Curated OER
Food for Thought
Learners understand the importance of each member of a food chain through a game. In this food chains lesson, students receive background information and then play a game to simulate what happens in the food chain of an endangered...
Curated OER
Exploring Ecosystems
Fourth graders investigate ecosystems. In this ecosystem instructional activity, 4th graders explore producers, consumers, and decomposers and study the interdependence of each.
Curated OER
The Web of Life
Young scholars describe the importance of having a balance ecosystem. After a brief lecture, students give an explanation of the properties of an ecosystem. They create a web, using yarn which shows how the various members of the...
Curated OER
Understanding Our Planet's Food Web
Sixth graders, in groups, examine how humans have a tenuous position as part of an ecosystem.
Virginia Department of Education
Predator-Prey Simulation
Do your pupils have the misconception that environmental predators are "bad" and harm smaller creatures? The simulation explains, in detail, the important role predators play in maintaining a stable ecosystem. Through web-based research,...
Curated OER
Ecosystem Word Search
In this ecosystems word search activity students find 22 words and mark them in the puzzle. This is a clever leaf shaped puzzle with a word bank.
Curated OER
Species Diversity in Ecosystems with Different Techniques of Land Management
Students visit numerous places to help in their understanding of Ecology. In this biology lesson plan, students will learn about characteristics and how to identify numerous plants and animals. This lesson plan allows for many field trip...
Curated OER
Keys and Webs
Students explore and classify organisms found in a Rocky Mountain Ecosystem. Through discussions, students examine the effects upon an ecosystem if a component was removed or a new component was added. As a class, they survey reasons...
Curated OER
Populations
Students calculate the area of grasslands needed to support a small pride of lions. They also identify food web links in an ecosystem and trace the energy pathways in an ecosystem.
Curated OER
Six Levels of Ecological Organization
Ninth graders describe the six levels of ecological organizations and give examples of each. They also differentiate between food chains and webs and identify trophic and consumer levels in food chain and food webs.
Curated OER
Jelly Critters
Students compare and contrast three different organisms that are considered gelatinous zooplankton. They describe how they fit into marine food webs.
Curated OER
Bering Sea Buffet - A Foodweb Activity
Life in the Bering Sea, food webs, and the ocean ecosystem are introduced with a map activity. The lesson starts as kids explore maps and images of the Bering Sea, then it kicks into high gear as they start to discuss the types of...
Global Change
Impact of a Changing Climate on the Pacific Walrus
How many of us can say they've seen a Pacific walrus? Not many and one of the reasons is the impact of climate change on their aquatic environment. Children get to think about the food web of the Bering Sea by creating an actual web with...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Leaf Litter Ecology Lab
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...
NOAA
Through Robot Eyes
How do robots assist ocean explorers in collecting data and images? The final installment in a five-part series has science scholars examine underwater images collected by robots and identify the organisms shown. Groups then calculate...
Curated OER
Endangered Ecosystems Grades 4-5
Students read about research at the field sites. They read field reports from team members at the site. Students conduct their own research on ecosystems in their lives. They explore and build an interactive food web. Students create...
Curated OER
Ecological Relationships
Middle schoolers identify ecological elements and their factors on species, populations and food webs. They analyze ecosystems for these elements and research how these factors influence species survival rate. Predictions on conditions...
Curated OER
Ecology and the St. Lawrence River
Ninth graders complete a unit of lessons on ecosystems, organism interactions, and energy flow. They create a key for known species of fish, diagram the movement of energy through an ecosystem, and create and present food chains and food...
Curated OER
Who's Coming to Dinner?
Students identify the role predators/prey play in food chains, differentiate between food chains and webs, identify factors that affect the balance in food webs, and propose solutions to protect endangered species' environments and...
Curated OER
Depending On Each Other. Communities And Ecosystems
Seventh graders investigate how the ecosystems of the world has influence upon the immediate and nonimmediate environments. The interelationships of food webs is discussed. The class researches one type of ecosystem for a class project...
Curated OER
The Food Web
Students explore the role that the Arctic hare plays in the Canadian Arctic food web.
Curated OER
Profiling the Enemy
Tenth graders examine different invasive species in Lake Michigan. In this biology lesson plan, 10th graders research how these species get into the lake and how they survive there. They analyze their effect on the food web and existing...
Curated OER
Who Am I?
Students classify organisms into one of five categories: producer, consumer, decomposer, predator, or prey. Students play a "Who Am I" game. Signs are hung on the backs of fellow students They must ask questions to determine what...
Science Matters
Crawly Composters
Get your hands dirty with an interactive lesson that showcases the process of decomposing and returning nutrients back into the soil. After building a compost pile, pupils regularly observe the ways worms help with changes to the soil...