MS - ESS3.C (B) - Consumption of Natural Resources - FINAL (CLF 3/3/3014)

Module: Consumption of Natural Resources

DCI: ESS3.C (B) Typically as human populations and per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise.

Connections to Nature of Science: Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World: Science knowledge can describe consequences of actions but does not make the decisions that society takes.

PE: MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

PE: MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.

[Clarification Statement: Examples of the design process include examining human environmental impacts, assessing the kinds of solutions that are feasible, and designing and evaluating solutions that could reduce that impact. Examples of human impacts can include water usage (such as the withdrawal of water from streams and aquifers or the construction of dams and levees), land usage (such as urban development, agriculture, or the removal of wetlands), and pollution (such as of the air, water, or land).]

[Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence include grade-appropriate databases on human populations and the rates of consumption of food and natural resources (such as freshwater, mineral, and energy). Examples of impacts can include changes to the appearance, composition, and structure of Earth’s systems as well as the rates at which they change. The consequences of increases in human populations and consumption of natural resources are described by science, but science does not make the decisions for the actions society takes.]

The ideas in this standard are: 

- as human populations increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth

- as per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth 

- the negative impacts on Earth will continue to increase unless we engineer activities and technologies to do otherwise

For the first PE, we can have students evaluate  a method, or even choose how to determine if a particular method is efficient.  We might be able to have them pick between four situations and ask which one had the most effective method in place for minimizing human impact. 

For the second PE, we will have to point to evidence that correlates human population to use of natural resources.  Students will have to use that evidence to make some sort of a conclusion about the cause/effect relationship. 

Possible Question Starters: 

"The idea that human populations can have negative impacts on the environment could best be supported by which of the following two types of data?"

correct answer - human population sizes and changes to earth's systems over time

incorrect answer - average human lifespan and annual yearly precipitation