Do your pupils have the misconception that environmental predators are "bad" and harm smaller creatures? The simulation explains, in detail, the important role predators play in maintaining a stable ecosystem. Through web-based research,...

Students are focused on the big question: What makes a population grow and how could that growth stop? They use these concepts to help answer the big question: carry capacity, density dependent v. density, independent factors, predation...

High schoolers explore the effects of different density-dependent and density-independent factors on population growth. They explore how the interactions of organisms can affect population growth. Students explore the pattern of...

Students investigate the components food chains and food webs in various ecosystems. They describe how living things depend on one another for food energy (food chain) and how more than one food chain exists in an ecosystem

Students investigate the food chain by researching the Internet.  In this ecosystem lesson, students view the video "Competitor and Predator" and read a book from the series "The Magic School Bus."  Students utilize a worksheet...

Students examine the role of large families in some animal populations. They work together to complete an activity related to food supply. They discover the relationship between preys and predators.

Students explore wolves. In this ecology and wolves lesson, students research predator-prey relationships on the Internet and complete a related worksheet with a partner. Students interpret data on bar graphs to determine growth and...

Pupils view the PowerPoint slide of a lynx and hare and discuss what would happen if all the lynxes were destroyed. They then take notes on the lesson and brainstorm about other competitive/cooperative relationships as well as discuss...

Students define the following terms: predation, competition, carrying capacity and population. They can explain the patterns of growth and the limitations of growth. Students explain the difference between density-dependent and...

Though the walrus spends roughly one third of its time on land, it eats organisms that live on the bottom of the ocean. The first in a series of five, the lesson plan uses a variety of plant and animal cards to have scholars build an...

Eighth graders explore seven terrestrial biomes. They compare relationships between children, parents and friends to interactions among species. After observing pictures of types of interaction, 8th graders describe the predator-prey...

Students research desert species to find where it lives, what it eats, and what species it interacts with directly. Upon completion of research, students construct a web of all the species as a class. This emphasizes the role each...

Pupils read journal entry from a Gal??pagos field researcher, find examples of five ecological relationships (competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism) and take notes on the details they find in the entry using a...

Should we stay or should we go? Class members debate whether Britain should exit the European Union. While the resource predates the exit vote, the materials provide class members with an opportunity to explore some of the many...

It's all connected. Scholars use pages 24-26 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World to identify the relationship between the plants and animals in the rainforest. They answer and discuss questions about the relationship with a...

Sixth graders role play predators, prey and other parts of the aquatic ecosystem. They show inter and intra-specific competition as well as the link between abiotic and biotic components in an ecosystem. Students play games about the...

The clear cartoon style slides in this presentation contain details that affect population growth. Natural disasters and other external factors are listed as density independent factors, and density dependent factors, such as competition...

Explore food chains in the Amazon Rainforest using this resource. Learners discuss the predator vs. prey relationships in the food chain. Then, they create a food web to describe this relationship. This is a simple and effective way to...

Discuss the animals and plants in the rainforest food chain using this lesson. Learners talk about and do research on the top predators from the Costa Rican region and create a model of one of them in class. They also make a visual model...

Students discuss and role-play the elements of natural selection. They use toothpicks to represent Stick-Worms and discover the mechanisms of change of traits in populations.

Students research sharks, the food chain, and the water habitat shared by humans and sharks.

The Burmese python is on the loose ... and he's hungry! Illustrate the differences between causative and correlative relationships through an inquiry lesson. Pupils examine several sources of information to determine if there is a...

Students grow duckweed, observe what happens when an organism population is allowed to grow without predation or competition, view videos about invasive species, and develop a proposal for controlling the growth of an invasive species in...

Young scholars examine the role of organisms when they eliminate the native species of an area. They review cooperative and competitive relationships within an ecosystem.