Explore resource use, people and habitat together

What happens when resource demand grows faster than renewal?

Submit: Scenario tables, flow explanation and a qualified sustainability proposal.

Related lesson: Environmental Science and Policy

This is a teacher-led extension beyond the short lesson. The task supplies a performance opportunity; completion alone does not certify mastery, full NGSS coverage or state alignment.

Build the idea

A multi-parameter model can expose interactions among a human population, renewable resource stock and habitat. Sustainable use depends on flows, not just a large starting stock. A model can compare conditional scenarios, but simple equations omit political choices, unequal consumption, species differences and many real feedbacks.

Evidence and model inputs

Use the embedded resource simulator. Initial stock R=1,000 units and human population P=100. Each year renewal adds a chosen amount; demand is population × consumption; delivered use cannot exceed available stock. Population then changes by the selected growth rate. A habitat proxy equals 100 × remaining stock/1,000, capped at 100. It is an assumed proxy, not measured biodiversity. Baseline renewal=100 units/year, consumption=1 unit/person/year and population growth=2%.

Keep actual observations, published findings and invented model cases labeled separately. If a source or required equipment is unavailable, pause that part with a teacher; do not invent results.

Materials and preparation

Browser with embedded resource simulator; no sign-in or data upload.

Grade-level scope

Provided educational model; no claim of calibrated demographic or biodiversity prediction.

Do the work

1. Run the 20-year baseline and record stock, demand, delivered use and shortfall.
2. Create a conservation scenario with lower consumption and another with higher renewal; change one parameter at a time.
3. Compare a combined plan and explain tradeoffs for human needs and the habitat proxy.
4. Test a less favorable renewal assumption and identify when unmet demand first appears.
5. Explain what empirical resource, human-well-being and multiple-species evidence would be needed before adopting a plan.

Run and compare scenarios

Hypothetical educational model. Read the equation, event order and assumptions above. Export each scenario before changing inputs; nothing is sent to a server.

Learner worksheet

Write on paper or type here and print. Entries stay in this page’s memory and are lost when you leave or reload; they are not saved or submitted.

Check your reasoning

1. Can a large stock still decline?
2. What is shortfall?
3. Is the habitat proxy a species count?
4. Does the model automatically reduce population during shortages?

Teacher review guide

Review the actual deliverable and discuss the reasoning. For each criterion, use 0 when evidence is absent or fundamentally incorrect, 1 when partly supported with a material error or omission, and 2 when accurate, supported and complete for the stated task. Maximum 8 points is a task score, not a proficiency certification. Give feedback and allow revision.

1. Uses a provided multi-parameter computation accurately.
2. Compares baseline, separate and combined changes.
3. Connects resource flows with human demand and a habitat proxy.
4. Tests sensitivity and identifies empirical validation needs.

Sources and standard reference

• Official NGSS HS-ESS3-3 performance expectation — inspect the practice, core idea, crosscutting concept and assessment boundary.

Instructional text and hypothetical cases are original. Linked source readings supply published evidence where specified. Teachers should judge fit with their course and state requirements.