Explore the food chains that support Arctic ecosystems. A class discussion on interdependence and the different roles plants and animals play in ecosystems provides students with the knowledge to complete a worksheet asking them to...

It is always fun to weave a web when studying the relationships in ecosystems! Thirty organism name cards are provided. Divide the class into groups of eight, then give each participant a card and the group a few long strands of yarn....

What effects do temperature and carbon dioxide levels have on the zooplankton of Antarctica? This concluding lesson in a short unit on climate change and the ocean helps environmental scientists answer these questions. After learning...

Throughout history, the growth of big cities has resulted in the destruction of ecosystems. In the case of Chicago, IL, a grassland that was once home to bison, deer, wolves, and foxes quickly became a booming city of over three million...

A well-written lesson plan, second in a series of four, gets high schoolers exploring how the Antarctic food web is impacted by climate change and the associated melting of polar ice sheets. It begins with a PowerPoint presentation about...

Elementary ecologists examine trophic relationships using a coral reef food pyramid as an example. They play a game applying math skills that ultimately demonstrate the important role of the ever-scary top predator, the shark. This is a...

Using the prairie dog community as an example, middle school ecologists examine the food web. Pairs of learners take one species in the community and research its role in the ecosystem. They share their findings with the rest of the...

Little ones make costumes and act out a rhyme in which there are daisies, bugs, wrens, snakes, and foxes that all interact in a food web. This would be a memorable activity for primary life scientists to participate in as a wrap-up to a...

Here is an extremely simplistic look at food chains and webs. It depicts three different food chains, each containing a plant, plant eater, and meat-eater. Learners fill in the missing part of each chain by using the images provided at...

Sixth graders study the food web in a bay. In this food web instructional activity, 6th graders investigate the SAV- submerged aquatic vegetation of a bay including their predators, and how the organisms eat, have proper living space and...

Students explore energy flow in a food web. For this energy flow lesson, students investigate the relationships and energy flow in a food web.

In an ecology simulation, middle schoolers draw dots, representing chemicals, on green strips of paper, representing aquatic plants. After you hide the strips around the room, they pretend to be fish and collect plants as food. The total...

A 12-page midterm exam sample can be given to young scientists in preparation for an exam. This particular installment is geared toward a class that delves into both ecology and chemistry concepts. There is no way to separate the 50...

The living environment, from the interior of a cell to the complex relationships among populations, are queried in this final examination. Learners look at air pollution maps, diagrams of cells, population graphs, and drawing of cells....

The 2005 version of the Regents High School Examination in the area of ecology is as comprehensive as previous years' exams. It consists of 40 multiple choice questions on everything from the structure of DNA to the interactions within...

Tne New York Regents High School Examinations are comprehensive and include various styles of questions, includingmultiple choice and the analysis of graphs. This particular version, the 2008 Living Environment exam surveys a variety of...

Middle and high schoolers examine the basics of a mountain lion's diet by examining food chains and food webs. Learners are each assigned one of the lion's prey species and they must construct a food chain for this animal. They see how a...

Someone set out to create an epic slide show on ecosystems, but seems to have stopped short. It begins by examining the parts of an ecosystem and roles that different organisms play within it. Simple, informative, and colorful, these...

Students make lists of producers and consumers and act as consumers that eat producers in a garden. In this producers and consumers lesson plan, students demonstrate a food chain by using a piece of yarn to connect all of them together.

Junior ecologists relate how food chains and food webs route matter and energy through an ecosystem. They trace feeding levels of a food chain or food web through a pyramid of energy. As a reinforcement activity, learners construct three...

Sixth graders discuss and describe consumers and producers. They discuss and describe predator-prey relationship. Students review food chains. They form a circle, and each student is given an ecosystem card. Student at the top is given...

Students visit a local stream, pond, creek, or river and collect macroinvertebrates. They sort macroinvertebrates and identify each species using a dichotomous key. Students decide on trophic levels and construct a possible food web for...

Here is a practical activity for reinforcing understanding of energy flow in ecosystems. Learners identify whether each organism in a list is a producer or decomposer. They tell if each is an herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, or...