Ecology evo-edu.org

Climate-linked range-change investigations for habitat shift, mismatch, and environmental response.

Curriculum Alignment

Climate Range Shifter curriculum alignment

This page maps the app to NGSS-relevant concepts and practices while keeping it connected to the broader evo-edu curriculum frame.

Open study guide Curriculum hub

Alignment Notes

  • NGSS HS-LS4-5: Evaluate evidence supporting claims that environmental change influences species populations.
  • NGSS HS-ESS3-5: Analyze geoscience data and climate-related evidence to forecast impacts and responses.
  • Science and Engineering Practices: interpreting data, using models, constructing explanations from evidence.

Classroom and Independent Use

K-12 or workshop use

Use the app to make environmental change and biological response visibly different, then require learners to justify where the mismatch appears and why.

Self-directed use

Use the guide as a self-study investigation: predict how quickly the range should track climate, run the model, then revise your explanation when climate movement outpaces biological response.

Use in Sequence

Before the app

Introduce the climate trend and ask what successful tracking versus mismatch should look like.

During the app

Change one biological or environmental factor at a time and connect the observed movement to adaptation or dispersal limits.

After the app

Use the results to discuss environmental change, species persistence, and uneven vulnerability across habitats.

Evidence of Alignment in Practice

What learners should produce

  • A prediction about how changing climate or biological response should affect range tracking.
  • A comparison of at least two runs using observed mismatch or occupancy change.
  • A revised explanation when the model outcome challenges the first expectation.

What to listen for

  • Clear distinction between environmental change and biological response.
  • Claims tied to observed mismatch, movement, or decline in the model.
  • Willingness to consider several ecological explanations before concluding.

Scientific Virtues in Use

Use this app to reinforce careful observation, source-aware explanation, and willingness to revise ecological claims when new runs or alternative parameters challenge the first interpretation. Broader guidance appears in the Scientific Virtues notes.