Overfishing and Sustainability
90 Minutes | 3rd – 6th Grades
“Overfishing and Sustainability” introduces students to the basics of sustainability and the balance that is required when using Earth’s natural resources. Students will watch in a presentation that gives an overview on sustainability and the effects of overfishing on the environment and the fishing industry. The presentation also explores the technology large-scale fishermen have developed and the negative consequences that occur because of this technology.
Students will be able to simulate a typical fishing company that will have an increasingly large impact on the fish population as they “develop” more effective means of fishing. They will form groups and will compete against each other to maximize their profits from fishing. The effects of overfishing will become clear once the fishing company progresses deeper into the fishing business and gains less and less profit each round of fishing despite having all the resources to obtain such fish.
Lesson Plan:
Lesson Plan – Overfishing
Handouts:
Overfishing Handout
Presentation:
Overfishing Prezi
Standards:
- 5-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information about ways communities reduce human impact on the Earth’s resources and environment by changing an agricultural, industrial, or community practice or process.
- 7.MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of periods of abundant and scarce resources on the growth of organisms and the size of populations in an ecosystem.
- 7.MS-LS2-4. Analyze data to provide evidence that disruptions (natural or human-made) to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its populations.
