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You will need:

Agenda
Writing Instrument
Notebook
Computer

25 MIN

Harnessing Human Energy: Lesson 1.1

October 23, 2025

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Populations and Resources

Lesson 2.4: Deaths Changing in a Population

Lesson purpose: for students to understand that the size of a consumer population affects the number of energy storage molecules it consumes, and this in turn affects the number of deaths in the resource population�

Note: The suggested time for this lesson is 60 minutes.�

Please refer to this lesson’s Materials & Preparation section in the digital Teacher’s Guide or the print Teacher’s Guide for information about preparing to teach this lesson, including any applicable safety notes. Below are links to resources used in this lesson.

Populations and Resources Sim

Write and Share Copymaster

Populations and Resources Investigation Notebook, pages 46–52

Rubrics for Assessing Students’ Investigations of Changing the Number of Deaths in a Population

Populations and Resources Glossary

Populations and Resources Multi-Language Glossary

Note: These materials are made available exclusively for use by students and teachers for whom the corresponding materials have been purchased or licensed from Amplify. Any alterations you make should only be shared within your own school or district. Any other distribution or reproduction of these materials is forbidden without written permission from Amplify.

AMPSCI-CSNA

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Warm-Up

Activity 1

5 MIN

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

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Investigation Notebook pg 47

Activity 1

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

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Changing the Number of Deaths in a Population

Activity 2

35 MIN

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

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Investigation Notebook pg 47

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Activity 2 - Screen 1

Let’s discuss your responses to the Warm-Up.

Why did the fox population decrease when the vole population decreased?

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Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Activity 2 - Screen 1

In this example the number of voles decreased, so the foxes got less energy from energy storage molecules, so they reproduced less and had fewer births.

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Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Activity 2 - Screen 1

We investigated births in a population. Today, we’ll investigate a new question:

Investigation Question:�What can change the number of deaths in a population?

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Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Activity 2 - Screen 1

You and a partner will use the Sim to plan and conduct an investigation to figure out what can decrease the number of deaths in the weebug population.

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Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Activity 2 - Screen 1

First, you’ll use what you've learned so far to make predictions about what changes could lead to fewer deaths.

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Investigation Notebook pg 48

Activity 2 - Screen 1

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

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Activity 2 - Screen 2

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Next, you’ll plan the steps of your investigation.

If you predicted more than one change could decrease the number of deaths, make sure you plan to test each change.

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Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Activity 2 - Screen 2

You’ll also create a data table for recording your results.

You don’t have to use every column or row in the space for the table.

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Investigation Notebook pgs 48–49

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Activity 2 - Screen 2

You can look back at your responses in Part 1 to help you make your plan.

Plan the steps of your investigation, and create your data table.

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Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Activity 2 - Screen 2

Follow the steps you planned to conduct your investigation in the Sim.

Then, record your results and answer the questions.

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Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Activity 2 - Screen 2

Let’s discuss the results of your Sim investigation.

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Write and Share: Discussing Changes to Ecosystems

Activity 3

20 MIN

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

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Activity 3

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Today, you’ll work in groups to do a routine called Write and Share.

Each group member will receive a different piece of evidence to write about and discuss.

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Write and Share Routine

Activity 3

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Carefully read and annotate the information you're given.�
Answer your prompt using the vocabulary words.�
After everyone in your group has had a chance to write, take turns introducing your prompts and sharing your responses.�
While one student presents, the others should listen carefully.�
After each student presents, the other students in the group can ask questions or make comments.

consumer population

resource population

energy storage molecules

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Write and Share

Activity 3

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

I’ll give each member of your group a number.

Find the sheet that matches your number. This is the piece of evidence you will respond to.

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Investigation Notebook pg 50

Activity 3

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

👉Teacher action:

Have students respond to their prompts individually. Remind students that they can refer to the Populations and Resources glossary in Digital Resources or their Investigation Notebooks and key concepts on the classroom wall for help.
Prompt students to share their responses within their groups.
While students are sharing, circulate and listen to students’ ideas about what caused the size of the population they are focusing on to change.
Listen for students who are having difficulty using the vocabulary to answer the prompts and provide support as necessary. Highlight responses that effectively use vocabulary from the Word Bank to answer the prompt.

On-the-Fly Assessment 6: �Effect of a Change in a Consumer Population Size on a Resource Population�Look for: This activity provides an opportunity for students to engage in the practice of constructing explanations and demonstrate their understanding of how and why a change in a consumer population size leads to a change in the number of deaths in a resource population (part of Level 2 of the Progress Build). Listen for how students apply the ideas about population sizes and energy storage molecules that they have been learning to answer the prompts. As students discuss the prompt, Why did the roe deer population change size?, listen for students to identify that the lynx population—the consumer population of the roe deer population—needs energy storage molecules in order to survive. They get the energy storage molecules by eating roe deer (their resource population). Students should be able to say that consumer populations of different sizes need different amounts of energy storage molecules, and explain that this affects how many deaths occur in the resource populations that they eat. It is important that students build upon their understanding of Level 1 of the Progress Build, always comparing the number of births to the number of deaths in order to support their explanation for an increase or decrease of a population size.�Now what? If students are struggling to understand how a change to a consumer population affects the number of deaths in its resource population, ask them if a larger population would need more or less energy storage molecules than a smaller population [more]. Ask how they might get these energy storage molecules [eating more of the resource population]. Ask students how this would change the number of deaths in the consumer population [it would lead to more deaths]. Ask students how deaths in the resource population would change if the consumer population decreased [deaths would decrease]. You can also review these ideas in Lesson 2.7 as you debrief the Warm-Up. Stress that a smaller sea turtle population would need fewer energy storage molecules, so they would eat fewer jellies leading to a decrease in jelly deaths. You can also review these ideas with a group of students as they complete the Decreasing Deaths in the Moon Jelly Population Modeling Tool in Lesson 2.7.

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Activity 3

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Let’s hear from a few different groups.

What ideas did you share in your group?

What did you learn from another group member?

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Activity 3

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Keep in mind the examples you discussed in your groups.

Let’s discuss more generally the different causes that can lead to changes in population size.

💬Ask students (to help students review the key concepts as necessary):

What led to the number of deaths changing in a population?
Why does a change to a consumer population lead to more or fewer deaths in its resource population?
How did a change to the number of deaths affect the size of a population?

🙋Students may respond:

A change to a consumer population led to a change in the number of deaths in a resource population.
The larger the consumer population, the more energy storage molecules it needs, so a larger consumer population will kill and eat more of the resource population. Smaller consumer populations need fewer energy storage molecules so they will kill and eat fewer members of the resource population.
Populations decreased if more deaths led to fewer births than deaths; populations increased if fewer deaths led to more births than deaths.

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Activity 3

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

Although the species involved vary across ecosystems, the patterns of interactions between organisms are the same. These patterns could apply to the Glacier Sea or to other ecosystems.

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Key Concept

Activity 3

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

9.

The larger the consumer population, the more energy storage molecules it will need. Therefore, it will eat more, causing more deaths in the resource population.

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Homework

Activity 4

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

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Activity 4

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

For this activity, you will use the Sim to run another similar test.

This time, you’ll try to increase deaths in the weebug population.

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Investigation Notebook pgs 51–52

Activity 4

Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

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Populations and Resources: Lesson 2.4

End of Lesson

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