Forest Ecosystem Teacher Resources

Forests are briefly defined and broken down into four different types in this PowerPoint. Facts and photos are provided for each type, including: deciduous, tropical rain, coastal, and coniferous forests. This is a wonderful presentation...

For this ecosystem exploration worksheet, students complete 2 prior knowledge questions, then use "Forest Ecosystem Gizmo" to conduct several activities, completing short answer questions when finished.

The relationships within and between ecosystems can be explored. after examining an area for living and non-living things learners complete the same examination in the forest ecosystem. Students identify abiotic and biotic elements in an...

Forests, through sequestration, capture excess carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and store it, aiding in climate change. The third installment in a four-part series on how climate impacts forests explores carbon sequestration....

Students become familiar with the temperate rainforest.  In this forest ecosystem lesson, students identify the producers, consumers and decomposers in the forest ecosystem.  Students sort cards and identify the trophic level...

Students examine the causes and effects of alterations in a forest ecosystem and evaluate how human actions may only seem to have minor consequences, but can lead to extinctions of large numbers of populations. Students produce an...

As part of their examination of forest ecosystems, class members examine how foresters, biologists, botanists, geologists, and hydrologists work to together to develop a management plan for sustainable forests.

How is a movie theater like a desert biome? Compare systems to ecosystems with a set of activities that focuses on accessing multiple intelligences and building upon knowledge. As learners discuss the ways elements of an ecosystem depend...

What is a controlled burn, and how is it different from a wildfire? Learn about the different ways forest rangers take care of the forest with a fun, interactive board game that focuses on forest management and fire safety.

There otter be a better way. As a class, groups work together to create a food web based on the organisms in the kelp forest. Budding scientists watch a video on the kelp forest to see how the organisms create a food web and hear about...

Third graders research insects using the internet sites provided. They research the role of insects as pollinators for plants, and the impact they have on our ecosystem. They participate in various activities/centers utilizing the facts...

How does water pollution affect the environment? Provide your class with the resources to answer this question as they learn about eutrophication and ecosystem changes. Over two weeks, they simulate the effects of pollution on the...

To conclude their examination of forest ecosystems, class members consider the role forests play in the carbon cycle and how forests can offset climate change.

Class groups play a Forest Families card game to reinforce concepts presented in the first six sessions of a nine-lesson study of tress and forest ecosystems.

Students explain that while cities have unattractive features, the density of human life enables energy efficiency, mass transit, recycling, and other benefits which are difficult or impossible in rural areas. This is the fifth in an...

Purifying air and water, providing soil in which to grow crops, and moving water through its natural cycle are all services an ecosystem provides that benefit humans. Lesson four in a series lets learners explore and discuss the value of...

Fifth graders examine plants and animals in two ecosystems and compare them. In this ecosystem survival lesson, 5th graders compare and contrast a coral reef and kelp forest ecosystem. Students investigate the abiotic and biotic...

What a great project to use as part of an exploration of animals or habitats. Learners design a clay model of a home for a forest animal. This could be a great way to cement what your class has learned about habitats. 

Young scientists weave together an understanding of ecosystems with this fun collaborative activity. Taking on the roles of different living and non-living elements of specific habitats, learners use a ball of yarn to create...

Middle schoolers discover that material and energy uses by a city come from outside the city boundaries. They realize that the pathway of these material is linear instead of cyclical as they are in natural ecosystems.

Students obtain remote sensing data to compare and contrast global biomass data with global temperature data.