Science Assessment ~ Items ~ AP018007

Park rangers in the Shenandoah National Park have found a new kind of beetle in the park called the Emerald Ash Borer.

Photograph of an Emerald Ash Borer (from USDA)

The beetles make holes in the bark of the trees in the park. This can kill the trees. The park rangers wonder if the beetles will also affect the rabbits and bobcats in the park.

Photographs of a rabbit and bobcat (from HarveyHenkelmann on Wikimedia Commons and C Watts on Flickr)

The park rangers observe what the rabbits and bobcats typically eat. They find that

Rabbits eat sticks and bark off the ash trees.
Bobcats eat rabbits.

1. Using the park rangers' findings and what you know about plants and animals, create a flow chart that shows where the trees, rabbits, and bobcats get the matter and energy they need to live. Arrows should point from the source of the matter or energy to the organism getting the matter or energy.

Your flow chart can include:

It should also include:

Black Arrows to represent how matter flows in the ecosystem.
Red Arrows to represent how energy flows in the ecosystem.

[Q1-AP18Model]

[Save Button]

Using your flow chart, answer the following questions. (Assume that no new plants or animals enter the ecosystem and none of the animals in the ecosystem eats the beetles.)

2. What will happen to the rabbits' sources of matter and energy if the ash trees continue to die because of the beetles? Explain why. (Remember that we are assuming that no new plants or animals enter the ecosystem.)

3. What will happen to the bobcats' sources of matter and energy if the ash trees continue to die because of the beetles? Explain why. (Remember that we are assuming that no new plants or animals enter the ecosystem.)

4. The park rangers think the beetles will make it more difficult for the bobcats to survive in the ecosystem. Do you agree or disagree with the park rangers?

A. Yes, I agree that the beetles will make it more difficult for the bobcats to survive.

B. No, I disagree. I do not think the beetles will make it more difficult for the bobcats to survive.

5. Why do you agree or disagree with the park rangers? Be sure to write about where the bobcats get matter and energy.

6. The park rangers plant young ash trees to replace the trees that died. They want to make sure that these young trees have the energy and matter they needed to grow. What should the park rangers do to make sure the young trees have the energy and matter necessary to grow? Choose all the apply.

A. They should water the young trees because water is a source of matter for the trees.

B. They should make sure the young trees have plenty of air because air is a source of matter for the trees.

C. They should make sure the young trees have plenty of soil because the nutrients in the soil are a source of energy for the trees.

D. They should make sure the young trees have plenty of sunlight because sunlight is a source of energy for the trees.

Details
Performance
NGSS

Topic: 3D Energy Tasks
Scoring Rubric: Q1; Note: If elements are clustered next to an arrow, it can be assumed that the arrow is coming from all of the elements.

1. Student model includes the flow of matter (black arrows)

Black arrows from water to trees

Note: Also acceptable is a black arrow from water to soil plus a black arrow from soil to trees, indicating that the trees take in water from the soil.

Black arrows from air to trees

Black arrows from trees to rabbits

Black arrows from rabbits to bobcats

2. Student model includes the flow of energy (red arrows)

Red arrows from sun to trees

Red arrows from trees to rabbit

Red arrows from rabbit to bobcat; Q2; 1. Student makes a claim about the matter and energy

The rabbits will have less matter if the trees die.

The rabbits will have less energy if the trees die.

Note: Also acceptable for both of these points is "The rabbits' sources will decrease" or "They will decrease," implying that both matter and energy sources decrease.

2. Student supports their prediction using the model and/or evidence

Trees are food, or sources of matter and/or energy, for rabbits.; Q3; 1. Student makes a claim about the matter and energy

The bobcats will have less matter if the trees die.

The bobcats will have less energy if the trees die.

Note: Also acceptable for both of these points is "The bobcats' sources will decrease" or "They will decrease," implying that both matter and energy sources decrease.

2. Student supports their prediction using the model and/or evidence

Trees are food, or sources of matter and/or energy, for rabbits.

Rabbits are food, or sources of matter and/or energy, for bobcats.

Note: Implying that trees are food for rabbits and rabbits are food/sources of matter and energy for bobcats is acceptable.

3. Student either states or uses a general science idea

Organisms can only survive in environments in which their particular needs are met (i.e., if the rabbits' food source is reduced, they will die, leave the ecosystem, or won't be able to survive). [links needs and survival]

Note: It is acceptable to write that the rabbits will leave the ecosytem and that's why there is less matter and energy sources for the bobcats.

4. Student supports their prediction with reasoning

The dying ash trees will reduce the matter and energy sources for the rabbits, which means some rabbits will die and there will be less matter and energy for bobcats.; Q4; Student selects answer choice A

A. Yes, I agree that the beetles will make it more difficult for the bobcats to survive.; Q5; 1. Student supports their prediction using the model and/or evidence

The model or written answer shows that the bobcats' food supply is affected by the beetle. Examples of this include listing what each animal in the ecosystem eats to demonstrate that bobcats are linked to trees or citing their flow chart model showing how bobcats are linked to trees in the food web

Bobcats eat rabbits, and rabbits eat trees.

The animals that the bobcats eat eat trees.

The model shows that bobcats can trace their food source back to trees.

Note: Implying these relationships is acceptable and students do not have to list all

2. Student either states or uses a general science idea

Newly introduced species (or, more generally, changes in the ecosystem) can damage the balance of an ecosystem (i.e., the beetles are not normally present in the ecosystem, so introducing them will affect all the animals in the park or the ecosystem has a fragile balance and the beetles will set off a chain reaction damaging the balance of the ecosystem). [links new species and ecosystem changes]

Organisms can only survive in environments in which their particular needs are met (i.e., if the rabbits' or bobcats' food/matter and energy sources are reduced, they may not survive). [links needs and survival]

Note: Students do not have to explicitly list the specific needs that are not being met (i.e., specific food sources).

3. Student supports their claim using reasoning

The food for bobcats can be traced back to trees, so when the beetles kill the trees bobcats will end up having less food and, therefore, will have difficulty surviving.

Note: Students may indicate that the bobcats' food can be traced back to the trees by listing the connections in the food chain/web that link the bobcats and trees, noting that they are connected through the food web/chain, or making a statement that indicates the bobcats' food source is linked to the trees that are damaged by the beetles.; Q6; Student selects answer choices A, B, and D and does not select answer choice C.

A. They should water the young trees because water is a source of matter for the trees.

B. They should make sure the young trees have plenty of air because air is a source of matter for the trees.

D. They should make sure the young trees have plenty of sunlight because sunlight is a source of energy for the trees.

Note: Student receives one point for each correct point and loses one point for selecting C.

Percent of Points Earned

Chart showing distrubtion of responses for Item AP018007

Points Earned

	Avg. Earned	Possible	Percent
Q1	0.19	2	10%
Q2	0.47	2	24%
Q3	0.84	4	21%
Q4	0.72	1	72%
Q5	0.73	3	24%
Q6	1.12	3	37%

Overall Task Difficulty

	Total Points Earned	Total Points Possible	Total Percent
	4.08	15	27%

n = 256

Note: The total percent is a weighted average based on the total number of points earned divided by the total number of points possible.

Science and Engineering Practices: SEP2 Develop and/or use models to describe and/or predict phenomena.
Crosscutting Concepts: CC5 Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: PS3.D The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
LS1.C Food provides animals with the materials they need for body repair and growth and the energy they need to maintain body warmth and for motion.
LS2.A The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plants parts and animals) and therefore operate as "decomposers." Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem.

Science Assessment

Item AP018007: Create a model and use it to predict how the matter and energy flow within the Shenandoah National Park ecosystem will change in response to the introduction of a new organism. (CR version)