- To help students gain a better idea of their own environment, have
them collect pictures of ecosystem types found locally, develop a
field guide to all the trees (or other plants and animals) found in
the neighborhood, and describe local environmental issues. You might
also develop exchange programs to compare findings with students living
in other environments
- Have students list all the resources they use in a typical day and
trace the resources back to their original niche in the ecosystem.
- Have students display pictures on a bulletin board of all the living
and nonliving parts of an ecosystem near the school. Visit the area
often to discover other parts of the ecosystem and add these to the
display. Find out about the animals and plants found there today and
in the past. Predict how this ecosystem will look in the future.
- Have students write about and illustrate their role in a food web.
They should note everything they've eaten in a 24-hour period and
find out whether those foods were producers, consumers, or decomposers.
(Producers are living things that make food using light energy through
the process of photosynthesis. Consumers, also living things, feed
on producers or other consumers. Decomposers are living organisms
that get their food by breaking down dead organisms into nutrients.)
Have the children describe the foods' native habitats, and in the
case of consumers, the source of their food. For example, students
might analyze a meal consisting of a tunafish sandwich with lettuce,
a cup of mushroom soup, a chocolate cookie, and a glass of apple juice
as follows: tuna, harvested from the oceans is a consumer; the grains
found in the bread, grown in fertile areas around the world, are producers;
lettuce and apples, grown commercially, are producers; mushrooms,
grown commercially and also occurring in the wild, are decomposers;
and chocolate, made from cocoa seeds found in tropical environments,
is also a producer.
- Have students observe and describe succession (the series of changes
that naturally take place in a community over time) by conducting
the following experiment using soils, water, seeds, a plant, and a
jar. First, place 5 cm of soil in a jar and fill with water to a depth
of 7.5 cm. Place the uncovered jar on a windowsill, allowing the contents
to settle overnight. Plant an aquatic plant in the jar. As time passes,
do not replace water that evaporates from the jar. Once or twice a
week, have students add three or four seeds (use mixed birdseed) to
the jar. As long as water remains in the jar, the seeds should germinate
and then die. Continue adding seeds even after the water evaporates;
this evaporation is a metaphor for a warming, drying climate. As the
water evaporates, the aquatic plant will die, but the birdseed may
find the environment suitable for growth. Begin adding water to represent
rainfall. Have students illustrate what they saw happen to their "pond."
What did they learn about environmental change?
- Research ways that ancient cultures used plants and animals. Do
we use any of those same plants and animals today? Do modern-day people
depend on plants and animals more, less, or the same amount? Why?
- Design projects to promote biodiversity in the schoolyard. Research
plants native to your area and how they provide habitats for local
animal species. Enhance your schoolyard ecosystem by planting native
species.
- Using square study plots scaled to suit your location and the time
available, assign small groups of students to examine a series of
different microhabitats such as a wooded area, a grassy lawn, or a
well traveled area near the school building. They should record or
describe all life-forms encountered there. Have groups compare results,
trying to draw conclusions about what factors influenced the abundance
or lack of biodiversity.
- Discuss predator-prey relationships with the class. Consider the
possible impacts on ecosystems of introducing a species that has no
native predator (for example, rabbits were introduced into Australia
at the turn of the century; in the absence of predators, they multiplied
rapidly and displaced native species).
- Limiting factors (which define an organism's tolerance of various
conditions) exist for humans as well as other organisms. Suppose you
were going on a trip to the North Pole. Make a list of the limiting
factors you would encounter. What equipment would enable you to deal
with these factors?
- Have students describe the effects of acid rain on broad-leafed
plants by comparing the effects of watering some plants with plain
water and others with various concentrations (5 percent, 25 percent,
50 percent) of vinegar in water.
- Have students make a model of an ecosystem in an aquarium with a
screen lid, using small plants (ferns and vines), gravel, soil, water,
crickets, oatmeal, charcoal, small stones, an anole (a small lizard),
a warming light, and a water cup. Place the aquarium in a sunny area
(but not in direct sunlight). Put gravel and charcoal in the bottom
to a depth of 2.5 cm and cover it with a 3-4 cm layer of soil, then
add the stones. Add the plants, spraying with water to keep moist,
the anole, and a small water cup. Add four crickets twice a week and
two flakes of oatmeal once a week. Add water as necessary. Turn on
the warming light to provide warmth to the anole. Record daily happenings
in the ecosystem. Identify the following aspects of ecosystems in
your model: scale, connections, cycles and change, diversity, and
balance. Continue to observe your ecosystem through the school year.
- Observe soil erosion and compaction on or near school grounds; suggest
possible solutions (placing signs, planting the area, making a permanent
walkway made of sawdust or bark chips).
- The Chesapeake Bay, located along the east-central coast of the
United States, has been affected by runoff from DDT pesticide use,
among other things, and nutrient overloading (decomposing algae uses
up oxygen making it hard for fish and other organisms to survive)
. On a map of your state, locate areas that face problems similar
to those of the Chesapeake Bay. Why are these areas vulnerable, and
what can be done to protect them?
- Investigate pollution concerns in your community, such as agricultural
runoff, solid-waste disposal, smoke from a manufacturing plant, and
sewage. Have small groups of students research different types of
pollution.
- To illustrate the difficulty of cleaning up an oil spill, conduct
the following experiment. Place a few small rocks in one end of a
cake pan to represent the shoreline. Half fill the pan with colored
water, then pour 10 mL. of salad oil. Gently slosh the water about,
making sure the rocks get wet. Then, describe your efforts to clean
up the oil using a variety of materials (for example, tongue depressors,
cotton balls, detergent, paper towels, and feathers).
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