How Disruptions Affect Animal Populations

Students explore the effects that ecosystem disruptions can have on animal populations. In this interactive lesson, scaffolded to support English Learners and struggling readers, students learn about the disruptions that have driven three species—the Madagascar fish eagle, the Iberian lynx, and the rowi kiwi—to the brink of extinction. They also discover the impacts that a shift in the population of one animal can have on others in an ecosystem. As a final assignment, students use evidence they’ve gathered from media, text, and other lesson elements and produce an essay or visual model.