen to the moose?
We intend that students will recognize that the moose population will increase and that more matter will be needed. In the next slides, they’ll look at data from a paper that examined this same issue.

5. The future of Isle Royale?
On the next three slides you will see predictions about the amount of available vegetation (forage) for moose on Isle royal under three scenarios.
The first scenario is with no predation (no moose are killed by wolves).
The second scenario is with weak predation (few wolves killing moose).
The last one is with a healthy wolf population.
TEACHER NOTES: Make sure the students understand that they’ve been examining an idealized, very simple ecosystem, and now they are going to take that understanding and apply it to something real and more complex. On this slide, students will apply their understanding of disruptions in cycles of matter to make sense of what’s happening on Isle Royale. They will first take a look at an update on the wolves, recognizing that an organism is being “removed” from the ecosystem. Given what they know about the ecosphere, what will happen to the moose?
We intend that students will recognize that the moose population will increase and that more matter will be needed. In the next slides, they’ll look at data from a paper that examined this same issue.

6. No predation scenario (no wolves eating moose)
The more green on the map, the more vegetation (available forage). The more brown or tan means less vegetation. Yellow is in between.
TEACHER NOTES: Tell students they’ll be looking at data from a paper published in 2017 by scientists interested in the same ideas they’ve been exploring. In this study, scientists wanted to use models related to interdependence of organisms and matter cycles to better understand what might happen to the moose and their food supply under three difference scenarios. In the first figure here, the scientists use 2006 as a baseline and predict what will happen to the moose’s food supply (forage biomass), if no wolves are present on the island. [Eventually students will enter their thinking on to MC Doodle Sheet Box K]
The pattern we want students to see is that given no wolves, as the no moose population increases, the amount of food available to the moose decreases rapidly.
For the next few slides, there is space on the doodle sheet for students to describe the patterns they see and how it relates to matter cycles/available food.
This figure taken from:
De Jager, N. R., Rohweder, J.J., Miranda, B.R., Sturtevant, B.R., Fox, T.J., & Romanski, M.C. (2017). Modelling moose-forest interactions
under different predation scenarios at Isle Royale National Park, USA. Ecological Applications. 0(0): 1-21.

7. Weak predation scenario (few wolves eating moose)
The more green on the map, the more vegetation (available forage). The more brown or tan means less vegetation. Yellow is in between.
TEACHER NOTES: In this figure, the scientists use 2006 as a baseline and predict what will happen to the moose’s food supply (forage biomass), if some wolves are present on the island. [Eventually students will enter their thinking on to MC Doodle Sheet Box K]
The pattern we want students to see is that given some wolves, the amount of food available to the moose still decreases, but not as quickly as it would if no wolves were present.
This figure taken from:
De Jager, N. R., Rohweder, J.J., Miranda, B.R., Sturtevant, B.R., Fox, T.J., & Romanski, M.C. (2017). Modelling moose-forest interactions
under different predation scenarios at Isle Royale National Park, USA. Ecological Applications. 0(0): 1-21.

8. High predation scenario (healthy wolf population eating moose)
The more green on the map, the more vegetation (available forage). The more brown or tan means less vegetation. Yellow is in between.
TEACHER NOTES: In this figure, the scientists use 2006 as a baseline and predict what will happen to the moose’s food supply (forage biomass), if a lot of wolves are present on the island. [Eventually students will enter their thinking on to MC Doodle Sheet Box K]
The pattern we want students to see is that given more wolves, the amount of food available remains relatively stable. In other words, the population of moose will not increase as rapidly, ensuring more food available to those on the island.
This figure taken from:
DeJager, N. R., Rohweder, J.J., Miranda, B.R., Sturtevant, B.R., Fox, T.J., & Romanski, M.C. (2017). Modelling moose-forest interactions
under different predation scenarios at Isle Royale National Park, USA. Ecological Applications. 0(0): 1-21.

9. Bringing it all together (BOX D)
Based on our understanding of matter cycles, interdependence of organisms, and the data we just examined, what might eventually happen to the moose if the wolf population does not recover?
This is related to the idea of carrying capacity.
If enough matter exists in an ecosystem, a population could survive indefinitely. According to the data you just examined, which scenario keeps the moose on Isle Royale within the carrying capacity of the island?
TEACHER NOTES:
Have students refer back to their notes and the pattern uncovered in the previous slides and answer the question presented here: they may do so both individually and in groups, before presenting their explanations to the class. Students should recognize that without wolves, the moose population will continue to increase, which will decimate their food supply on the island. Ultimately, this relates to the idea of carrying capacity—if there is enough matter within a given ecosystem, a population could survive indefinitely. But, in the case of the moose, they will significantly reduce their food supply, most likely causing the population to crash (death rate will increase and the population size will go down). [MC Doodle Sheet Box K]
*For some more context, the current population of moose is expected to double within the next 3-4 years, going from nearly 1600 moose to 3200.

10. Doodle Box E: How is the Ecosphere similar to Earth as a system?
In what ways are Earth’s ecosystems different?

11. Going deeper on matter cycling on Earth (BOX F)
What has happened to the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the last 200 years? Why is this happening?
TEACHER NOTES:
Please take some time here to explore and connect the ideas of climate change and matter cycling in whatever ways makes the most sense for you and your students. See also the related reading on
Use your idea of matter cycling to come up with at least 2 major reasons that carbon dioxide in increasing on Earth.