This article examines the spread of Beech Leaf Disease (BLD) in the United States and how this disease destroys the leaves of beech trees.
Students will learn that BLD is spreading quickly in specific parts of North America and this disease drastically reduces the photosynthetic rate of infected leaves.
Students can listen along with an embedded audio recording of the article.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This article highlights the importance of genetic diversity in populations to help species survive diseases, parasites, or environmental changes.
This article contains eye-catching pictures that illustrate BLD's impact on beech leaves.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should understand leaf structure and function.
Some students may benefit from having the terms nematode, photosynthetic, foliar, and others defined before reading the article.
Differentiation
This article can supplement a classroom activity where students analyze plant diseases throughout the United States.
Advanced students can use this article to connect to lessons about biodiversity, genetic diversity within species, or selection pressures on populations.
This article can support a lesson on various threats to present-day forest ecosystems, and how humans can conserve these valuable ecological spaces.
Scientist Notes
This article gives a brief overview of a leaf disease affecting beech trees, along with some of the current research examining the disease. Climate change, conservation, and related topics are not specifically mentioned but are related to the article. The article does provide a good example of focused scientific research. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
CCC.Stability and Change: For both designed and natural systems, conditions that affect stability and factors that control rates of change are critical elements to consider and understand.
HS-CCC-Stability and Change.1. Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable.
CCC.Structure and Function: The way an object is shaped or structured determines many of its properties and functions.
HS-CCC-Structure and Function.2. The functions and properties of natural and designed objects and systems can be inferred from their overall structure, the way their components are shaped and used, and the molecular substructures of its various materials.
LS1.A: Structure and Function
HS-LS1-A.1. Systems of specialized cells within organisms help them perform the essential functions of life. (HS-LS1-1)
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
HS-LS1-C.1. The process of photosynthesis converts light energy to stored chemical energy by converting carbon dioxide plus water into sugars plus released oxygen. (HS-LS1-5)
LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
HS-LS1-5 Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
