Year-End Integration & Assessment - Study Guide

DRAW KEY TERMS Google each → Images tab → sketch what you see

Conservation

Protection and sustainable management of natural resources

Sustainability

Meeting current needs without compromising future generations

Endangered species

Species at risk of extinction

Habitat loss

Destruction of ecosystem, leading cause of extinction

OTHER VOCAB: habitat restoration · deforestation · traditional ecological knowledge · controlled burn · urban heat island · green infrastructure · carbon footprint

WRITE FOCUS QUESTION Your initial thinking

How do the key concepts from Ecosystems, Biodiversity & Year-End Integration connect to explain the patterns we've observed this cycle?

I think...every example this cycle — Yellowstone wolves, China sparrows, coral bleaching — shows the SAME pattern: ecosystems are interconnected webs where one change cascades through many levels. Cross-Cutting Concepts (cause/effect, systems, energy flow, stability/change) are the 'glue' that helps me see the same pattern everywhere.

WRITE AFTER HOOK FORM Reflect before continuing

I learned that... the 7th-grade big picture: matter cycles, energy flows (10% rule), populations interact, and biodiversity provides resilience. Climate change tests all of these at once because it changes conditions globally. Conservation works only when we combine local protection AND global emissions reduction.

Station 1 — Year-End Integration & Assessment

Main idea I observed:

Evidence from my data:

I can apply this by:

CHECK DAY 1 CHECK-IN Before you leave

Q1: Based on today's investigation of year-end integration & assessment, explain one key finding using evidence from your data. Connect your answer to this week's focus question: Year-End Integration: Student-selected ecosystem investigation + CCC synthesis

This cycle's concepts connect through the Cross-Cutting Concepts. Yellowstone wolves (trophic cascade), China sparrows (biodiversity loss), and coral bleaching (climate change) are all examples of CAUSE → CASCADE → SERVICE LOSS in ecosystems. The 10% energy rule and the resilience-from-biodiversity rule explain WHY these cascades happen — energy is limited and species redundancy is what keeps systems from collapsing. Climate change tests the limits of every ecosystem because it changes conditions globally, all at once.

Confidence:

Still building Getting clearer Ready to explain

WRITE ASSESSMENT NOTES

Station 2 — Year-End Integration & Assessment

Main idea I observed:

Evidence from my data:

I can apply this by:

WRITE ASSESSMENT NOTES

The main idea is... the seven Cross-Cutting Concepts — patterns; cause and effect; scale; systems; energy/matter; structure/function; stability/change — are the SAME thinking tools across every science topic. The CCCs let me transfer what I learned about wolves to a question about insects, oceans, or even my own neighborhood.

This connects to what we learned because...

I can apply this by... in 8th grade and beyond, every new science topic will fit one or more of the CCCs. When I get stuck, I can ask: which CCC is this really about? Pattern? Cause/effect? Systems? That's how scientists think.

DRAW CONCEPT MODEL Show your understanding visually

Draw a model that shows the main concept. Include labels and arrows to explain relationships.

Central hexagon labeled 'My Investigation Topic' with arrows out to 7 surrounding hexagons labeled with the 7 CCCs: Patterns, Cause/Effect, Scale, Systems, Energy/Matter, Structure/Function, Stability/Change. Inside each surrounding hexagon, write ONE specific example from this year's curriculum (e.g., 'Stability/Change' → 'Yellowstone wolves & rivers'; 'Energy/Matter' → '10% rule'; 'Cause/Effect' → 'CO2 ↑ → ocean ↑ temp → coral bleaching'). Bottom note: 'CCCs are the bridges between disciplines.'

Labels included

Relationships shown

Key terms used

THINK SCIENTIST CIRCLE DEBRIEF Reflect after your Scientist Circle discussion

AHA! Moment

The one I changed my thinking most about is... the same thinking tools (CCCs) work across every science topic. Once I see 'cause → cascade → service loss' in Yellowstone, I see it in coral reefs, in city heat islands, in my own neighborhood.

Remaining Question

I still wonder... Looking forward to 8th grade — how do the same CCCs apply when I'm studying things I can't see (atoms, energy, heat transfer)? Do the patterns still hold at the invisible scale?

WRITE FOCUS QUESTION REVISIT Final written response

Year-End Integration: Student-selected ecosystem investigation + CCC synthesis

Word Bank: conservation · sustainability · endangered species · habitat loss · habitat restoration · deforestation · traditional ecological knowledge · controlled burn · urban heat island · green infrastructure · carbon footprint

CLAIM: The concepts from this cycle — trophic cascades, biodiversity, and climate change — all connect through the Cross-Cutting Concepts of systems, cause-and-effect, energy flow, and stability/change.

EVIDENCE: Yellowstone wolves (1995 reintroduction → willows recovered → beavers returned → rivers stabilized). China sparrows 1958 → locust outbreak → famine. Coral reefs lost 50% cover with 1.1 °C ocean warming since 1880. Each case is one species or stressor changing the whole web.

REASONING: Ecosystems are SYSTEMS where every species has a niche and energy flows at ~10% efficiency between levels. Biodiversity provides resilience; remove pieces (locally or globally) and the system collapses. The CCCs (especially systems and cause/effect) let us see the same pattern across very different examples — that's why they're the thinking tools science transfers from grade to grade.