SciREN Lesson Plan Portal

• Name: Matthew Tatz
• Position and Institution: MSci Candidate, Warnell School of Forestry, University of Georgia
• Contact: matthew.tatz[at]uga.edu
• Year contributed: 2021

• Grade Level: 9-12
• Georgia Standards of Excellence: SEV2, SEV4

This lesson is intended for upper-level high school students that want to gain experience working with data sets to form and test hypotheses using Microsoft Excel via graph creation. The lesson introduces important environmental science and ecology terms including biodiversity, species richness, species abundance, threatened, endangered, endemic, specialist, invasive, and indicator species, populations and individuals, urbanization/urbanization gradient, endocrine disruption, air pollution/emissions, contaminants, and immunosuppression. Students will learn about the degradation of the Everglades and an important indicator species – the American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) – which has begun utilizing urban habitats for foraging and breeding. Anthropogenic influence is emphasized.

• data analysis
• graphing in Excel
• hypothesis testing

Lesson Plan