Science Content:
Analyze plant and animal structures and functions needed for survival and describe the flow of energy through a system that all organisms use to survive.
Compare changes in an organism's ecosystem/habitat that affect its survival
Estimated Time: Initial Set-up is about 60 minutes then daily observations of 15-30 minutes over the course of several weeks
This lesson has students recycling pop bottles to create ecosystems. Students create aquariums and terrariums. Through the construction of these students learn about the complex relationships and the delicate balance of ecosystems.
Part 1: Students work in a group to create their aquarium and terrarium using given instructions.
Part 2: Students will record observations daily and add animals to each ecosystem after several weeks of observations. They will also connect the ecosystems after several weeks.
Part 3: Students will define a food web found in their ecosystems. They will also hypothesize whether the percentage of each organism was appropriate for the experiment.