Newsletter+2-Food+Chains+and+Invasive+Species

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media type="custom" key="28946304" Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” ―Malcolm X

Dear Parents and Students of Grade 5

We have almost completed work on Ecosystems with a focus on Food Chains & Invasive Species. To date:
 * We have completed activities reinforcing Food Chains & Invasive Species:
 * Using Simulation software (Ecosphere Model) to see the relationship between the Producers (Plants) and Consumers (Animals) for the flow of Energy in an ecosystem.
 * Document the different flows of energy in Desert, City, and Swamp Biomes between the Producers and Consumers.
 * Identify producer, consumers, herbivores, carnivores, and top predator in each Biome.
 * Develop a working definition of Invasive Species
 * Document the effects on native ecosystems of the United States on the introduction of invasive species such as the Asian Silver Carp, Kudzu Vine, and the African Land Snail.
 * Students are currently studying the effects of fictional invasive producers, invasive herbivores, and invasive carnivores on native producers, native herbivores, and native carnivores in a simulated environment.


 * We are now starting to review time in regards to planetary motion in the Solar System

I am pursuing the use of Thinkwave to share student scores with parents online. Students will receive direction to give to parents to create an account to view skills, content, and quiz scores in Science.

Feel free to contact me a pthomas2@bostonpublicschools.org if you have any questions. Please identify your child using first and last name as well as classroom so I can reference parent primary language in my records if I need to do translations to assist you.

I hope to hear from you.

Patrick M Thomas.