Lesson
Overview:
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Students
will pick an ecosystem (forest, desert, coral reef, open ocean, grassland,
mountain, savanna, etc.) and design an interaction web for their chosen
ecosystem. This should contain at least three types of each of the
following: abiotic elements, plants, herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.
Organism numbers must have the necessary resources in the ecosystem
to maintain its carrying capacity. |
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National Science Education
Standards:
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Content Standard C: Life
Science
Structure and Function in Living Systems
Regulations and Behavior
Populations and Environment / Ecosystems
Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
Populations, Resources, and Envrionments
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| Excellence
in EE-Guidelines for Learning: |
Strand 2: Knowledge
of Environmental Processes and Systems
1. Energy
2. The Living Environment
4. Environment and Society
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Key
Concepts:
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1. There
are many types of interactions within an ecosystem.
2. To sustain life in an ecosystem requires organisms to interact with
other living and
nonliving elements in the environment.
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| Objectives: |
Students will:
 identify
interactions that occur between living organisms and their ecosystem.
identify
living organisms in the ecosystem and why they can sustain life.
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Cross-Curricular Connections:
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Language Arts:
• Record
information and assess the results.
• Discuss
and report the results of research.
Mathematics:
• Construct
data tables for the numbers of living organisms in an ecosystem.
Social Sciences:
• Detail
the impact of natural disasters or human activities on an environment/ecosystem.
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| Process
Skills: |
Investigating
Communicating
Inferring
Estimating
Modeling
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Materials:
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Per Group
• One ecosystem selected
• Large sheet of paper to draw the interactions chart
• Different color markers for writing on the chart
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| Suggested
Time Frame: |
One or two 50 minute
class periods
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Procedure:
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Allow
students to choose an ecosystem (savannah, desert, tropical rain
forest, coral reef, bottomland hardwood forest,
etc.) to study. Students identify key biotic and abiotic elements in
the ecosystem.
- Students make a list of the abiotic elements in their ecosystem
of choice.
- Students make a list of the plants and animals (herbivores, carnivores,
omnivores) in their ecosystem of choice.
- Have students use a minimum of at least 3 abiotic elements, 3
plants, 3 herbivores, 3 omnivores and 3 carnivores in their ecosystem
and design
an interactions web. Draw lines between the elements to show there
is interaction between the two elements. Use arrows to show who is
the consumer
between the two elements. Write the type of interaction that is occurring
on each line.
- After the groups have
completed their interaction webs, have each group share its web
with another group and allow the groups
to modify their webs.
- Have groups share their
webs with more groups and allow those groups to modify their webs.
- Post interaction webs for a few days in the classroom. Allow
students to review the different webs and ecosystems.
- Have a discussion of
the different ecosystems and their interactions, during which students
draw conclusions about the importance of interactions
within ecosystems and how these interactions allow the ecosystems
to sustain their carrying capacities.
- Have groups remove one abiotic or biotic element from their interactions
web and describe how it would effect the carrying capacity of the
ecosystem.
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Suggested Discussion
Questions:
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Do
animals and plants really need to interact with the abiotic elements
in their ecosystem?
How
important are interactions to the carrying capacity of a particular
species within an ecosystem?
Would
bears and wolves interact within an ecosystem?
Name
the abiotic factors (in a forest and in a desert ecosystem) in which
a mouse might interact.
How
would a natural disaster affect the carrying capacity of an ecosystem?
How
would human activities affect the carrying capacity of an ecosystem? |
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Further Investigations:
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As
a whole class activity, have students pick one ecosystem and illustrate
interactions within that ecosystem.
Have
students study an ecosystem near their home and write about the interactions
in that system. They should describe how the carrying capacity of
the ecosystem might be altered.
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| Career
Opportunities: |
Ecologist
Botanist
Zoologist
Park Ranger
Wild Life Manager
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Assessment Procedures:
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Students
draw an interactions chart for any ecosystem when given specific
elements.
Students
compare and contrast the interactions of the same species in different
ecosystems.
Students
describe how the carrying capacity of an ecosystem might be changed. |
