Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Mn Step: The Flow of Energy: Balancing Ecosystems

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A lesson outlining activities for a science unit where students can learn about the relationships and the flow of energy within an ecosystem. These include predator and prey, hosts and parasites, and consumers, producers, and decomposers.
Handout
PBS

Pbs Teachers:denali: The Wolf and the Moose: Predator and Prey Relationships

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Examine the predator/prey relationship between wolves and moose in Alaska's Denali National Park and discuss how the balance of nature works between these two animals.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Life Science: Predation

For Students 6th - 8th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Predation is another mechanism in which species interact with each other. Predation is when a predator organism feeds on another living organism or organisms, known...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Predator Protector Game Lesson

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Describe the habitat, food web and ecosystem of shark species. Identify threats to sharks and explore how top predators help to maintain the balance of nature within ecosystems. This lesson plan also contains an interactive game.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Catch Me if You Can

For Students 9th - 10th
Students are asked to explain the predator/prey relationship and how it helps to maintain the balance of the ecosystems.
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: From the Top of the Food Chain Down: Rewilding Our World

For Students 9th - 10th
Our planet was once populated by megafauna, big top-of-the-food-chain predators that played their part in balancing our ecosystems. When those megafauna disappear, the result is a "trophic cascade," where every part of the ecosystem...
Activity
PBS

Pbs Teachers:night Creatures of the Kalahari: Life in a Bottle

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Understand that an ecosystem such as the Kalahari has a system of checks and balances to ensure that no species overpopulates and threatens the survival of other species. Chart a food chain and explore the balance between predator and prey.
Handout
PBS

Pbs Teachers:mammals of Namib: Who's in Charge?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Identify mammals of the Namib Desert, categorize which are predators and which are prey and discuss the balance of nature in Namib.
Unit Plan
Lumen Learning

Lumen: Boundless Biology: Threats to Biodiversity

For Students 9th - 10th
Looks at the impact of overharvesting, such as overfishing, on biodiversity. It talks of the 'tragedy of the commons,' where harvesters do not feel responsible for protecting a species because they fish in shared areas. It also touches...