Chesapeake Bay Food Web

Part of the Ecology Disrupted Curriculum Collection.

Disrupted Food Webs: Exploring the relationship between overfishing and dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay

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Students analyze historic and present-day food webs and graph historic and present-day Chesapeake Bay data to learn how food web complexity is easily overlooked, and why that complexity is important to healthy ecosystems.

Essential Question: In what ways have people caused the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem to become more vulnerable to algal blooms and dead zones?
Key Topics: Food Webs, Nitrogen Cycle, Dead Zones, Overfishing, Estuaries, Graphing
Level: 7th - 12th grade
Pacing: Four class periods
Learning Goals and Standards
Lesson PlansIntroduction: Dead Zones in the Chesapeake BayChesapeake Bay Food Web Before Large Scale HarvestingChesapeake Bay Food Web Today With Large Scale HarvestingGraphing Analysis of Algae and Oysters: Comparing Historic to Modern Day LevelsSummary of Activity WorksheetVideos and Seafood Consumption Choices
Assessments