Curated OER
The Coral Reef Ecosystem
Students examine the coral reef ecosystem and learn how the living and non-living parts interact. In this coral reef lesson students view video on coral reefs then create a fictional ecosystem.
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Ecosystems
Seventh graders create a closed ecosystem and place it where is it visible to others in the school. They label it with posters describing the interdependence of living things in the ecosystem. They discuss what might happen to the...
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Micro-Ecosystems
Students create a sustainable, self-contained ecosystem in a ten-gallon aquarium.
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Lesson Exchange: Species Interactions (Senior, Science)
Twelfth graders explain relationships and interactions between species, the difference between a fundamental niche and a realized niche. They explore the various species interactions from their classmates through the jigsaw activity.
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Forest Ecosystem
Students become familiar with the temperate rainforest. For this forest ecosystem lesson, students identify the producers, consumers and decomposers in the forest ecosystem. Students sort cards and identify the trophic level...
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Exploring Ecosystems
Fourth graders create an ecosystem as a class. They have already produced smaller ones. They use a pond or something similar on school grounds to meet the needs of certain plants and animals of their ecosystem. Specifically created will...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lesson 4: Gorongosa's Food Webs
Who eats who in the savannas of Africa? Explore trophic levels with part four of an eight-part series of lessons focused around Gorongosa National Park. After young explorers identify animals using trailcam images, they construct a food...
University of Connecticut
Building Your Own Biosphere
On September 26, 1991, four women and four men entered the scientific experiment, Biosphere 2; the doors were sealed for two years in order to study the interactions of a biosphere. In the activity, scholars explore biospheres by...
American Museum of Natural History
Web of Life Game
Get caught in a web of learning. Classmates play a game to build a web to model the interaction of species that live in a specific ecosystem. They each assume the role of one species and work together, passing a ball of twine to indicate...
Science Matters
That’s An Otter Story
Young scientists discover how sea otters' habitats have changed due to human impact. Through conversation, video observation, and story reading, scholars identify how human interactions change a specific ecosystem in both positive and...
Curated OER
Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?
Students explore the characteristics of major ecosystems, the interactions of the organisms within the systems, and the effects of humans on the system. Both living and non-living components are examined in this five lesson unit.
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Cause And Effects Of Pollutants In Ecosystems
Eighth graders define what an ecosystem is, what its make up is and how pollution effects it. For this air pollution lesson students identify the cause and effects of pollution on an ecosystem and trace a food chain.
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School Site Ecosystem
Fourth graders are introduced to the concept of ecosystem; specifically, the interrelationships among plants and animals within an ecosystem, and their relationships to the environment in which they live and interact.
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Mini-Ecosystems
Third graders identify the living and non living things in a book read aloud and discuss the interactions represented in the book. Then, they research and include a list of food that each animal needs in an ecosystem. Finally, 3rd...
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Populations and Ecosystems
Sixth graders examine the factors that influence the stability of ecosystems. They construct a miniature ecosystem in a jar that includes plants, small fish, and snails, record the population changes over a period of four weeks, and...
Curated OER
What Makes up an Ecosystem?
Eighth graders design posters of working ecosystems using pictures from magazines. They label autotrophic, heterotropic, or saprotrophic energy sources, and identify predators and prey.
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Understanding Interactions Among Local Species and the Local Environment
Students examine the differences between biotic and abiotic factors, explain the difference between habitat and niche and compare how organisms get their nutritional needs. In this local environment lesson students trace the path...
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The Environment and Interactions of Living Organisms
Students study the environment and interactions of living organisms. They identify abiotic and biotic factors and create a foldable and vocabulary cards. They create a poster illustrating soil and watch a video to study symbiosis.
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What Are Ecosystems?
Third graders recognize and examine ecosystems. They observe and describe habitats within ecosystems and observe and identify organisms with similar needs that compete for resources.
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Community and Ecosystems
Students complete a unit of lessons on ecosystems. They participate in online activities, create a diorama, write journal entries, and develop a Hyperstudio multimedia project on a selected ecosystem.
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Earth's Ecosystem: Seven Major Biomes
Students discuss the different types of ecosystems and the composition of biomes. Working in groups, they define various related terms and make posters of them. Then they explain their posters to the class.
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Ecology and Ecosystem
Students are introduced to the concepts of ecology and ecosystems. In groups, they use the Internet to research one of six topics. They present their information to the class sharing the most interesting information they found. They...
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School Yard Park/Ecosystem
Fifth graders observe and categorize different sections of a park and it's ecosystem. For this categorizing lesson plan, 5th graders collect different facets of nature from a nearby park (without disturbing the ecosystem). They map,...
Curated OER
School Yard Park/ Ecosystem
Fifth graders examine ecosystems in their schoolyard. In this nature and ecosystem lesson, 5th graders map their schoolyard into workable plots. They classify plants and animals found in the plot. They revisit their site every two weeks...