Ecosystem Services
of the Grand Canyon
What the park gives us — and what we are doing to it
Upcoming Assignments
Here's what's on deck. Check Canvas for full instructions and submission links.
Ecosystem Services of Grand Canyon National Park
Objective. Collaboratively analyze the ecosystem services of Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) and evaluate how human-driven changes impact its long-term sustainability. Final deliverable: a single digital mind map (via Zoom Whiteboard, Miro, Canva, the Module 2 Systems Builder, or a similar tool) containing three distinct, labeled sections, Tasks 1 to 3.
1.Ecosystem Services Mapping
Create a visual grid or table classifying the park’s benefits, and map each one to a specific sustainability relationship or outcome. For each of the four categories, give one specific example from GCNP.
Each row: a unique example, linked to a sustainability outcome. In the Systems Builder, click ✎ Task 1, which is also where your references go.
Past teams used freshwater springs supporting megafauna and soil stabilization preventing siltation in the Colorado River. Yours must be new and specific.
2.Diagram
Take the connections you made in Task 1 and build a diagram that shows how those ecosystem services work within Grand Canyon National Park.
Include: the possible sustainability outcomes, positive and negative, that result from the system you are creating.
Provisioning: Freshwater springs → supports desert megafauna.
In the Systems Builder, the canvas is Task 2.
3.Sustainability Impact Analysis
Write a concise, collaborative paragraph (4–6 sentences) directly on your mind map addressing four elements. In the Systems Builder, click ✎ Task 3.
The Challenge: Identify one major threat to GCNP (e.g., drought, invasive species, climate disruption).
The Link: Explicitly state which specific ecosystem service from Task 1 is most harmed by this threat.
The Human Factor: Explain how human activity (e.g., upstream dam management, over-tourism) drives or accelerates this challenge.
The Solution: Propose one viable sustainability strategy to mitigate the impact.
Every student must submit their own copy on Canvas before the deadline. Your submission must include Metadata: the title of your work and your name; Format: your mind map exported as a PDF or high-resolution image (.png or .jpeg); Final document: Tasks 1 through 3; References: focus on official sources, such as nps.gov or usgs.gov.
Review Exercise 1: What to Include
Follow each task closely and make every required element easy to identify.
1.Ecosystem Services Mapping
- Classify provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services in a grid or table.
- Give one specific, new GCNP example for each category.
- Link each example to a sustainability relationship or feedback loop.
2.Diagram
- Build the diagram from the connections made in Task 1.
- Show how the ecosystem services work within Grand Canyon National Park.
- Include the possible sustainability outcomes, positive and negative.
3.Sustainability Impact Analysis
- Write no more than 4–6 sentences.
- Identify one major threat to Grand Canyon National Park.
- Identify one Task 1 ecosystem service that the threat affects.
- Explain the impact of human activity on the challenge.
- Propose at least one solution to mitigate the threat.
4.References
- Focus on official sources, such as NPS.gov and USGS.gov.
Every student submits their own copy on Canvas. Export the mind map as a PDF or a high-resolution image, put your name and the title of your work on it, and list your references.
Example: What Task 2 Looks Like
One cluster from a class diagram. It demonstrates the foundation of what Task 2 is asking for: services connected to the outcomes they lead to.
What might we add?
Ecosystem Services of Grand Canyon National Park
National Park
Task 1 · Ecosystem Services Mapping
One example from each of the four categories, and for each one the sustainability relationship or feedback loop it sits in. Past teams used freshwater springs and soil stabilization, so find new, specific examples. This table prints on your PDF, and Task 2 is drawing these connections on the canvas.
Task 3 · Sustainability Impact Analysis
Four to six sentences, assembled from four parts. They print as a single paragraph beneath your diagram, which is what the sheet asks you to hand in.
How this works
This builds the mind map the Module 2 Review asks for, in its three labeled sections, and saves the whole thing as a PDF to hand in.
| Task 1 | The services table. Open ✎ Task 1 and give one GCNP example for each of the four categories, with the sustainability relationship or feedback loop it belongs to. |
|---|---|
| Task 2 | The diagram, which is this canvas. Draw the Task 1 connections, and show the outcomes they lead to, positive and negative. |
| Task 3 | The impact paragraph. Open ✎ Task 3 and fill in its four parts: challenge, link, human factor, solution. |
| + sustains | One thing supports another. Cottonwood along a seep sustains the habitat other species depend on. |
|---|---|
| → provides | A service delivers a sustainability outcome: freshwater springs → desert megafauna survive. An empty Task 1 row fills itself from these arrows. |
| − harms | A human pressure degrades a service. This is a negative outcome on the diagram, and Task 3’s link drawn rather than just asserted. |
Switch to Connect and drag from one piece to another to draw one; clicking an arrow already on the canvas cycles it through the three. Remove deletes pieces and arrows alike.
The sheet says past teams used freshwater springs and soil stabilization, and that yours must be new. Every palette group therefore ends in a blank Custom piece, and you can double-click any piece to retitle it. Renaming changes the label only, so the checklist goes on working.
The panel on the right tracks all three tasks as you work, and names any feedback loop it finds. When the checklist is full, choose Save as PDF. Every student submits their own copy. References go at the bottom of ✎ Task 1 and print at the end of the PDF.
The two worked examples are the ones the sheet names as already used, precisely so you cannot hand them in. Load one to see the shape of a finished answer: four categories, every service pointing at an outcome, one pressure doing damage, one loop closing. Then build your own.