Science Matters
Ecosystem Pre-Assessment
Test scholars' knowledge of ecosystems with a 20-question pre-assessment. Assessment challenges learners to answer multiple choice questions, read diagrams, and complete charts.
Curated OER
Flow of Energy Through An Ecosystem
In this flow of energy in an ecosystem, students complete a graphic organizer and show the flow of energy from the sun to producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers and then decomposers. Students define each of...
NASA
Decomposers Get Energy From Dead Things
When life gives you mold, make penicillin. Scholars design an inquiry experiment to determine what causes rotting and mold growth. It also covers decomposers and the important role they play for other living things.
Curated OER
Nutrition and Energy Flow
In this energy flow worksheet, students will complete 10 short answer questions based on a food web diagram. Then students will review different cycles in nature including the water cycle, carbon cycle, and energy cycle. This worksheet...
Curated OER
Ecosystem Interactions in Refuges
Seventh graders, using national parks as models, illustrate the energy flow in ecosystems. Working in groups, they use murals, flow charts, or other visual displays to record their findings. Students represent the food chains and webs...
Curated OER
Circle of Life
Here is a well-designed science lesson that shows learners that everything that organisms do in ecosystems, including running, breathing, burrowing, growing, requires energy. After a thorough discussion of their own eating and drinking...
Curated OER
The Flow of Energy Through a Food Chain
In this food chain worksheet, students write in the steps that show how energy flows through a food chain, from producers to consumers. This worksheet is a graphic organizer.
Curated OER
Plants and Animals
Seventh graders discover the interconnectedness of plants and animals in ecosystems. In groups, they create a food web and discuss the problems when one link of the chain is broken. To end the lesson, they set up a balanced environment...
Curated OER
Energy Through the Ecosystem
In this ecosystem worksheet, students use a diagram of an ocean-based food web to complete 5 short answer questions about the energy flow through this ecosystem.
Curated OER
LEAF (Learning Exercises and Activities in the Forest
Students observe populations and determine the functions (e.g., decomposers, producers, consumers) they serve in an ecosystem. They investigate the energy flow ecosystems. Students investigate factors (.g., Resources, light, water) that...
Curated OER
Trophic Pyramids and Levels
The bulk of this lesson involves the construction of both an aquatic and a terrestrial ecosystem in which to observe trophic relationships. Detailed directions are provided, as well as discussion questions, and assessment activities....
Curated OER
Horticulture Crops in the agro-ecosystem
Ninth graders apply ecological analysis to fruit and vegetable production systems. In this horticulture lesson plan students learn about different management practices.
Curated OER
Studying a Piece of an Ecosystem
Students carry out an outdoor land study in which they identify organisms living in the soil, and any other animals living within the site. Groups also examine abiotic factors. They respond to a series of questions concerning their data...
Virginia Department of Education
Freshwater Food Chains
What's in the water? Encourage your class to further explore this question and learn about pond ecosystems, food chains, and food webs as they complete this hands-on activity. They view the environment from a new perspective after...
University of Georgia
The Power of Peanuts
Measure the amount of energy in a peanut by igniting a chemical reaction. Classes use a laboratory setup to burn a peanut and measure the amount of heat it releases through a temperature analysis. They calculate the number of Joules of...
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
Populations and Ecosystems
Seventh graders create a model of an ecosystem and label it to show structure and function. They research the food web of an aquatic animal and also trace energy flow from the primary producer up the food chain.
Curated OER
Trophic Relationships, Cycling of Chemicals, Human Impact on Ecosystems and Conservation
Students explore how the energy flow through a system is related to trophic levels. They investigate how organisms affect the cycling of elements and water through the biosphere. Students participate in lab activities to observe ways...
Virginia Department of Education
Biomes of the World
Incorporate knowledge about biomes and ecosystems in multiple ways while encouraging creativity. Emerging ecologists collaborate and perform research to complete a graphic organizer about various biomes of the world. They conclude the...
CK-12 Foundation
CK-12 Earth Science Concepts for Middle School
Explore a variety of science concepts in an interactive textbook created for middle school scholars. A lengthy table of contents takes readers to pages comprised of a subject overview, outline, and summary. Follow links further to find...
Curated OER
Activity 1: Please Pass the Energy, Food Webs in the Upper Ocean and Hydrothermal Vent Communities
Students create food webs for two different ocean communities. They are given cards showing organisms from the surface of the ocean. They arrange them in order of who eats whom. After this class activity, students create a food web for...
Curated OER
Heat 1
For this heat worksheet, students determine the heat gained or lost when matter changes phases. Students review the energy flow through ecosystems by comparing trophic levels and food webs. This worksheet has 10 fill in the blank, 5...
Science Matters
Formative Assessment #3
Thirteen short-answer questions follow a brief food web activity in a formative assessment designed to test knowledge of ecosystems and the energy that flows through them.
Science Matters
That’s An Otter Story
Young scientists discover how sea otters' habitats have changed due to human impact. Through conversation, video observation, and story reading, scholars identify how human interactions change a specific ecosystem in both positive and...