Red Maple takeover
About this resource
- Appropriate grades
- 3 and 5
- Subjects
- science (environmental science), thinking skills (information literacy)
- Provider
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
Legal
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In this Science Update, students explore the idea that Red Maple trees are taking over the forests of the eastern United States. Marc Abrams, a professor of forest physiology at Penn State, suggests that the Red Maple is more prevalent today because it is very adaptable. Science NetLinks provides a link to the audio file, a written transcript, and questions to engage students in discussion about the effect the Red Maple is having on the forest ecosystem, possible risks of the dominance of this tree, and solutions to the problems caused by the prevalence of the tree. This activity also contains links to other lessons about ecosystems provided by Science NetLinks.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Science (2005)
Grade 3
- Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations and build an understanding of plant growth and adaptations.
- Objective 1.02: Observe and describe how environmental conditions determine how well plants survive and grow in a particular environment.
- Objective 1.03: Investigate and describe how plants pass through distinct stages in their life cycle including.
- Growth.
- Survival.
- Reproduction.
Grade 5
- Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations to build an understanding of the interdependence of plants and animals.
- Objective 1.03: Explain why an ecosystem can support a variety of organisms.
- Objective 1.05: Determine the interaction of organisms within an ecosystem.
