Ecosystem Services Lesson Plan - Natural Inquirer

to understand about land coverand ecosystem services.3. Once studentshave chosen an area,it is best if theydeselect (or unclickthe boxes) CITIESAND TOWNS andCOUNTIES. They canthen redraw the map, andcity, town, and county names will disappear. Nowclick “Basic maps” to close this option. Click theBIOLOGY feature. Below invasive species, find andclick the box beside LAND COVER RESOLUTION200 and redraw the map. The map should nowshow different colors that represent different landcover types in the area they have chosen to study.Click on BIOLOGY to close this option.4. Have students click on WATER. Then click in the boxbeside STREAMS AND WATERBODIES. Close thewater option. Students should again redraw theirmaps. Their screen will show a map of their areawith all land cover categories color-coded, withstreams and other water bodies visible.in closer by clicking on the location on the map.Students can zoom out by clicking the area on thetop of the map that says “zoom out.”8. Have students identify the different land coversand waters in their map area by using the map keyand the ecosystem services key provided on page59. Students should explore by discussing what kindof land cover (and water) is found on their map.Using the Ecosystem Services Key below, studentsshould begin to list the possible ecosystem servicesprovided by the area on their map. Students mayhave additional ideas about the ecosystem servicesprovided by the area. Each person in the groupshould write a paragraph about the ecosystemservices provided by the land cover on their map.Each student should select at least three ecosystemservices about which to write. You may use therubric located at the end of the lesson plan toassess each student’s progress with the activity.As an option, once students have “drawn” theirmaps on the screen, they may print themby clicking “Print map” at the top. Theyshould enter a map title and followinstructions to print.5. Explain to students that land cover is the physicalmaterial at the surface of Earth. Land coversinclude grass, asphalt, trees, bare ground, water,etc. Each type of land cover has associatedecosystem services. Tell students that they will nextthink about what kind of ecosystem services areprovided by the land cover and water within theirmap area.6. Students need to be able to view the land coverkey. To view the land cover key, click “map key” atthe bottom of the map or in the top right tab. Theland cover types and colors should be visible onthe right.7. Now the students are ready to explore theecosystem services provided by the land covertypes on their maps. Students may want to zoom58Ecosystem Services Edition • http://www.naturalinquirer.org