Lesson Plan

Leaf Litter Ecology Lab

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Leaf Litter Ecology Lab lesson plan also includes:

Some organisms spend their entire lives in leaf litter. The third in a series of six is a great lesson exploring the community of leaf litter. Groups gather and then spread leaf litter over white paper and remove leaves/twigs while looking for herbivores and carnivores to create a food web, identify trophic levels, and create a biomass pyramid. 

1 Collection 21 Views 10 Downloads
CCSS: Adaptable
NGSS: Adaptable
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
  • Have some organisms placed in jars ahead of time to show classes the species they might find
Classroom Considerations
  • Teachers need to gather leaf litter, sticks, and/or detritus for this lab
  • Some pupils may be afraid of the spiders/bugs, so set expectations about voice levels (screams) and scaring others in the classroom
Pros
  • Lesson provides all worksheets, background information, directions, and extension suggestions
  • This is a great lab where class members can find all kinds of critters
Cons
  • None
Common Core
NGSS