Lesson Plans and Worksheets
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Animal Ecology Teacher Resources
Find teacher approved Animal Ecology educational resource ideas and activities
Keystone species of organisms define biological communities. Meet the American alligator as an example. Emerging ecologists also learn what happens is a keystone species is removed from an ecosystem: ecological release. Examples of this process include the sea urchin explosion that occurred when sea otter populations declined and a jack rabbit bombardment when ranchers killed off too many coyotes. Conclude the presentation with a discussion: Are we, as humans, undergoing an ecological release?
Amazing! Any 5th grader would be more than willing to participate in this project. Students are broken into groups, each group reads one book from a list of five. They use their book as the basis for choosing an animal and environment to conduct Internet research on. They then use IMovie to create an animated film depicting what they have learned about their animal, its environment, and human impact. All necessary attachments are included.
Here is a 25-page plan that descirbes a series of lessons designed for third graders. In the plans, youngsters dive into the variety of Native American societies, and the vast array of ecological environments in which they existed. An astounding amount of wonderful in-class activities are described in these plans, and all of the worksheets you need to implement the plans are embedded in each. Highly recommended for any third grade study of Native American life.
You will get much mileage out of this resource. It is three presentations in one! Standard general ecology information is included within these 69 slides. The first segment deals with levels of organization, biotic and abiotic factors, biomes, biodiversity, and the flow of energy. The second section focuses on nutrient cycles. The final installation examines population dynamics with an emphasis on problems accompanying overpopulation. The font may be considered "cute." This is easily altered if this is not to your liking. Otherwise, this is a terrific resource!
The animal population of Arkansas has changed dramatically over the past 10,000 years due to climate change, and human interaction/interruption of animal environments. Upper graders and middle schoolers do a study of how animals populations have been affected by climate and human activity. This excellent plan has many rich activities, maps, worksheets, and websites embedded in it.
A complete study of population ecology is covered by this worksheet. Biology or ecology learners answer questions and interpret population graphs. This can be used as the intended guided notes worksheet or assigned as homework.
Young scholars survive within an ecosystem, an animal must be physically and behaviorally adapted to the conditions of its environment.
Story elements such as conflict, character analysis, resolution, and moral are discussed and charted as elementary children read folktales involving animals. An element of science is also introduced as learners discover what a keystone species is and consider the role animals play in the ecosystem. Complete with worksheets, extensions, and links to stories the class will read, this is easily adaptable to younger grades.
Explore Samburu culture as young scholars examine art work by many artists and compare and contrast their styles. They view Kenyan images and find Kenya on the map. Students identify conflict in the animal world and draw animals and record in journals what they have learned. A great activity has your class create a mural together.
Although this was written simply as a activity, the questions are comprehensive and could feasibly be used as an assessment at the end of a human ecology unit. Topics covered by the multiple choice and short answer questions include deforestation, industrialization, human population growth, pollution, and human environmental impact. The content is thorough.