Unit 08 · Human Impact on Living Systems
The year closes with the biggest living system of all: the one we share. This unit looks at how people change ecosystems — through pollution, habitat loss, invasive species, and a changing climate — and at what conservation and stewardship can do. You’ll use evidence to weigh the trade-offs of real choices. Mastery means you can back up a claim about human impact with evidence and suggest a fair way forward.
| Criterion | Not yet | Approaching | Mastered |
|---|---|---|---|
| How humans change ecosystems | Thinks people have little effect on nature. | Names one way people affect ecosystems but not others. | Explains several ways people change ecosystems — pollution, habitat loss, invasive species, and climate. |
| Invasive species & habitat loss | Doesn’t know a new species or lost habitat can harm an ecosystem. | Gives an example but can’t explain the ripple effects. | Explains how an invasive species or lost habitat disrupts the living things around it. |
| Conservation & stewardship | Sees no way people can help ecosystems. | Names a conservation idea but not how it works. | Describes conservation and stewardship actions and explains how each helps living systems. |
| Weighing evidence & trade-offs | Gives an opinion with no evidence behind it. | Uses some evidence but ignores the trade-offs. | Uses evidence to weigh the trade-offs of a choice and defends a fair recommendation. |
| Lab technique (local human-impact investigation) | Collects little or no real data about a local site. | Gathers data but draws conclusions that outrun the evidence. | Investigates a local site, records careful data, and ties conclusions to what the evidence shows. |
| Integration (cross-domain) | Treats the science as isolated facts; makes no cross-domain connection. | Names a link to history, reading, or writing but cannot defend why it matters. | Connects the unit to its anchor across History · Reading · Writing (plus chosen electives) and defends why the connection matters. |
“We tested the creek near school and found trash and cloudy water downstream from the parking lot. The evidence points to runoff, so I’d suggest a rain garden — but I noted the trade-off, since it costs money and space the school would have to give up.”
“People are bad for the planet. The creek looked kind of dirty. Someone should just fix it.”
You demonstrate this unit through a local human-impact investigation — gathering evidence about a real place and weighing the trade-offs of what to do — explaining your reasoning aloud, not on a multiple-choice test. A criterion counts as mastered only when your claim is backed by evidence and you can defend a fair way forward. Mastery is demonstrated, not awarded.
A 5-page clipboard packet — unit overview, key terms, the mastery rubric, anchor examples, and a score sheet you can print and grade against.